February 13-14, 2015
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Dan Merrel, Steve Boyd - Camp Cooks!!! |
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Jeremy Olsen, Travis Gallup, Brandon Johnson, Brad Gough, Nigel Kennet ,Dave Proctor, Matt Gardner, Steven Gardner, Giancarlo De Silva, Jason Smith, Bruce Humphreys, Nolan Carins, Jarom Macdonald, Michael Parker, Andy Koller, - Calgary South Scout Leaders |
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Pres. Yee, Blair Layton, Karl Burndorfer, Sam D. Burndorfer - Stake & Ward Support Team |
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All the boys |
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Materials prepared and handed out |
What a beautiful ride in... |
We just passed 3 big horn sheep, but you have to be safe driving so I
missed the picture. |
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After a slight glitch in getting the group site open, the park staff
arrived, unlocked all the gates, doors and wood bins, and we were
off. |
Kitchen setup, our highest priority. |
Next to biting bubbles in puddles of course. |
It's a chilling job, but someone has to do it. |
As he slowly nudges his friend under the dripping roof edge for the
shot. |
Excavating the foundation for the heated accommodations. |
These guys are relying on a soft pine needle base. Great pine scent here
to. |
Here we have the early Mexican Architecture. Want to bring in the feeling
of desert warmth. |
The beginnings of the traditional quinzhee, with a lower walkout. |
A lot more construction needed, but we're still smiling... |
Now to workout that door design... Heat rises right? |
So a snow shelter is not a tent right? We should be OK then, otherwise we
need to bury that sign. |
Steerable craft are definitely recommended on this slope. |
That's quite the drop off the edge there. |
Everyone waits with anticipation for that first meal. At this point they
are ready to eat anything and everything. |
Sous chef Steve taking his time though, working on the dipping sticks:
buttered, seasoned and lightly toasted right? |
Head chef Dan give the nod. |
That went too fast. Need more! |
More satisfied customers |
Leaders unanimously appreciated not having to cook while dealing with
setup of shelters with the boys. |
Rice crispies and chili, good combination! |
Round 2 is as good as round 1. |
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First group at their training activity. Avalanche Search & Rescue by
Travis. |
So which one of you boys wants to volunteer to be buried under the snow
with an avalanche beacon? |
Fire make skills going on here. Sam offers match sticks for
kindling. |
That worked. Too much smoke though. |
Axe skills 101. Choose logs without branches growing out. |
Then you can split logs this big. Putting egos aside, safety is always
first. Axe heads against soft body parts in never a good combination. |
Some continued effort still needed to complete the shelters. |
Sam's moved on from bubble biting to searching for squirrels. This
quadrant is good. |
You need to be very stealth to catch a squirrel. |
Notice my stance, you got to be ready to pounce. |
Meanwhile the cooks have some leftovers and some spare time before the
next meal... |
So it's not that hard to catch a hungry bird with the right bate. A
scout is wise in the use of all resources. We did give the bird his food
before sending him off. |
So for those in the Dutch oven cooking contest, preparation starts
early. |
Now I have to keep the dough warm so it can rise... |
Fire making skills always come in handy. Watch me make a 6 ft. high chimney
fire. |
I'll make a nice stove fire to keep this tent at a nice +30c all
night. |
Skillful use of snow mortar is needed to seal off the roof. |
Again, a scout is wise and resourceful, Oh look, an electric Sawzall. |
There's a lot to this home construction stuff...The main entrance will come up from the slope, and this is the main sleeping area. |
More challenging option. Chop it while its falling over. |
It's a good old Hockey game. |
We almost could have used skates. |
Was it rule number 2 or 3 where you're not suppose to be in front of the
guy chopping? |
Any boy not at his activity was put to work. |
Just look at that camaraderie... |
Add a little snow flurry to the next round and their still good. Except
for maybe Seth, who's almost ready to keel over. |
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Even outdoors, a guys got to close his eyes while cutting onions. |
Squirrels didn't work out, so now it's all about positioning yourself to
take advantage of any mishaps. |
Maybe if I bite his foot just as he's moving the hotdog.... |
Hamburger paddies in BBQ sauce, hotdogs with fired onions and sauerkraut
are ready, and now we're going to start cooking the fries... |
Some of the other competition starting on their dutch oven recipe. Peach Comber. |
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Sam joins in playing right wing. |
He's open, but no one is passing. |
Gets it, fires it in, but the defense is there to block it. |
There's a scuffle and the goalie goes down... |
It's deflected |
Sent down the ice and I think it's an icing call... |
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Spherical sub-zero & compacted H2O lobbing |
Whoa, put a bit of pepper into that one. |
Regrouping to fabricate more Spherical sub-zero & compacted H2O |
Unaware of the impending contact |
RJ (Real Ninja) taunts his opponents to try match his ninja reflexes |
Again, unaware of 2 more Spherical sub-zero & compacted H2O objects
coming in from behind. |
The sleeve canon fires one off. |
only to provoke a return volley |
Oh, the opponents could be on the run... |
Shucks, it was only the dinner call... |
