Iceland is a large island about the size of England situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge just south of the Arctic Circle between Scandinavia and North America. It lies on a fault line where North American and the Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart causing frequent massive volcanic eruptions, the most recent being Eyjafjallajokull which grounded air traffic across the North Atlantic shortly before we arrived.
Belinda has been keen to visit this country for a long time and indeed I have been curious to see it as well so we decided last year to travel there in June 2010. As a warm-up I went first to Corsica to traverse the GR20. We left on 7th June and flew from Heathrow to Keflavik, took the airport bus to Reykjavik and booked into the Salvation Army hostel, which run a basic self-catering hostel. We spent 2 days exploring Reykjavik that is an attractive modern city.
We found that the best value in getting around Iceland was to buy a circle bus ticket which at 53,000 Iceland Kroners was not cheap. We went first to Vestmannaeyjar or the Westman Island to Heimaey. First though we had to get a bus to Porlakshofn and then a ferry. Once we cleared Reykjavik the landscape was lunar, a dramatic change. The ferry terminal was crowded with children and at first we were told the ferry was booked out but when I went back later they said they could take us. The journey out took 2.5 hours and was uneventful. I tried ringing guesthouses but could get no reply. We shouldered our packs and walked to the campground that was situated in the bowl of an extinct volcano. In the evening we set out and climbed Blatindur ( 273M) that was steep with lots of nesting fulmars on its cliffs. We traversed around to the next hill east and down to the town.
We got a hamburger and headed back to camp. It rained during the night and was still drizzling next morning. We set off to walk to the end of the island to see puffins but there was not much to see. We walked back to town and visited a Norwegian Stave Church down by the harbour. This was presented to the Heimaey people by the Norwegian government in 2000. We walked up through the lava area created by a massive eruption in 1973. This destroyed 360 houses and created a new mountain Eldfell. Advancing lava threatened to close the harbour and strenuous efforts to pour cold sea water on it worked stopping the lava 175 metres from the harbour mouth. We climbed up Eldfell which is a red cinder cone and found hot air vents on the summit and a cave heated by steam where we spent a while out of the freezing wind.
We returned to camp to find a strong wind blowing and a nearby tent being destroyed. We moved camp into the lee of the toilet block but this did not help much in the katabatic winds. Eventually we were forced to take down our tent and sleep in the toilet block. Next day we decided to return to the mainland. We got on the 8.15 AM ferry back to Porlakshofn on a calm clear day. Then we got a bus back to Reykjavik where we had a meal at the bus terminus, did some internet business, got some money out of an ATM, and boarded a bus to Skogar. There is a camping ground at the base of the Skogafoss waterfall beneath the Eyjafjallajokull icecap. This was nicely laid out below the falls that are very high and impressive. Belinda went off to take some pics of the falls while I got camp sorted out. Later I went for a walk and noted a thick layer of ash on the track by the waterfall. It rained during the night.
Next day we caught the bus to Vik, a small town further east on the south coast. It was drizzling again and we stayed at the Gistihus Arsalir in sleeping bag accommodation in a room to ourselves. There was a nice kitchen and it was very comfortable in the wet weather. We visited the folk museum and saw an interesting video on the Katla Volcano thought to be nearing another eruption. This volcano is beneath the Myrdalsjokull icecap nearby. Its previous eruption was in 1918. An eruption is expected to release 200,00-300,000 tons of ice/water per second. We were going to walk up the hill behind town but the weather was too miserable. Belinda went off and photographed a colony of Arctic Terns.
We had a comfortable night at Gistihus Arsalir and decided to travel on to Skaftafell. We left our packs there and went for a walk up the hill for a better view. We met a nice French couple in their 70’s. Cloud covered the icecaps and there were good views along the coast. At lunchtime we got the bus onwards passing enormous glaciers of the Vatnajokull icecap. We arrived at the park HQ at Skaftafell where there is a nice campground.
The views were superlative. As it was sunny and warm we decided to head off after pitching the tent for a walk up Skaftafellsheidi, the mountain behind the campground. The track climbs up through low birch forest to an open heathland with great views of Skaftafelljokull ice stream. It climbs to a place called Glama at 650 m. that is a fine view point. Belinda took a shorter route back and I carried on around the base of Kristinartindar to another view-point at Nyrorihnaukur. From here there was a ridge walk back to the campground. We cooked dinner and discussed plans for the morrow. Belinda graciously said I was free to do an ascent of Hvannadalshnukur (2110m) the highest peak in Iceland that was now clear rising above the Vatnajokull.
