Adventures in Scouting

Klondike Derby - January 13-14, 2012

2012-01-24T11:44:00.001-08:00

Waiting in line for the competition to start
We spent the night in a heated cabin and got up early so we could get a good spot. We were pleasantly surprised to be the first in line.

First Aid Competition
Some scouts made a stretcher and others set splints and bandages

Our boys did really well. You could tell they had been practicing first aid in our scout meetings.

Make a Fire and Fry an Egg Competition

First part of the egg cooking competition was making a fire. Easier said then done when you are on snow. Our boys did great.

After the fire got going, the next step was to cook the egg.

The boys couldn't scramble the egg and had to be sure to cook it all the way through. Just as challenging was cooling the egg down afterwards in snow, so it could be eaten... ending the timer.

Flagpole raising competition

The scouts had to lash 2 poles together with the patrol flad, then hold it up with 3-4 stakes and ropes

Mail run competition. The boys had to race around some obstacles and drop off a mail pouch. They had a bit of challenge with the Patrol flag getting caught on the tree as they went around it.

They pulled hard and fast.... so fast that a couple got left behind.

Ice rescue competition. First step was tying 10 six foot ropes together

After the rope was tied, it had to be thrown 40 feet to a scout on the sled, without crossing the line.

It took a few tries. Tristan, being the newest member of the patrol was the lucky scout to be on the sled. He would reach out with his pole and try to catch the end of the rope to pull it in.

Our happy scouts having a good day in the snow

Knot tying competition. They had 8 knots that had to be tied

They were able to successfully tie the bowline, bowline on a bight, square knot, figure eight knot, clove hitch.... but missed the taut line and 2 half-hitch knots.

Log sawing competition

They had to sit on the log to keep it stable while 2 boys sawed

Each scout had to take turns sawing, so they were rotating throughout the event

As soon as one or both scouts got tired, other scouts would switch out.

The boys successfully completed this event and all the other events, just as we ran out of time.The trick was to only pull the saw, never push, and to keep it straight.

Lots of fun sledding on the hill.

It was so slippery that at least one leader took and accidental slide down the hill

Great job Oompa Loompa Patrol!

Congratulations Road Runner Patrol on getting 2nd place overall and lots of placement ribbons!

Happy Scoutmasters with the Road Runner Patrol.

Rattlesnake Ledge, December 3, 2011

2011-12-04T20:51:00.001-08:00

Rattlesnake Lake parking lot

Fortunately, we saw this highly reflective sign warning us to not fall off the ledge, so we didn't.

Exploring a large crack in the rocks

Federation Forest hike, November 19, 2011

2011-12-04T20:34:00.001-08:00

Trying to get the rocket stove going with a shortage of dry twigs

Lunch break

Preparing for snowball exchange

Mount St. Helens campout, October 14-15, 2011

2011-10-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Trailhead for Loowit Falls

Mountain goats in the distance

Spirit Lake

Loowit Falls

Camp site view just before sunrise

Sunrise over Mount Adams

Bagpipes

Miner's car, eruption + 31 years

Miner's car, eruption + 3 years (1983)

Miner's car pre-eruption

Trail head to Spirit Lake

Steps to Windy Ridge (400+)

View from Windy Ridge

Denny Creek hike, August 20, 2011

2011-10-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Finding our own trail

Popping out of the woods

Lunch on the rocks

Cedar Butte hike, May 21, 2011

2011-10-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Stream monitoring station

Where's my other hat?

The highlight of the trip was discovering that the surveyor's plaque had omitted the last "e" in Cedar Butte

Carbon River Campout, April 8-9, 2011

2011-10-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

Friday night fire without matches

Saturday morning fire without matches

Pouring bacon grease on the fire

Breakfast marshmallows

Exploring the Carbon River

Rock ready to drop

Rock contacting the river

Trever contacting the river

Multi-tasking with ambidexterity

Anders contacting the river

Reagan contacting the river

Mom's going to like these rocks

Road rest

Spray Falls, September 17, 2011

2011-10-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

View from Eagle's Cliff - Rainier + cloud

Spray Falls

Spray Falls up close

Super Manly - Sliding

2011-08-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Super Manly - Swimming

2011-08-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Super Manly - Camp & Set-up

2011-08-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Super Manly - Guns

2011-08-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Super Manly - Rock Climbing

2011-08-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

Super Manly - Archery

2011-08-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

To be safe we waited till the scoutmaster moved. He provided all the safety information before moving. :)

Sir Robin Hood shot this arrow in twain from 400 yards! j/k

A good scout always collects all his arrows, even in the middle of a forest.

