Scouts Hone Skills On ‘Gold Rush’ 400 Youngsters Compete In Klondike Derby

The young men were mushing through Alaska on a dogsled loaded with supplies when a bandit blocked their path.

“I wanna see a bowline or I wanna see gold,” the bandit growled.

The young men struggled and fussed, but finally gave up.

Fortunately, the bandit was friendly and only charged the aspiring Boy Scouts one nugget of gold for not knowing how to tie a bowline knot. The bandit also rewarded them with chocolates for their perfect square knot.

The boys from Post Falls Webelos Pack No. 206 were participating in the annual Klondike Derby, held this year at Silverwood Theme Park.

More than 400 Scouts, including Boy Scouts and Webelos, attended from throughout North Idaho to test their survival skills.

The derby is fashioned after Alaska’s gold rush, with the boys pulling dogsleds and visiting areas of the park named after Alaskan cities. In each location, a different skill was tested. In “Nome,” they judged the height of a tree. In “Sitka,” they tied knots. In “Seward,” they built fires. They also lashed poles together, identified animal tracks, cooked lunch and performed first-aid.

Each troop was awarded fake gold nuggets for each task correctly executed. But as they traveled, “bandits” stopped them to ask for demonstrations of skill. Incorrect answers led to lost nuggets.

The Crow’s Patrol section of Rathdrum Boy Scout Troop No. 218 was struggling with their fire. Their stove had malfunctioned and they had already gone through a box of matches, with dismal results. The goal was to boil water for hot drinks over the fire.

“The wind is high; we just can’t get our fire going very well,” said Kenny Anthony, 13, as he warmed his hands over a tiny flame.

“This is the saddest attempt you’ll ever see to boil a cup of water,” said Travis Abram, 13. “I’m glad we don’t have to make lunch.”

Mike Stine, 15, agreed.

Then 13-year-old Steven Auer, who had been fiddling with the stove, suddenly made it work. High-fives were exchanged as their first cup of water started to boil.

“Yeah, teamwork!” Abram shouted.

Next to them, Webelos Pack No. 215 of Hayden had a fire crackling, fueled by their secret ingredient (dryer lint), paper and kindling. An equal number of adults circled the boys, calling out instructions.

“We have eight adults and eight boys,” said pack leader Jan Leaf. “It’s hard for the control-freak adults not to say anything.”

Sandpoint Webelos Pack No. 315 was busy identifying animal tracks at the next station. Included among the tracks were those of moose, deer, elk, bear and bobcat.

“I’ve seen these all the time in our woods, and there’s no bobcat in our woods,” said Joe Triplett, 10, arguing with a fellow Scout about which tracks belonged to the bobcat.

Despite the achievement of other groups, the boys in Rathdrum Troop No. 216 - aged 13 to 17 - were pretty confident they’d take the derby’s top honors. The boys were waiting to be judged on the A-frame structure they’d created by lashing four poles together.

“We won this thing last year,” said Robert Morrow, 17. “There’s no competition.”