06/17/2020
Crew 241 Iceland Update
May 26, 2020
Iceland Trip Critical Information -- The trip is still on!!!
Iceland is Lifting incoming tourist travel restrictions June 15th
All incoming tourists must undergo a Covid-19 test upon arrival
If test positive, must quarantine for 14 days at personal cost soâŠ
By the end of July to beginning of August more testing should be available.
All Iceland attendees should obtain a test between 8/1 â 8/7. Current status is that there is no charge for these tests. We donât want anyone stuck in Iceland at great expense.
Passport Check - Status???
Get an annual physical exam. If you have had one in the past year, we need your doctor to complete the scout medical form. Physical forms are available here: https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/HealthSafety/pdf/680-001_ABC.pdf
What to do between now and then⊠-- Clothing & Gear
Keep walking and hiking as much as possible. Try to get out 3 â 5 days per week and take a walk, and at least one day a week try to hike some hills.
Get your gear together. Most importantly, make sure you have the following:
rain gear
hiking boots/hiking shoes
Hat with a brim
Synthetic clothing. Such as fleece hoodies or jackets, pants, and shirts for wicking. Cotton is a bad idea, so no jeans or cotton shirts.
You donât need a lot of clothing! I will have three pair of hiking pants, three long sleeve synthetic shirts, a fleece layer, and a fleece heavier jacket/hoodie. You wear your shirts and hiking pants over and over. Keep one extra set of clean clothing for the flight home.
What to do between now and then⊠-- Food!
Try foods that can be made with heated water for dinner. They should be dry goods to keep weight down. Partner up with someone and often one box serves more than one.
We will target an upcoming weekend to practice this style of cooking together.
Begin to think about breakfast. This is not a cooked breakfast. Think peanut butter and jelly on bagel, or individual serve SPAM in foil packets, breakfast bars and something to mix with hot water (coffee, tea, Tang, etc.)
Lunches - These are âeat on the wayâ lunches. Snacks, meal bars, M&Mâs, jerky, slim jims, tuna packets, etc.
Mountain House meals are ideal for dinner, and donât think a one person meal is always enough unless you are the size of a cub scout. If you have leftovers, trust me, someone is always willing and able to finish. They can be pricey, so go back to bullet one and experiment
What to do between now and then⊠-- Mental Fitness
If you havenât done much tent camping, sleep outside for a few nights in a row if you are able. Your own backyard is fine. Get used to a routine of going to sleep when it gets dark and waking up when it gets light. This will give you plenty of hours of sleep and makes best use of the day.
Find a really difficult hike. It doesnât have to be long, just difficult. A really hard hill/mountain to hike up. Get used to what it feels like to struggle and get frustrated. It will happen on an extended trip. When you do that hike, make sure you have a daypack, plenty of food, and plenty of water. The purpose it so really challenge yourself with a difficult hike.
A great place is to go to Port Clinton, hop on the Appalachian Trail and go straight up the mountain (heading South). Turn around at the top, come back to the bottom, and then do it one more time.
What to do between now and then -- Mental Fitness
Write down what causes you to get frustrated.
Is it not meeting expectations?
Other people, and if so, why?
Trying to do to much?
When there is disagreement?
When there is apathy among others?
Write down what really upsets you and causes you to go to a negative place. We are going to talk about this in an upcoming session.
What to do between now and then⊠-- Tent Buddies
We need an inventory of tents. Who has what, and how many people will they sleep?
The camping permits that we need are one permit per tent, so the more we can combine some people the more money it saves. Many tents easily can handle 3 people. And since we will have vehicles on premises, some gear could be stored in the vehicle to make more room for tenting.
At an upcoming meeting we will establish tent partners. In the meantime, please identify what tents you have available. Remember, no large heavy tents or our gear will be overweight. Tent buddies will split up the tent in their duffel bags to distribute weight.
FinallyâŠ.
Make sure you have the basic requirements
Passport
Medical Form
Basic clothing
Stay positive!!! There are no indicators at this time that our trip will be canceled. Iceland is probably safer than many of our own states, including Pennsylvania.
Keep walking and hiking!
Begin to put together a 10-day menu for yourself. We will also be going to a grocery store in Iceland on day 1 or 2 to supplement what we have. Seriously, how could we not try some Iceland foods!
Research hiking trails and campsites that are part of the Iceland Camping Permit system. We are staying in the bottom half of the country. There are some sites that we already know we are going to, so keep researching.
Think outside the box for fundraisers and timing of those fundraisers. We need to be creative!!! Think about what people really need now.