The safest place is what you are aiming for - Q.E.D.

Mt Si Hike

2011-08-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

Some people may call this Mt Die. But we successfully conquered in the spring-time, rainy mist.
Here is our view of Mt Rainier from the top.
Some people may call this Mt Die. But we successfully conquered in the spring-time, rainy mist.

Fire Night

2011-06-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

We had a fire night together with the cub scouts. Unfortunately, it was raining so we had to do everything under tarps, canopies, and awnings. Below is one of the larger fire pits we had going.Our patrol leader is making the perfect "fuzzy" stick.

Here is a good way to keep warm.

Here is the demonstration on how to use a bow to make fire.

Here are the tables where we would practice making small fires. We would use flint and steel, batteries and steel wool, drier lint and matches, & cotton balls with matches.

Here is the table looking the other way.

Here a scout is working on catching the sparks from the flint and steel.

Lastly, I am just wondering who brought the inflatable matress blower?

My Rainier - Other Snow Cave

2011-06-16T21:19:00.001-07:00

I have a few more pictures I wanted to add. Here is some of the wildlife we saw. This fox was posing on the side of the road. Everyone, including us, stopped for a picture.

Here is one of the boys in our last snow cave:

Here are a bunch of the boys in the same snow cave:

Mt. Rainier Igloo

2011-06-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

Not everyone likes to lay in the snow. They make igloos. The boys had fun helping with this project. With the snow saws, constructing the blocks was really easy.

Sleds make transporting the larger blocks a lot easier.

It is a little skinny but we were lacking a structural engineer to design a king truss large enought to span a space for all the boys.

Here is how they cut the blocks from the snow - just cut into a little hill until you level it some.

It seems like TNT would be easier to level this structure.

Mt Rainier Going Down

2011-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

After explaining to the scouts the concept of glissading (sliding down the mountain), they were not about to continue walking down hill. Here are some pictures.

Mt Rainier Snowshoing

2011-05-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

We were luck enough to get some rentals from REI. Below is what I was using.The snow hike was fun while we were able to do it. The trees are so interesting up there. They have a very short growing season, because of the cold and lack of light.

Looking close at the trees, you can see that there were little icecycles. It is interesting that these are formed sideways instead of down. I think it is due to the constant wind and lack of sunshine-induced melting.

Here are two more pictures of our group:

Mt Rainier Visibility

2011-05-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

The visibility on this hike was less than ideal. After getting pointed in the right direction, we started hiking. I pulled out my compass just to get readings on where we were going. After a while a cross-country skier passed us who looked like he knew where he was going. We followed him for a while.The skier was too fast for us. His pace was breaking up our group and so we needed to stop to regroup. Here is the back of the group...

and here is the front of the group. We decided that it wasn't wise to do our full hike because of the lack of visibility and still not knowing where the trail was.

During our lunch break, we saw several groups come down the hill. They weren't really taking the same path down. Each group seemed to wander downhill figuring they would find the base. (It is times like this when it is important to have a whistle if you get lost.)

Here is a good example of the visibility, one scout with nothing-ness behind.

During the breaks, the scouts found renewed energy to run around and throw snow balls.

Mt. Rainier Scout Caves

2011-05-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

Even though we weren't going to use them, we had fun digging snow caves. Here are some pictures of the boys digging.

For safety, we need to collapse the caves we make so other people don't end up like our scout below.

Mt Rainier Sledding

2011-05-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

In Feburary, we went up to Paradise on Mt Rainier. Our first activity was sledding. Here are some of the pictures.
A leader takes the lead going down the hill showing the boys how to go straight to the bottom - lead by example. :)

We had fun going to a little hill for sledding. They had two trenches for sledding. Dragging their sled to the top, they would wait their turn and then think of something crazy to do, such as going backwards ....

or on their back...

or try (but fail) to jump the edge of the trench ...

sometimes they would go straight down ...

but often they managed to crash!

Overall it was a fun, easy activity.

Klondike Sledding

2011-01-29T15:30:00.000-08:00

After the competition, and cleanup, we did some sledding. The boys would pile on the sled and push off.
Naturally, they aligned themselves with the bump at the bottom.

Air time was a good time to bail if you weren't in for the long haul.

It seemed there were bodies piled all around after every run.

All in the name of fun.

