The Cub Scouts of Pack 1111 beamed as they talked about their favorite part of the annual Klondike Derby.
"The fires," many of them shouted yesterday as they sipped the homemade tea they had just finished making.
The name of their pack is, after all, the Fire Eagles.
Almost 2,000 Howard County Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts and their supporters filled Patapsco State Park in Ellicott City for the Klondike Derby, a one-day event sponsored by the National Pike District of the Boy Scouts of America.
Elementary- through college-age Scouts traveled trails and participated in games and events, and learned first-aid techniques - all while keeping to the theme of overcoming a harsh Canadian winter during the Klondike Gold Rush.
"I think it really encourages winter activities," said Howard Warner, assistant scoutmaster for Troop 759 in Ellicott City, who helped run the derby.
The derby included three trails - one for Cub Scouts ages 6 to 8, one for Boy Scouts ages 9 to 12 and an adventure trail for older scouts who are typically 15 to 17 years old. Scouts on the adventure trail backpacked around the perimeter of the park.
Nicholas Moy, a member of Elkridge-based Pack 1111, said he always gets to see something new.
"It's at a different place every year," Nicholas said.
Many of the activities were led by older Scouts, who helped guide the younger packs through the challenges they met along the trails. Those challenges including cutting a log in half with a two-man saw, creating a fire without matches and building a shelter in the woods.
At one station, Scouts learned about items that could be used to help them survive in the woods, said Pamela Paulding, senior adviser of the search and rescue unit. They learned, for instance, to bring a whistle, bandanna and plastic garbage bag, which can be used to cover a person who is lost in the cold woods.
Corey Kipke, 15, of Highland-based Troop 702, said at his station Scouts built shelters from material they found in the woods.
"We've been teaching the younger Scouts how to make a basic debris hut," Corey said.
tyeesha.dixon@baltsun.com