Another True Camping Story

My father was in the military and we moved to Iceland back in 58'. Iceland was a country founded by Vikings. The country was formed by volcanos to include mountains, valleys, lakes, caves, geysers, hot springs and so much more. Several volcanos are still active today. I joined the American Boy Scouts and we had many adventures with the Icelandic Boy Scouts. On one camping adventure, we met the Icelandic Boy Scouts up in a valley surrounded by mountains. Keep in mind that we camped only in the summer months. The temperatures rarely got above 50 degrees, but we were use to this. Our scout masters were military and we were always prepared for the unexpected to include cold weather gear of all types. The Scout masters always drove a jeep and we marched behind with our backpacks. We carried most everything we needed to include two man backpacking tents, cooking utensils, water, stoves ect. Our scout masters took a thirty man tent, k-rations just in case of an emergency. We met the Icelandic Scouts and set up our camps. The sun was out and a perfect time to go exploring. This camp out was suppose to be for three days. The next day the weather was starting to change, clouding up and getting colder. Later that afternoon it started to snow, something we did not expect. The snow really started coming down to include high winds. This storm continued all night and our scout masters told us to move our sleeping bags, clothes into the big tent. The Icelandic scouts were also invited to join us. There were around twenty in this large tent. We put our sleeping bags in a large circle, told stories, worked on our badges and ate K-rations. The snow and winds did not let up for four days. You can imagine what the parents were thinking because there was no communication. The scout masters always carried radios but due to the weather, they were not working. This freak storm lasted for four days. On the forth day, the snow and wind stopped. The sun came out and we all went out to look around at all the snow. Our two man backpacking tents were not to be seen because of all the snow. The big tent was all you could see. About an hour after the storm ended, we heard a yell from the direction of the mountains and saw an Icelandic rescue team skiing down the mountains pulling rescue gear on sleds. We started to yell, waving our arms. About the same time, here comes two helicopters from the military base. Little did we know that this was an international incident, which ended well. One helicopter took the Icelandic Scouts back to their capitol city of Reykjavik and the other helicopter took us back to the US military base. Our Scout masters stayed with the jeep and all the camping gear which was later lifted out by helicopters. A camping experience, I will always remember..Mike Carswell