Klondike Contest 7-8

2011-01-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

Our last event was the flag pole raising. We lashed three poles together. Well not all three together, but two poles to another pole. The boys were really efficient on this one.

After jamming the pole into the snow, the boys secured some stakes in the snow to help the pole stand up right. It was a success!

Here are the ribbons we won. Second place overall. Ribbons in every event except the knot tying.

It was a wet victory!

Klondike Contest 5-6

2011-01-27T16:30:00.000-08:00

Next we had the mail run. The boys needed to pull the sled around the flag poles seen in the distance. We had three ropes for the seven boys to pull on. After a few falls, in the deep snow, the boys were successful in grabbing the mail bag and returning to the start point.

The next task was an ice rescue. We needed to throw a rope 30 feet out to a sled and pull the scout on the sled in. The patrol before us unfortunately had a boy wrap the rope around his hand when they were pulling the sled in and so we had a teaching opportunity about how the tension tightens the rope and will crush your hand. (He was OK).

We laid out 8 lengths of rope and tied them together with sheet bends (square knots will come undone). We were not able to throw the rope far enough at 30 feet, on three tries; the next rescue attempt was at 25 feet. We hit that distance, or at least we were able to "reach" the rope from the sled, and pull in the boy.

We then came to the first-aid rescue. One of our boys was "attacked by a moose earlier in the morning and had a broken arm and leg." The boys ran out to him and threw a jacket over him to keep him warm (he was cold from being injured in the snow all morning.) They made a splint for the arm and leg, and prepared a stretcher for carrying him to safety.

He was loaded onto a stretcher and hauled off to safety. We only fell through the snow once, almost dropping him :)

Klondike Contest 3-4

2011-01-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

The next task was the Alaskan Pipeline. The successful completion of this task requires a tennis ball to be inserted into a PVC pipeline. We needed to roll the tennis ball through the tubes, without dropping it, and have it successfully land in a hole. Having practiced with plotter rolls from an engineering office, we aligned the pipes and started the rolling.

The boys worked excellent as a team, watching the ball work through the pipes and yelling clear when the ball passed the their pipe.

Here is the ball successfully falling into the hole!

An interesting task was the egg cook. A flat piece gave us a platform to keep our dry wood out of the wet snow. A log cabin was built and filled with dry needles and small sticks. We got the fire started with a match (wax fire starters are illegal).

The egg was fried (cooked on one side and flipped - not scrambled) while drier lint was added to get the flames hotter.

Finally, the patrol leader had to eat the egg to stop the timer. The egg was cooled on a slab of snow. KC ate as fast as he could and we finished the contest quickly. Luckily for KC our egg was well cooked. There was no scary "liquidy" part for him to swallow through.

Klondike Starts

2011-01-25T15:30:00.000-08:00

As we were making breakfast. We had some people go down early and get us a spot in line. We were second! The people who were first got there around 6 a.m. - we were happy to be second.

As you can see, there were quite a few scout patrols who came. It was good that we got there early. They called out 6 patrols at a time to start. Being near the start meant we had shorter lines at the start of the competition.

The first task was to go to the "North Pole" (a marker in the middle of the field) and read a bearing to guide the patrol to their first task. We were successful with our orienteering. Below, the boys wait for their direction on where to go first.

The first task given to us was knot tying. We had to successfully tie the 6 basic scout knots (pgs 382-390): two half hitches, taut-line hitch, timber hitch, clove hitch, bowline, and sheetbend. Additionally, we had to tie a bowline on a bight and a figure 8 knot.

Each boy was to draw a random knot out of a bag and then when given the go, they were to tie that knot. If someone didn't know their knot they could recieve help but only they could touch their rope. We were able to get all the knots tied, but unfortuantely the clove hitch slipped before it was judged. :( Below are the boys tying their knots.

The next task judged our patrol. Our patrol leader was successful in naming all the boys in our troop, giving our troop number, our patrol name, and leading our patrol in our call. (Beep-beep for the Roadrunners.)

For an activity, the whole patrol needed to stand on a bucket to successfully avoid the "kitchen with razor-sharp claws and flowing lava." For a nano-second, or less, all the boys were off the snow and on the bucket, so we passed.

Klondike Breakfast

2011-01-24T15:30:00.000-08:00

Breakfast got started during a cold and clear morning. The scouts set up the cooking supplies on our table and started.

We had some sausage (a favorite) and ...

pancakes. Our pancake mix filled an entire pitcher. As we got cooking, we learned how many pancakes that really was and were unable to eat the entire mixture.

