The Same Path Back
Translation details
Model:mistral-medium-2604.Translated text
Section titled “Translated text”This exercise takes place in unfamiliar terrain, or at least known roads must not be used. The patrol knows that after covering a certain distance—e.g., several kilometers—and changing direction several times, they must return to the starting point by the exact same route they took. Therefore, each scout tries to memorize distinctive features of the path during the march, such as a characteristic boulder, a forest barrier, a broken tree, a factory chimney visible from a certain point, etc., and frequently looks back to observe these features from the opposite side, as they appear differently when viewed from behind. Even in a forest, the route can be memorized by paying attention to the terrain’s shape, the course of valleys, and the layout of elevations.
During the march, the patrol leader places numbered slips of paper with the scouts’ names at various points—sometimes under a rock, sometimes in a tree hollow, etc. Upon reaching the destination, the scouts are sent back individually at intervals of several minutes, and each must bring all their slips back to the starting point as proof that they returned by the same route they had taken earlier.
The second time, the exercise is made more difficult by keeping the return a secret from the patrol; it is only announced upon arrival at the destination.
For less experienced scouts, it is permitted to mark the route in an inconspicuous manner and only in certain places, e.g., at crossroads. Alternatively, the entire patrol may return together (with one leading), in which case the slips are not distributed.
Scan source: Polona / National Library of Poland, marked “Public domain”. View scan — PDF pages 67–68.
Metadata
Section titled “Metadata”- Type: game
- Traits: Not stated in the source
- Source: Zygmunt Wyrobek, Harcerz w polu: zabawy i gry terenowe (1946)
- Printed pages: 61–62 / PDF 67–68
- Digital edition: Digital edition · Source record
- Open the edition at the relevant page: p. 61
- Read the source text: hwp-008