The troop participated in the annual Snowhorse District Klondike Derby held at Camp Kiesel this past weekend. Nine scouts participated, including the following dads and leaders; Marty Stout (dad), Rick Wright (assistant scout master and dad), Eric Tuttle (assistant scout master) and John Sorensen (scout master). Weather reports predicted a cold night of 7 degrees but we believe we didn't get quite that low - it was 14 degrees at 11 p.m. and the digital thermometer quit working by morning. We met at the church at 3:30 and was off by 4:15, arriving at Camp Kiesel around 5:00. We were about in the middle of arrivals. We camped closest to the parking lot, up on the mountain top, rather than back in the camp as in previous years. Everyone put their tents up first and prepared their sleeping bags to fluff up before heading off for snowball fights and sled riding. We had chili with hot dogs and hot chocolate, followed by tootsie-rolls and other frozen candy. Crackers would have been nice, according to Marty! The scouts were rounded up and off to bed by 10:00 pm. Proper preparation, with multiple sleeping bags and blankets made sleeping through the night possible. Our noses froze at they poked out of our bags for air, but with our benny-caps in place, we survived the night. Morning brought pancakes, eggs, bacon and hot chocolate. Scouts rolled up their sleeping bags before the 9:30 flag ceremony and we were off to the Klondike Derby. Causey Dam had ice and about a foot of fresh snow on top, with slush underneath, somewhat worse than last year. Walking about was a challenge, but we got our exercise for the day. A water jug with individual water bottles with the boys names marked on them, would have been nice, but the boys improvised and melted snow in their mouths. Most of the scouts were determined to finished all of the events, rewarding them with a head-mounted light. Rhett Harris, our senior patrol leader led the scouts from one event to another and did a great job. Back at camp around 12:30, we had the scouts favorite of submarine sandwiches, soda and chips. We packed up our gear and were out of camp by 2:00 and home by 3:00 with memories of surviving the cold that mountain men and early pioneers had to survive when they migrated to the west 150 years ago. Scouts participating: Rhett Harris, Connor Wright, Moab Schiers, Noah Schiers, Derek Williams, Quinn McClune, Kaden Hopper, Tyler Stout, Stockton King.
