Birds-eye View of Course

As of 2/3/09, updates are as follows:

Conditions
I was out to check conditions yesterday on Gregg Lake and had a great snowshoe hike.    The good news is that we have lots of snow, and the ice is 8-12 inches thick.    The bad news is that above the ice but underneath the insulating snow layer, there is layer of slush.  Total combination of snow/slush is about 12-14 inches.  There are areas which are windswept and therefore frozen.  We are going to shift the location of the stations to take advantage of these areas, but will make sure the distances are the same to keep the race at the end fair.  If you can find snowshoes for your patrols, I would strongly advise it.  Absolutely make sure your kids have waterproof boots in any event, which is common sense for any winter event.

If we can't find enough windswept & slush-free areas to camp, this coming weekend Troop 2 is setting up the bases and will clear areas of snow to allow them to freeze up for the week before Klondike.  Rick Edmunds, a T2 committee member, will also bring his snowmobile a few days before the event to pack trails a bit.    Our intent is still to camp on the ice.  Be planning to keep yourselves dry!

EMS Snowshoe Clinic
We have now confirmed that EMS will conduct a snowshoe clinic from noon to 1 p.m. at Admundsen station.  Kids and adults will be able to try out different styles of shoes and bindings, and learn more about snowshoeing as a sport.

Atlatls
I promised in my 1/23 update that I would post a picture of the atlatl we'll be using for the penguin harpooning. See it at the bottom of the page: http://troops.scouter.com/nh/troop2nh/Klondike2009.html
They turned out pretty cool, actually.  On the basis of some web research, we found out that weight of the tip is critical to accuracy and distance for the darts.  We've constructed our darts out of saplings, with the atlatls made out of the crook of a branch.  The darts are about 32-inches in length, tipped with 7, 3/8-in ID bolt washers.  The fletching is made from stiff paper covered in that universal material used by early man, duct tape.  We're going to deploy the penguins at distances ranging from 30 feet to 50 feet.

Firewood & Charcoal
Charcoal:  A major change on fuel from early versions of the handouts.    Originally, we were going to stage the charcoal for your lunch fires at the stations.  However, we're going to shift that money and spend it on bringing in the mushing team instead.  Therefore, I'm asking all units to bring a quantity of charcoal to fuel their cooking fire for three hours.

Firewood:    Second, for units staying the night, I had said in earlier information that firewood would be available.  That was predicated on the Girl Scouts of the Green & White Mountains (formerly the Swiftwater Girl Scout Council) saying yes to us.  They have, in true Scout spirit, denied us access to their property for the event for wood or back up camping.  Firewood is available, but would need to come from a greater distance down the lake at our troop camping area.  I would recommend that camping units bring their own supply.  Distance from the parking lot to the base areas is at most 3/4 mile, but you can locate closer if you wish.    We are practicing Leave No Trace here, so make sure your patrols bring pans or other fire containers.

Cooking/Eating/Clean-Up Schedule
Speaking of charcoal, I got questions from a couple of Scoutmasters regarding cooking lunch.  Lou Kaletsky asked:

The patrol brings all lunch items (cooking and eating equipment, food, fire starting equipment) on their sled to the first station where they will, in adition to do whatever that station is, make a fire and start their lunch cooking.  They can leave all the \fore mentioned stuff at that station.  The patrol returns to the station at lumch to find their penguin cooked.  They eat. Here is the tricky part They leave their hot dutch oven, coals, and cooking gear at the station and oncontinue on their journey.  At the end of the day, they retreive their belongings from the station they had lunch at.  The base personnel will keep an eye on your meal while you're out on the trail and add additional fuel as needed.

Jeff Lacourse asked if propane was OK to cook lunch, but I declined and asked him to stay with the charcoal.  BUT, if you're staying overnight, you can use whatever fuel you want for your camping meals -- wood, propane, liquid, cold fusion, etc.

Prizes
I have purchased the following prizes:

Klondike Competition
1st Place:  A Buck camp axe (it's really a tall hatchet) which is one of the newer, lighter versions with the synthetic handle.  AND a Backpacker Magazine Winter Camping Book. And one of the CD case sextants we'll be using at the non-compass navigation station.
2nd Place:  A winter backpacking book, and one of the CD case sextants we'll be using at the non-compass navigation station.
3rd Place:  Handwarmers for the whole patrol and one of the CD case sextants we'll be using at the non-compass navigation station.

Best Penguin Cooking:  National Outdoor Leadership Training "Cookery" cookbook.


$6.00 to pre-register by February 11.  $8.00 at the event.

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