We were also able to see someone (a field mouse) looking for extras. Like the good scouts we are, we let him find natural, more wholesome foods.

Klondike Camping

2011-01-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

After getting to our camp, the boys needed to be feed. Chili was prepared and consumed.
Bro Hanks used his great construction knowledge and supervised the snow cave construction. This helped the boys learn how to use a standard shovel. Some of them are pretty good at it too. This spring have them help you garden.

Seriously though, the highest paid guys in construction never do any work. :) With the help of several boys (and the supervision), the boys made a decent sized cave. Eventually, two boys could be in there at a time.

Bro Culwell prepared the sled for the next day's activities and the rest of the leaders supervised the continual snowball fight, preventing ice balls and huge blocks of snow from being thrown.

Here was our sleeping quarters. Pretty nice camping is all I have to say. On the right you can see a mattress up on end; it doubled for a changing room door for some privacy.

Little Si, November 2010

2010-11-14T17:04:00.001-08:00

Mount St. Helens, October 2010

2010-10-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Windy Ridge parking lot - beginning of the trail Loowit Falls, coming out of the crater

Spirit Lake

Crater and lava dome

Annette Lake hike, September 2010

2010-10-03T16:59:00.000-07:00

Old Baldy Thrash, August 2010

2010-10-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

SuperManly Campout, June 2010

2010-10-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

Mount Di, May 2010

2010-10-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

Surprise Lake Hike/Campout, April 16-17, 2010

2010-05-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

We camped on the edge of the Carbon River, just outside Mount Rainier National Park. We drove through serious rain 5 minutes before arriving at camp, but just had a couple of light sprinkles that caused no problems. Saturday morning we drove up Cayada Creek Road and hiked to Surprise Lake. The last part of the trail had 3 feet of fresh snow, which was challenging. The lake was still frozen. We burned some marshmallows, warmed up, and headed back down the hill. Stopped at a bridge over Cayada Creek to toss in some rocks, etc. We met a nice lizard, but for some reason, it wasn't interested in our offering of a fresh mosquito. After we piled into the megavan for the last time, it wouldn't start. That gave some of us the opportunity to explore Wilkeson Town Hall, while the working minivan returned to rescue the guys left behind, and while another minivan from Kent came to our rescue. The megavan made it home a couple of days later.

KC Lake Hike, March 20, 2010

2010-05-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

We drove to Olallie State Park and hiked up to the John Wayne Trail, then up a ridge for some nice views, and then back into the hills to an unnamed body of water that we subsequently named KC Lake. A couple of volunteers tested the water, we had our traditional snowball exchange, and headed down. On the way down, we had a serious accident which left one Scout with a fractured skull and concussion. Your continued prayers for his complete recovery would be appreciated.

Mount Rainier Snow Hike, Feb 20, 2010

2010-05-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

We drove to Paradise, did a short hike which included a most excellent sliding hill, then split into the tubing group and the mighty fortress building group. Then got together for a short snowball exchange, another short tubing run, and returned home. Glorious weather, and great fun. The pictures are from two cameras, with no chronological integration, so you will see the whole trip from two perspectives.

Klondike Gold, January 2010

2010-02-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

Federation Forest hike, December 2009

2010-02-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

Mason Lake attempt, November 14

2009-11-29T17:06:00.000-08:00

Mount St. Helens, October 9-10

2009-10-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

Friday hiked from Windy Ridge to the end of trail 216F to see Loowit Falls - 11 miles round trip. (Loowit Falls comes out of the crater, fed by melting ice/snow.) We camped just east of Meta Lake. Saturday hiked from Harmony to Spirit Lake - 4 miles round trip.

Edge of the blast zone.

Mount St. Helens is out there behind the cloud

FYI - When you put birthday candles in still-hot brownies,

the bottoms of the candles melt and they fall over.

Testing the fire extinguishing properties of bacon grease -

not so good.

Driftwood deposited by Spirit Lake, as the giant landslide pushed it over a mile and several hundred feet in elevation beyond its present shoreline (which is 200+ feet higher than before the blast)

Sunrise hike, September 19

2009-10-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

Seeking shelter from the storm

Lunchtime

Irresistible temptation

Deer

Marmot

Antonio discovers the fabled 2-headed marmot

Spray Falls hike - August 2009

2009-09-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

Spray Park - source of water for Spray Falls

Notice the cloud over the edge, covering the falls

Avalanche lilies - lots of Vitamin C

High humidity area

Wet feet

More wet feet