Klondike Camp Out

I had the chance to participate again this year in our annual Boy Scout Winter Camp. We were a balmy -5 degrees F overnight ... a bit chilly. But notwithstanding the temperature, the boys had a great time. Our troop was one of approximately 30 troops from the 4-stake District to participate in the District's Klondike Derby held at the Soldier Hollow venue. In addition to freezing our tales off, we were able to participate in an "Olympic" ceremony, tubing, cross-country skiing, and finally a Klondike Derby race between troops.

It was a lot of fun. Because we had such a great turn out of both fathers and the boys, I was able to bring Garrett along. In addition to having a great time with all of the activities, Garrett learned a timeless lesson ... immortalized in the movie "A Christmas Story."
Most of us have all seen and love "A Christmas Story". One of the all-time classic scenes in that show is when the boys get their tongue stuck to the flag pole. Most little boys have tried this at least once (and if multiple times ... there is likely an IQ problem). Garrett had his first experience with, in this case, his lip getting stuck to a metal hand-rail at Soldier Hollow. He was sliding down a handrail and ended up putting his mouth to the rail and found that he was stuck ... he pulled and pulled and finally was released only to find that he left part of his lip on the hand rail. He came to me all bloodied up asking if I could see anything wrong with his lip ... I assured him I could and did ... and was then able to teach him the scientific principal of moisture (ie water, spit, etc.) and its tendency to freeze, especially on very cold metal objects.

I am proud to report that Garrett did not need to have a second practical lesson on the matter!