A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A group of female Scouts walk to the next stop of the Beargrease Derby, an outdoor skills competition held by the Scouts each year at the Cloquet Forestry Center
Troop 342 members Colton, Isaac and Miles work together to lash some poles to trees, with their task being to save their sled from an imminent flood.
A lack of snow didn't hamper the Scouts Saturday, as troops from around the Northland converged on the Cloquet Forestry Center for the annual Beargrease Derby, formerly known as the Klondike Derby. Normally held on snow-covered trails, it is an outdoor winter skills event.
Each station around a 3K loop of trail is named for a stop along the actual Beargrease marathon route. Scouts made their way to each stop Saturday, working together to master or solve whatever task they were given at that particular stop.
Troop 342 from Ashland was stopped at the Two Harbors station Saturday. They were busy lashing poles to trees.
"The objective is to secure poles to be able to get their dog sled and their gear up off the ground because there's a flood coming," explained assistant scoutmaster Tony Blackman. "At each stop, they're using their knowledge of scouting and outdoor skills to accomplish team-oriented tasks."
The lack of snow precipitated some changes, but a good scout must be prepared, right? Some teams were using wagons or adding wheels to their sleds. "Our story is, our sled became incapacitated, so we're packing through with our backpacks," he added.
