James and Dirk went on the winter Klondike campout this past weekend. They had lots of fun and had a grand adventure. They slept in snow caves (all 9 people that went on the campout). They built three really large snow caves (6 feet by 8 feet by 3 feet tall), so they couldn't stand up, but they even built tunnels to connect the caves. One picture is an air hole at the top of the snow cave, the other is a connector tunnel to the other cave, and the last picture is the entrance to one cave. They chose to camp near the entrance, using the snow from a snow plow for their caves. As they were packing up, some other scout troops took over their snow caves, calling them the most awesome caves they had seen. The kids competed in the competition, with orienteering, firestarting, etc. They didn't place in the competition, but they were some of the few that finished the comp. On the way back from the comp, they had to travel over the Causey dam (which had been walked on the whole weekend). James, following the people in front of him, managed to find the one weak spot in the lake and fell in. He screamed for help and they got him out after he got thoroughly soaked. Thank goodness we packed extra snow boots, extra snow pants, extra everything. One of the things they do at Klondike is ice rescue and the kids actually got to use it getting James out (actually a leader and some older scouts got him out). They said he did everything right and it was an actual path, but that the ice had weakened just enough to fall through. Aside from snow caves, the competition, the fall through the ice, getting sunburned from the sun on the snow (there was a ton of new snow - about 4 feet in the last week), there were no major incidents. Dirk and one of the other leaders took the scout sled down the side of the hill and tumbled over the sled and banged up his knee - shame on him for goofing off. They had a blast and would do it again. I'm just glad they survived and made it home.
James and Dirk went on the winter Klondike campout this past weekend. They had lots of fun and had a grand adventure. They slept in snow caves (all 9 people that went on the campout). They built three really large snow caves (6 feet by 8 feet by 3 feet tall), so they couldn't stand up, but they even built tunnels to connect the caves. One picture is an air hole at the top of the snow cave, the other is a connector tunnel to the other cave, and the last picture is the entrance to one cave. They chose to camp near the entrance, using the snow from a snow plow for their caves. As they were packing up, some other scout troops took over their snow caves, calling them the most awesome caves they had seen. The kids competed in the competition, with orienteering, firestarting, etc. They didn't place in the competition, but they were some of the few that finished the comp. On the way back from the comp, they had to travel over the Causey dam (which had been walked on the whole weekend). James, following the people in front of him, managed to find the one weak spot in the lake and fell in. He screamed for help and they got him out after he got thoroughly soaked. Thank goodness we packed extra snow boots, extra snow pants, extra everything. One of the things they do at Klondike is ice rescue and the kids actually got to use it getting James out (actually a leader and some older scouts got him out). They said he did everything right and it was an actual path, but that the ice had weakened just enough to fall through. Aside from snow caves, the competition, the fall through the ice, getting sunburned from the sun on the snow (there was a ton of new snow - about 4 feet in the last week), there were no major incidents. Dirk and one of the other leaders took the scout sled down the side of the hill and tumbled over the sled and banged up his knee - shame on him for goofing off. They had a blast and would do it again. I'm just glad they survived and made it home.