I awoke at 4.00AM and it was daylight of course as there is no darkness in June in Iceland. I had some food and stole away from the tent and walked 14 kilometres to Sandfell where the track up the mountain starts. I missed the turnoff at first and had to backtrack. There were 3 glacier guide vehicles parked there and no sign of anyone about. I started up the track at about 8.00. This sidled up rocks and then loose scree onto a grassy upland. Higher up the track headed for a rocky ridge that climbed up to the left onto a rocky ridge. Here there were some stone cairns to follow but these eventually disappeared. I carried on up to some stony hills and beyond them lay a glacier partially clouded in. Thankfully there were steps up the glacier that I followed. The view was obscured by cloud higher up and the glacier gently climbed into this. The going was easy in neve ice but higher up I reached soft snow and the footprints were old so I was kicking steps from then on. The cloud thickened and I was concerned it might snow and put paid to my climb. At about 1900 metres in mist I suddenly met a roped party descending led by a female guide. We exchanged pleasanteries. They were obviously startled to find a solo climber seemingly inadequately dressed ( in shorts) and sporting an ice-axe and leki pole ascending alone. Then I was on the plateau of the Vatnajokull and level walking in whiteout to the west for maybe 20 minutes till all of a sudden it cleared revealing a magnificent glaciated peak right in front of me. I easily climbed up steps on steep slopes to the wide summit reaching it at 14.15.
It had taken me 6 hours to climb 2000 metres. There was an extensive view all around of the Vatnajukull ice cap and cloud filled all the valleys and coastal plain. I took a few photos and started a rapid descent. At the edge of the ice cap was the cloud that I entered and made fast progress down this to the rocky ridge. Lower down the cloud was quite thick and I had to guess my way down the ridge. Then suddenly I dropped below the cloud layer and could make out my ascent route. Out on the sandurs, braided streams sparkled in the westering sun. I reached the car park at tea time where I stopped to change into my road shoes as my mountaineering boots were too painful to wear on the return 14 kilometer walk. I returned back to camp at 20.00 after a 15 hour day pretty happy with the effort. It was good to see Belinda and she had had an easy, enjoyable day though she found her walk a fizzer.
The next day we caught the bus to Hofn, a town to the east of Skaftafell. At Jokulsarolon we stopped for an hour. There was a large lake filled with ice bergs calving off a vast outwash glacier of the Vatnajokull. A River carried them into the sea. It was windy and cold.
Arriving in Hofn we walked to the Hvammur Guesthouse to find there were several building in town by the company and our accommodation was at the other end of town. The directions we were given were vague so we set off and of course could not find it. Eventually after considerable trouble we found our accommodation that was very nice and modern. The following day we caught the next bus to Egilsstadoir and in the middle of nowhere we had a flat tire. It was windy and wet as the poor bus driver had to change the tire only to find the spare did not fit. Luckily some locals stopped to help and took the tire away and got it fixed. From Egilsstadoir we caught another but to Seydisfjordur. The ride was spectacular as we climbed over an alpine pass covered in deep snow and frozen lakes and then plunged down into a gorgeous green valley with a colourful town in the fjord.
We stayed at the youth hostel and unfortunately we had an elderly fat American woman with a handicapped son in our room who made a lot of noise all night. We left the next day for lake Myvatn.
The bus journey was interesting as we crossed quite barren landscape and then seemed to reach a green, warmer land of lakes and small volcanos. Accommodation was limited so we opted for a campground on the north side of town. I was concerned about the wind and whether it would affect our tent but it seemed to be OK. Late in the day some people arrived and camped near us wakening us up. I slept poorly.
We woke to another good day. We hired mountain bikes at the campground and on the way out dropped into a local hotel and enquired about hiring a car for the next day, a fortuitous decision in retrospect. We visited Hverfell that is a symmetrical Tephra Volcano. We climbed it and walked around the rim.
Then we biked on to Dimmuborgir that are lava fields with weird arches and pillars where we went for a walk. Further south we came to Hofoi that is a forested headland on Lake Myvatn.
It was warm and sunny as we went for a walk around it. There were lots of birds on the lake diving for fish. Further on was the town of Skutustadir. Here there were clusters of pseudocraters. Then we were biking up the western side of the lake on narrow tar sealed roads. About 5 kilometres from the campsite I skidded on the side of the road and crashed heavily onto the hardtop. The crash was so unexpected and violent I was just stunned but one look at my left hand confirmed my worst fears. In addition to a laceration there was deformity to the base of my little finger very suggestive of a fracture. Blood dripped off my face and my shoulder did not feel good. I managed to get to my feet and then found the front axle of the bike was broken so I wheeled it all the way back to the camp 5 kilometres away. I then pulled out my first aid kit boiled up my surgical kit and stitched up the wound without any local anaesthetic. We found some cardboard that we fashioned into a splint.
