Monday, July 30, 2012
Day 22: Emstrur to Thorsmork to Reykjavik
After the late hike and our biggest mileage day, we still managed to get up at 5:45 to start hiking at 7 to catch the only bus out of the highlands at 2:30. A couple more favorite (or least favorite, depending on who you ask) moments today were having to use a rope to scale down rocky slopes and holding onto a chain while balancing across a few wooden planks that helped us climb back up the other side. The views approaching Thorsmork took us by surprise, despite being built up by so many last night. The blues and whites of Eyjafjallajokull as a backdrop to the bright greens and dark browns of the jagged mountains immediately surrounding Thorsmork were enough to make us stop in our smelly boots and just stare. We are excited to look back at all of the incredible (we hope!) pictures, but are skeptical that our cameras can capture what we remember.
A new distance PR gave us a nice sense of accomplishment today, as did finding out that Gummi's GPS recorded our hike as 63 km - significantly more than the advertised 56, but our blistered feet, achy backs, and stiff shoulders are thrilled this was the last day.
We had a couple of hours to enjoy beautiful Thorsmork before the bus out of the highlands on what are loosely called roads that frequently disappeared under rivers.
Hiking Day 4: "17" km; 6 hrs
A new distance PR gave us a nice sense of accomplishment today, as did finding out that Gummi's GPS recorded our hike as 63 km - significantly more than the advertised 56, but our blistered feet, achy backs, and stiff shoulders are thrilled this was the last day.
We had a couple of hours to enjoy beautiful Thorsmork before the bus out of the highlands on what are loosely called roads that frequently disappeared under rivers.
Hiking Day 4: "17" km; 6 hrs
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Day 21: Alftavatn to Emstrur
The weather report wasn't all bad - our night inside was incredibly restful: eating and drinking like royalty and an air mattress from Gummi's parents meant a great night's sleep. Plus, the winds were supposed to still be pretty bad this morning so we planned to sleep in and wait until 1 to hike (1:07 to be exact).
We certainly upped our km/hr today and, even though it was flatter terrain, we forded a couple more rivers, which eats a lot of time. One was up to our knees and, obviously, bitter cold. Because the current was pretty strong, we forded as one; Austin went back through for photo ops - numb is numb after all, you can't be more numb.
More special deliveries today! Gummi's family drove by us on a dirt road out of camp and passed a bag of Doritos for a mid-hike snack. They also made a stop at tonight's hut to drop off wine, beer, chocolate cake, another tub of butter for Gummi, and garlic cream for our leftover lamb and potatoes - yum!
Varied landscapes of today's "casual hike" (we are drafting a letter to Lonely Planet to object to this description!) included glaciers, green mountains, black sandy lava fields, rivers, and waterfalls.
We already started discussing our next hike with Gummi on deserted Hornstrandir or with his puffin hunting club in the Westman Islands (he catches and kills them by hand). In discussing his favorite hikes, we found out a couple of unbelievable facts: we are his first guided trip (that he's been paid for), and he is only 20 yrs old (despite his wealth of knowledge and facial hair). We have felt in the best of hands the entire time - other group leaders seem to respect and even lean on him for information and the camp wardens greet Gummi with a hug and a smile when we arrive with a welcome beer and a goodbye pancake...it certainly doesn't seem like his maiden voyage. Having his family checking in on their boy/making sure he had happy campers makes a little more sense now - we don't think his next group will get such a treat.
It poured rain tonight, but luckily a wet tent is not a big deal since we are aiming to catch the 2:30 bus back to Reykjavik tomorrow. We got to camp late and will be leaving early, but just have to push through for one more day.
Hiking Day 3: 16 km; 5:17
We certainly upped our km/hr today and, even though it was flatter terrain, we forded a couple more rivers, which eats a lot of time. One was up to our knees and, obviously, bitter cold. Because the current was pretty strong, we forded as one; Austin went back through for photo ops - numb is numb after all, you can't be more numb.
More special deliveries today! Gummi's family drove by us on a dirt road out of camp and passed a bag of Doritos for a mid-hike snack. They also made a stop at tonight's hut to drop off wine, beer, chocolate cake, another tub of butter for Gummi, and garlic cream for our leftover lamb and potatoes - yum!
