Boy Scouts from Troops 221, 51, 236 and 210 joined together for a Northern Tier Trek in July. The Scouts knew one another from staffing Foxfire, a National Leadership Training Course, over the years and they each wanted a physically challenging high adventure experience.

The crew started from Charles S. Sommers base camp near Ely, MN in 3 canoes and finished 130 miles in 6 days having completed the Grand Portage starting in Lake Superior. Of the 130 miles roughly 14 miles was portaging which meant carrying their 75 pound canoes over their heads plus food and packs.

After resting in base camp for a day the crew then completed the Dairy Queen Challenge which was a 51 mile round trip trek by canoe to the nearest DQ where they ate hamburgers and banana splits before returning to camp. 16 of the 51 miles was portaging. The real challenge of this leg of the trip was that it had to be completed within 24 hours and they completed it in 16 hours!

Parker Vascik (Southwest Roanoke County), Riley Newsom (Salem), Elliot George (Southwest Roanoke County) and Andy Conley )Southwest Roanoke County) have all earned the Boy Scout Triple Crown. This award is for scouts who have completed all three National BSA High Adventure Camps: Northern Tier, Philmont and Seabase.

Left to right in photo: Bob George (Southwest Roanoke County), Andy Conley (Southwest Roanoke County), Elliot George (Southwest Roanoke County), Riley Newsom (Salem), Stewart Hundley (Roanoke), Eric Hassler (guide), Eric Kessler (Southwest Roanoke County), Parker Vascik (Southwest Roanoke County), Jim Vascik (Southwest Roanoke County)

Submitted by Damon Newsom

Do you have news or photos involving people from Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com