William Larsen

BSA Klondike Derby

The Boy Scouts have their Klondike derby this coming weekend. I remember these events as being cold and tiring. We would hope for snow so that pulling a wooden sled with gear would be easier. One event was a race. I can still visualize lots of sleds on a line and pulling it to the finish line. I cannot remember if we had to have anyone in the sled, but it seems we had to have one person, usually our smallest patrol member.

The Klondike always had first aid, fire building and some lashing test. My patrol was always good with fire building. We used flint and steel along with a wad of dryer lint. We were also good at building something from poles using lashings. Most scouts all knew first aid so there was no gain or loss in this event.

At some point in time, the Klondike cooked a big kettle of soup. Each scout was to bring a soup to throw into the big kettle. Normally the weather on the day of the Klondike is cold and the soup was great! It was hot and after being in the cold for hours running around, it truly hit the spot. This year however, I read that the big kettle of soup is no longer on the menu, but each patrol is to cook a meal and based on its complexity will be awarded points. Call me old fashioned, but I like the big pot of soup. On a cold day, after running several miles pulling a sled, hot soup hits the spot. Complexity on this type of day is not in the spirit of the Klondike where space and weight were limited. A meal had to be simple and filling. I practice KISS, keep it simple stupid. Complexity can be a benchmark for the spring or fall camporees.

posted by William Larsen @ 11:44 AM