The following day we picked up the hire car and drove to Akureyri, Iceland’s second city on the Eyjafjordur fjord. It was about 100 kilometres away. Once there we found the hospital and went to the Emergency Department where I had my hand x-rayed that revealed an angulated fracture of the left 5th metacarpal bone. I saw an orthopaedic surgeon there who gave me a local anaesthetic and manipulated it and put it in a plaster. I paid the account and left. We drove to Husavik where I had booked accommodation in the Adalbjorg Guesthouse. A pleasant older couple ran it. Belinda went off on a whale watching trip while I cruised the town.
After a pleasant night we left early next day and drove north and then east to Asbyrgi that lies in the Jokulsargljufur National Park. We parked our hire car there and went for a walk up on the Eyjan Rock Island. This was interesting but by no means spectacular. We then continued south to a barren plateau to visit Dettifoss, Europe’s biggest waterfall by volume. It is 100m wide and 45m high and a powerful sight. It tumbles over a cliff creating its own rainbow and its mist nutures mosses on the surrounding cliffs.
Then it was on to Krafla to see the steam vents and an active thermal field with boiling mid holes. Belinda went to see the bird museum and then we climbed Vindbelglarfjall 529m and a great viewpoint over Lake Myvatn. We camped that night at the other campground at Bjarg beside the lake.
Next day it was back on the bus to Akureyri that left in the afternoon. We picked a nice place to stay there up the hill from the bus terminus called Gistiheimilid Sulur. This had a nice room and guest kitchen. Once we checked in we took off and found the Public Library and spent an hour on the internet. Then we picked up some food for dinner back at our accommodation. Belinda was feeling unwell so did not eat much. Our next jump was to Isafjordur in the Westfjords. We had to make 3 bus connections to get there. On the way I rang all the guesthouses and they were either full or too expensive so we decided to camp. The camping ground is a lawn outside the Edda Hotel that only operates when the local high school is in recess.
On Wednesday we took the boat to Hysteyri in the afternoon. We planned on a 5-day tramp in Hornstrandir, a huge mountainous peninsula between Jokulfirdir and the Denmark Strait. We bought 5 days food in the local supermarket and left surplus gear at the Information Centre and caught the boat in the afternoon. Its quite a way across the fjord which took at least an hour. When we arrived we met an American called Henry Romer who was also planning a tramp there. From Hysteyri we followed a track along the side of the fjord and then climbed about 230m onto a plateau. The route was marked by giant cairns. Snow lay deep upon the surrounding flat-topped mountains. Eventually we reached a pass called Kjaransvikurskard 410m. On the far side we descended a valley to a green coastal plain at Hloduvik where we set up camp beside a mound covered in Angelica, site of an abandoned farm.
The coastline was littered in drift logs washed up from North America. We had a leisurely start and walked around the coast to Budir where there was a house and campsite. I was unsure at that stage if we were allowed to freedom camp but no one seemed to mind. There were a number of campers there who waved to us. I recognised one tent belonging to the not so secret “widdler”. I had the misfortune of walking past that tent one morning back in Isafjordur when the female occupant decided to have a pee in the vestibule of her tent not realising it was pretty obvious to passing traffic! The track climbed up a steep hill over a pass at 300m and then contoured along an upland plain past tarns and snow drifts to the Atlaskaro Pass.
From here we dropped to the sea and walked around the coast to Hornavik Bay. We passed a red emergency shelter like a space capsule and then past Hofn we continued along to the river that we waded across and camped by a volcanic dyke. There was a cold wind off the sea and there were lots of bright flowers so it was not all grim.
It drizzled during the night and was cold but we were snug in our sleeping bags and tent. We awoke to a pleasant day though still cloudy. The pressure was high at 1017mb a promising sign. I got up first and got breakfast ready. Then B got up. We decided to collapse the tent in case the wind got up and left our surplus gear for our day hike out to the Hornbjarg. This great hook like peninsula has one of the largest sea bird colonies in Europe on it vertical cliffs and is a ‘must see’ in Hornstrandir. We walked along the beach past a farm house towards the far end of the peninsula and then climbed up a track to 200m where the cliffs start. Just then an arctic fox popped up from the cliff in front of us carrying a large white bird in its mouth.
