To refresh everyone's memory, last year found us in the larger of the two cabins on the property, during the coldest weekend of the year, with a broken wood stove, and tainted water.
Happily, this year's trip went much better. First off, Byrd is a much smaller cabin, and therefore much easier to heat and maintain warmth (no that we needed it, as the temps during the weekend were in the mid 50's) and there was an actual wood burning stove in the cabin - not a converted 55 gallon drum. Also (I found out later) the cabin had recently been refurbished with a new roof, new ceiling and new insulation only a few months ago.
While not the largest cabin there, it certainly is the nicest... as far as cabins go.
The weather this weekend, while not overly cold, was not overly clear either. The mountain top was besieged by fog the entire weekend, which is not a particularly bad thing, just incredibly annoying as everything is saturated by dampness. Our Scouts managed to get the fire going, and despite the wood's fiendish desire to not light or stay lit, we managed to stay warm and cook our meals around the fire pit. The stove in the cabin was kept at a balmy 102 all weekend, making everyone comatose almost immediately upon entering. It also helped the fire that the camp ranger is constantly stocking all the sites with split, dry firewood all year. Two of the outer walls were insulated with stacks of firewood.
So what the heck were we doing up there? Preparing for next weekend's Klondike Derby! The Scouts in attendance were grilled on all the basic Scout skills in the hopes that they will retain the information to place at the Klondike. We also performed a mock missing person / mountain first aid rescue scenario, which the Scouts completed... well, we could still use a little work in that area. I'm sure we'll do fine on Saturday.
Other than the review of Scout skills, we tested out a new recipe - pie iron pizza! A little bit of pre-made pizza dough, some tomato sauce, mozarella and a few bits of pepperoni, and boom!
Pie iron pizza.
Its something that I've wanted to try for a while, and since we were going to be in site all weekend, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to test it out. Everyone had some, and it seemed to go over quite well - even sparking a discussion of what else could go in the pizza, as well as what else was out there to make in the pie irons.
Why did I do this?
I'm always trying to get the Scouts to think beyond what they are used to - even take them out of their comfort zone. Even though we were in site all day, and therefore had access to a fire, they boys still put down cold cut sandwiches for lunch.
No matter what we do, it seems they always choose this meal for lunch. Personally, I can only take so much cold cuts, and I felt it was time to look into other items. Hopefully, the pie iron pizza will open the flood gates to other new and exciting ideas as far as our menu goes.
The other issue is that pie irons are much lighter and easier to carry than a griddle and grate - which is what we normally use for just about everything. Also, the items used in pie iron cooking could be far less in weight and space, and therefore we need one less cooler - which take up a lot of space, and fully loaded can weigh quite a bit.
For instance, with the pie iron pizzas, I used Pillsbury pizza dough in a tube. We got 4 sandwiches out of the tube, but I also didn't cut the initial sandwich dough frugally, so in reality, we should be able to get 6 - 8. Now, the tube is... a 5th of the size of a loaf of bread, and can be placed in a backpack, as oppose to a cooler. It needs to be chilled, but not necessarily cold. The number one difference is that a tube is pretty resilient to pressure, as oppose to a loaf of bread, when you crush it, you get... bread sticks.
What is the ultimate goal? I'm personally shooting for less gear, less weight, and more efficiency. In this instance, we're eating better by taking a better and more suitable candidate for what we need. Not all of the places we camp at allow us to park at the site - including Camp Yawpaw, and therefore, the less time we spend carrying equipment back and forth to the car and site, the more time we spend camping, working on our fieldcraft, and having fun.
Change takes time however, so we'll see how the rest of the year goes.
At any rate, we had a wonderful time despite the fog and wetness, and managed to get some practice in for the Klondike Derby. Saturday will tell how well it all payed off.
Now to dry out our gear, stow it, clean it, and get ready for the next adventure... the Klondike Derby!
I'm sorry to say that there are no pictures from this weekend; our staff photographer was sick and unable to join us this weekend.
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