Varied landscapes of today's "casual hike" (we are drafting a letter to Lonely Planet to object to this description!) included glaciers, green mountains, black sandy lava fields, rivers, and waterfalls.
We already started discussing our next hike with Gummi on deserted Hornstrandir or with his puffin hunting club in the Westman Islands (he catches and kills them by hand). In discussing his favorite hikes, we found out a couple of unbelievable facts: we are his first guided trip (that he's been paid for), and he is only 20 yrs old (despite his wealth of knowledge and facial hair). We have felt in the best of hands the entire time - other group leaders seem to respect and even lean on him for information and the camp wardens greet Gummi with a hug and a smile when we arrive with a welcome beer and a goodbye pancake...it certainly doesn't seem like his maiden voyage. Having his family checking in on their boy/making sure he had happy campers makes a little more sense now - we don't think his next group will get such a treat.
It poured rain tonight, but luckily a wet tent is not a big deal since we are aiming to catch the 2:30 bus back to Reykjavik tomorrow. We got to camp late and will be leaving early, but just have to push through for one more day.
Hiking Day 3: 16 km; 5:17
Day 20: Hrafntinnusker to Alftavatn
Again, we can refer to this one as Hiking Day 2. It's difficult to even ask Gummi about something we have seen - trying to pronounce one of the campsites is about as helpful as communicating telepathically.
Last night was freezing. We had on double socks, double pants, hats, and jackets in our "35 degree" sleeping bags on top of insulated sleeping pads; and we still woke up regularly to tuck our heads back inside the sleeping bag, put gloves on, or even pass around the "hot water bottle" that Tina made out of a Nalgene. We were all tired and got some good rest despite the cold, although Tina claimed to not have fallen asleep the entire night. She asked how we were awake and was caught in her lie when we said the buzzing alarm clock that we couldn't shut off right away zipped up to our hats in our mummy bags. We were just fine getting up early to get moving and try to get to the next camp "before the weather came in."
Our daily stats should prove that the hike was tougher today - about the same distance took us 30 minutes longer to cover because of the steep terrain. The descents prove to be the most challenging as a wrong step is far more dangerous with gravity trying to suck you down the slope. Hiking poles are harder to use too - though they were a great comfort to balance at times. The melting glaciers provided us with some of the most interesting terrain of the day. We forded our first ice cold river, checked out a huge glacier cave, and had to take a few leaps of faith onto quickly diminishing ice. (And we aren't even talking on a geological scale, on which they are contributing far more.)
After a little healthy competition playing cards last night, we are all fighting for points. Tina got one for her water bottle ingenuity, making our lunches, and for having the handiest towel after fording the river. Steph got points for staying gluten free and being the first to fall gracefully, but she lost them all for "generously" sharing her water to lighten her load. Gummi got points for all of his impressive handrail/guardrail impersonations for Tina, for teaching us some Icelandic words, for telling some German guy that he "forgot" his cigarette butt, and for carrying the heaviest pack. (Gummi is more like Jon over here than we thought!) Austin got a lot of points playing games last night.
The weather came in just as the hut appeared on our last descent of the day. We crossed our fingers and hoped the camp warden would have good news: room in the huts...ten points for the camp warden! We were reluctant to leave the hut even to pee and couldn't have been happier hearing (and feeling!) the 80km forecasted winds from our indoor accommodations. And that was before the real weather came in. A couple of big groups (too big for hut bunks) were tenting it outside and looked miserable, including British teenagers on a "get tough" trip. As the winds picked up, tents were swept away, tent poles snapped, and people were begging the camp warden for a space on the floor inside to sleep. One guy actually got blown off of a platform and broke his leg (yes, for real). Conditions wouldn't allow for a helicopter rescue, so the rescue team had to splint him up and send him in a two hour off road 4x4 ride to an ambulance waiting to bring him back to Reykjavik for surgery. Luckily, a nurse and a doctor were among the hikers who helped the rescue team. Gummi, of course, was central in the initial treatment/movement of the injured man and all of the campers still outside. As he helped the Brits to their indoor haven, he found scared teenagers freezing, crying, and even throwing up in their tents. They cancelled their trip because of all of their now unusable tents and had to figure out how to get back to Reykjavik from the middle of nowhere. Our guide company called when he heard about the storm on the news to make sure all of our legs were in one piece. In fact, one of the 4x4 drivers heard about the hiker with the broken leg on the news while driving him to the ambulance - this is Iceland!
