PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles High School senior has become the second female on the North Olympic Peninsula to earn the highest rank in Scouts BSA, formerly Boy Scouts of America.
Grace Kathol, 18, earned her eagle rank with Troop 7498, hosted by Sequim Elks Lodge. Her friend Jenna Mason was the first girl to achieve the eagle rank on the Peninsula in 2023.
Kathol said she’s discovered scouting has been enriching and life-changing.
“I think it’s really cool,” she said of the rank. “Hopefully we’re the first two of many. Lots of other girls can go through similar experiences like us.
“All those adventures and fun people help make me who I am.”
Kathol joined scouts initially after a night hike in Deer Park with Troop 1498 at the suggestion of family friend and former scoutmaster Peter Craig, and she said she found it to be incredible.
“I thought, ‘I want to do more of this,’” she said.
Kathol has lived in Port Angeles her whole life, but the city didn’t have a troop for girls. Instead, she joined Sequim Troop 7498 on Thursdays at the Elks Lodge.
Earning an eagle was not one of her initial goals.
“I liked it because I met these three other girls around my age who became some of my best friends,” she said.
“It’s so nice to find people who like to go hiking, backpacking and get dirty.”
Trips included horseback riding, skiing, paddle boating and more.
Kathol said her most memorable experience was a 12-day, 80-mile hike on the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico in 2021.
“Philmont was a big thing, really eye-opening and really taught myself that ‘I can do this,’” Kathol said.
“Ten days in the backcountry was hard, and there was lightning.”
To earn eagle, Kathol earned required merit badges and planned a service project at the Port Angeles Boys & Girls Club with a five-day camp focused on emergency preparedness. She said it covered the basics in the first few ranks of scouting, plus it included games and lots of teamwork.
Part of her scouting experience was during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they pressed on doing merit badges via Zoom and social distancing and wearing masks on trips, she said.
While her eagle ceremony was held in October, Kathol had her board of review in August 2023, the day before she left as an exchange student with Rotary to Chile.
“It had been something I was interested in for a while,” she said.
“I’d always been super driven to go to other places. It was kind of a personal dream to go on an exchange.”
Kathol said the experience was a “roller coaster,” learning the culture, language and how to express herself, but she made lifelong friends, whom she still video calls today. One of her host families plans to visit this summer, she said.
Back in Port Angeles for her senior year, Kathol joined the swim team this fall and has been applying to colleges with an interest in speech language pathology, particularly helping children.
Kathol said the scouting experience has meant a lot to her.
“It’s provided friendship and lots of skills I would not have learned if I hadn’t been in scouts,” she said.
“It also meant a shared community, an extended family.”
For more about Scouts BSA, visit scouting.org.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
