The Polar Bear Camporee/Klondike Derby is an annual event for the Abraham Lincoln Council of the scouts. In past years, scouts have braved ice and sub-zero temperatures. This year, it looked like the biggest challenge was going to be mud and rain.

“I don’t think this winter is going to be as cold as some,”. said Dan Dallstream, the 16-year-old senior patrol leader for Troop 68. “We’ve had some really bad ones where it gets down to zero. That’s kind of miserable some times.”

About 240 scouts pre-registered for the weekend campout, which is held at Camp Illinek in Springfield.

The Klondike Derby is based on the Iditarod Run of 1925, in which dogsled teams delivered medicine to Nome, Alaska to counter a diphtheria outbreak. During the campout, scouts haul their gear on wooden sleds and go from station to station testing their scout skills.

One station requires that they use their knot-tying abilities, and another will have them demonstrate their fire-starting skill.

Those events will be held today. The campout concludes Sunday morning.

To make the campout even more memorable, many of the scout troops, including Troop 68, spend the weekend in winter shelters they built at the camp before the weekend.

The Taylorville scouts lashed together tree limbs for the frame of their shelter and then stretched plastic sheets over the frame. Inside the 5 foot-by 15-foot shelter, they spread straw.

The entire troop planned to stay in the shelter this weekend.

Mark Wilson, chair of the Klondike derby, said that over the years, he has seen all types of weather during the event.

“We were out here for the ice storm four years ago, and we’ve been out here when it’s eight degrees. It’s a challenge for the boys. They really have to prepare,” Wilson said.

Adult leaders are briefed on the signs of hypothermia and warned to keep an eye on all the campers, he added.

Despite the weather, Wilson said the scouts enjoy the challenge the winter campout presents.

“The older scouts will teach and lead,” Wilson said. “The helps them learn leadership skills and teaches the younger guys how to take orders and work as a team to accomplish their goals.”

Friday night’s forecast called for a low of 34 with a southeast wind between 11 and 13 mph.

There was already a lot of mud at Illinek Friday night, and the chance of more rain today was 80 percent.

“The boys will have fun – even in the mud,” said Will Summers, a district executive for the Abraham Lincoln Council who was signing in people as they arrived at Illinek Friday. “They may get a little sloppy, but they will survive. This will give them some memories.”