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Few basic camp meal etiquette tips. Only 1 hamburger, 1 hot dog, 2 helping
of fries each on the first pass. Fixings aren't included though, sauerkraut,
fried onion, lettuce, tomatoes, raw onions, condiments... |
Oh, that looks sooo good! |
Dessert was based on the dutch oven contest. Karl - Orange Monkey bread,
Jeremy - Peach Cobbler, Travis - Pear Cobbler. Still waiting to get
the votes in. |
Note: Even though I burnt the scrud out of my 1st batch, the 2nd was good. So don't vote on the burnt batch. |
Great escape activity starts... |
Each scout gets a nice shiny new flashlight complements of Steve Boyd and
the Queensland troop. |
Each group gets a different colored glow-in-the-dark ring. |
Then all's we heard were scary wolf sounds and screaming boys. |
Conscripted kitchen help gets instruction on the deep fried fruit tortillas |
1st you get them soft and warm. |
Then drop of filling in the middle, folded into an envelope, Seal with a
toothpick, then you deep fry then, then you roll them in the cinnamon
sugar. |
Gee, I was hoping for something with a bit more protein for dessert. |
The whipping cream is definitely a nice touch, goes great with the hot
chocolate. |
Boy this really is finger licking good. |
Riley wasn't even going to waste time using utensils. |
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| After an nice indoor campfire (got to dry up all those wet cloths), some great songs by Jeremy's and his group #3 boys, a spiritual thought on Helaman 11:22-23, the boys headed off to the sites. | 
What an inviting home for a winter's sleep. |
That bottom walkout is all sealed off now. |
Not forgetting our night caps. Fur lined. |
| The new day and breakfast... | |||
Morning time already? |
Who set the thermostat to 30c? |
Still all quite over here. |
These guys could hardly wait to start the day. Nothing like shivering till
5:00am to help you pop out of bed. |
Don't get brighter eyed and bushier tailed than these guys. Gee Arwen, I
can tell the class that this trait is genetic as well as contagious. |
I hear hard working cooks stay warmer... |
You would think people would know what to do with leftovers, and the merits
of food storage. It's an important principle. |
I know these things last forever, but you got to at least bury them from
the other animals. |
Snows pretty crunchy here, but you still need to claw through a couple
inches at least. |
Then push back the snow with your nose, and perfect, nobody but me know
where my food storage is. |
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We got the tools to high volume food production. Sausages, Eggs, Hash browns,
with Pancakes. Nothing fancy, just your every day scout camp food. |
Nothing like a hot meal to put on those smile after a cold night. |
Breakfast is so good, I'm not even bothered by being under this dipping
sleeping bag. |
Some agree breakfast is better with toques on. Guess it depends on how
cold the sleeping event was. |
A table full of serious power eaters. |
Javon and Isaac, pushing back the carbs, preparing for some serious hockey
action later. |
Made to order pancakes were available... |
Isaac moves in to help out a fellow scout. We don't waste food around
here. |
| Outdoor Skills - Animal Identification - Matt and his brother | 
After an initial struggle to herd all the cats, no, scouts, together, the
group is off to the lake area. |
OK, 1st test, find wildlife Waldo |
Should I tell them, those are my footprints? |
From this footprint you can tell:
Direction of travel, type of animal, weight, how long ago the print was made, and measuring the distance to the next print, how large it was. And that only at the novice level. Watch man tracker for higher level skills. |
On the trail of something new. |
Wait, I see something... |
Kind of like a crocodile sticking his head out of the water. |
Nope, just a log. |
So what's with the picnic table out here in the lake? No leftover food... |
Look, modern art guys... |
Did you know that sometimes I can transform into a Polar Bear... |
Time to catch up with the group. |
Hey guys, "Ninja Vanish" |
You almost pulled it off. |
OK, these guys are good, where did they go. Snows coming down and the
tracks are getting covered. |
Did not know someone was sleeping down here. |
Some of the groups are starting to pack up their camp site already.
Folding up was ice covered tents is not that easy. |
Sandwiches, chips and cookies were set out by the cooks for lunch. |
No trace camping. Got to take down our beautiful shelters. |
| Awww, do we really have to go? Our last hike... | |||
Off to the lake, this time we got the other way. |
Cool, look at the ice out there. |
This feels weird. Do you think there's water under us? |
Made it. But worse case is the water is what, 1 foot deep here? |
Isaac figures if bushes are coming through, it can't be that deep. |
Austin's not so sure, as he gets some sinking action. |
Hmmm, slushy on top, harder in the middle. |
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Fear me, I'm now a polar bear! |
Check out my awesome size next to your puny bodies in the
background. |
I'm on the hunt with my paws build up in size... |
Watch my paws grow... |
The treacherous walk back... |
Getting that panoramic shot. |
Synchronized jumping... |
So hard to head back after so much fun. |
You get a powerful thirst after one of those hikes... |
Bit of a Brain-Freeze there... |
OK, we're good again. |
Aw, gee, you left some for me... |
All packed up and heading for you. What a view... |
Hey, focus on the driving, not the view. |
But just look at that blue sky coming out, the hoarfrost on the power lines
and trees... |
Just focus on the road, I don't need an airbag pressing me into the back
of this seat. |