It trotted past hardly noticing us and headed off down to a dip on the ridge to feed its young. We gingerly peered over the edge to see lots of birds mostly Brunnicks Guillemots, Kittewakes, some Puffins and Fulmars.
Belinda was in her element photographing madly. We climbed over Midfell. There were great views over to a sharp crennleatd peak called Kalfatinder. Off to the south cloud was layering and spilling over the main divide peaks.
We dropped down to the coast and walked back to our campsite. There we packed up and walked back to Hofn to camp among the drift wood there.
Hofn was a pleasant spot with some large driftwood logs and a nice camping area with some toilets. There were a few people camped there including Henry, the American. He joined us for dinner which we had sitting on the grass behind a log sheltering us from the ever present wind. He told us of a nice Icelandic movie called “ Children of Nature” which we could not find prior to our departure from Iceland. An Arctic fox paid us a visit quite unafraid. I think one of the locals feeds them.
The next day was fine and I suggested to Belinda we return by a different route to Hysteyri via Veidileysufjordur, the next fjord to the east of Hysteyrarfjordur. It was a pleasant morning though a cold wind blew off the sea. We said goodbye to Henry and set off for the Hafnarskard, the pass through the mountains to Veidileysufjordur. A path led up the valley and then petered out but I guessed we had to climb up to the upland plateau to find our pass. Sure enough when we reached it a line of tall stone cairns tracked off towards the mountains now covered in cloud. B was not happy because her pack was heavy so offloaded gear onto me. We eventually found the pass and crossed over to a gorgeous sight of the fjord below us. 
We photographed a golden plover on the descent. We walked around the coast to camp at Steinolfsstaoir, a deserted creek by the sea. We had a wash and set up camp. 
There was no sign of a track over the mountains but I had a hunch where the route would go.
The map shows a route swinging to the north beside a stream and then trending off to the west to cross over a mountain to the Kjaransvikurskard. There were no guiding cairns but the route was straightforward. The highest pint was 618 metres, a flat snow-covered windswept plateau. Once we reached the pass we had crossed on the way in it was a straightforward descent back to Hysteyri.
Arriving there we spied people getting on the boat across to Isafjordur so we asked if we could go a day early. This was a good move as it was blowing quite hard and I think we might have had some difficulty pitching the tent. Back at Isafjordur we booked into the Gistihusid Gamla. We went to a nice Thai restaurant for a meal and then bought some groceries plus a huge tart. Back at the guest house we shared a room with a Swiss couple on their honeymoon.
We had a restless night as it was hot where we stayed. We got away to the information centre where the bus leaves from only to find it had just left. The bus time table said 9.30 but in fact it left at 9.00. Then Daniel and Merlesse, the Swiss couple who shared our room turned up in a hire car and invited us to spend the day with them. Their boat to Hornavik was out of action. So we left our surplus gear in the Information Centre and drove out Bolingarvik to the road end where there were a few houses and a desolate beach where we went for a walk. On the way back we walked up a gravel road to the top of Bolafjall where there was a great view out across Isafjardardjup to Hornstrandir. Back in Isafjordur I treated our friends to a hot drink and a pastry. Then we retired to the library to use the internet for an hour. We decided to camp that night at Edda.
We now had another two days to spend in Isafjordur till the next bus out. That’s the problem with buses in parts of remote Iceland in that the bus service is so infrequent. Finally on 30th we got the bus south. Belinda did a side trip to Latraberg to see puffins while I took an earlier ferry across to Stykkisholmar. The hostel there was full so we camped just out of town. Next day we carried on the Olafvik hoping to climb Snaefellsjokull that is a glaciated volcano at the tip of the Snaefellsness peninsula. It was not a good day as B wanted to go there despite a bad forecast and then refused to camp in the rain and insisted on staying in a hotel. As it turned out it was great value at 8500 ISK about $95 NZD. It poured all day and blew a gale so we spend most of the time indoors.
After a nice breakfast we caught the bus to Reykjavik as the barometric pressure was low though there was some sun and blue sky. We stayed in the Salvation Army hostel there and then flew back to London a week early. And so ended our Icelandic trip. My lasting impressions were of a unique landscape, an inspiring climb to the top of the Vatnajokull, the magnificent cliffs of the Hornbjarg and a broken hand.
An account of a trip to Iceland 7/6/10-3/8/10 by Belinda and Stanley Mulvany
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