Just before the major excitement, we were surprised by Gummi's family joining us at the hut - it's common for Icelanders to head out of Reykjavik on the weekends. They prepared an unbelievable feast of legs of lamb, baked potato & sweet potato, dried haddock (which we obligingly tried), cheese, salad, beer, hot cocoa, Icelandic liquor, and even more hiking poles (not part of the feast). We loved playing more games with Gummi' parents and 10 yr old sister protected from the howling winds and sideways rain. This was an unexpected treat that you dream of creating with a local family while exploring a new country that just fell in our lap. Gummi said he is traveling the world starting in January - we can't wait to host him in the CT/NJ/NY area and need to do some serious brainstorming to come up with an itinerary that he will find exciting.
Hiking Day 2: 12 km; 4:40
Last night was freezing. We had on double socks, double pants, hats, and jackets in our "35 degree" sleeping bags on top of insulated sleeping pads; and we still woke up regularly to tuck our heads back inside the sleeping bag, put gloves on, or even pass around the "hot water bottle" that Tina made out of a Nalgene. We were all tired and got some good rest despite the cold, although Tina claimed to not have fallen asleep the entire night. She asked how we were awake and was caught in her lie when we said the buzzing alarm clock that we couldn't shut off right away zipped up to our hats in our mummy bags. We were just fine getting up early to get moving and try to get to the next camp "before the weather came in."
Our daily stats should prove that the hike was tougher today - about the same distance took us 30 minutes longer to cover because of the steep terrain. The descents prove to be the most challenging as a wrong step is far more dangerous with gravity trying to suck you down the slope. Hiking poles are harder to use too - though they were a great comfort to balance at times. The melting glaciers provided us with some of the most interesting terrain of the day. We forded our first ice cold river, checked out a huge glacier cave, and had to take a few leaps of faith onto quickly diminishing ice. (And we aren't even talking on a geological scale, on which they are contributing far more.)
After a little healthy competition playing cards last night, we are all fighting for points. Tina got one for her water bottle ingenuity, making our lunches, and for having the handiest towel after fording the river. Steph got points for staying gluten free and being the first to fall gracefully, but she lost them all for "generously" sharing her water to lighten her load. Gummi got points for all of his impressive handrail/guardrail impersonations for Tina, for teaching us some Icelandic words, for telling some German guy that he "forgot" his cigarette butt, and for carrying the heaviest pack. (Gummi is more like Jon over here than we thought!) Austin got a lot of points playing games last night.
The weather came in just as the hut appeared on our last descent of the day. We crossed our fingers and hoped the camp warden would have good news: room in the huts...ten points for the camp warden! We were reluctant to leave the hut even to pee and couldn't have been happier hearing (and feeling!) the 80km forecasted winds from our indoor accommodations. And that was before the real weather came in. A couple of big groups (too big for hut bunks) were tenting it outside and looked miserable, including British teenagers on a "get tough" trip. As the winds picked up, tents were swept away, tent poles snapped, and people were begging the camp warden for a space on the floor inside to sleep. One guy actually got blown off of a platform and broke his leg (yes, for real). Conditions wouldn't allow for a helicopter rescue, so the rescue team had to splint him up and send him in a two hour off road 4x4 ride to an ambulance waiting to bring him back to Reykjavik for surgery. Luckily, a nurse and a doctor were among the hikers who helped the rescue team. Gummi, of course, was central in the initial treatment/movement of the injured man and all of the campers still outside. As he helped the Brits to their indoor haven, he found scared teenagers freezing, crying, and even throwing up in their tents. They cancelled their trip because of all of their now unusable tents and had to figure out how to get back to Reykjavik from the middle of nowhere. Our guide company called when he heard about the storm on the news to make sure all of our legs were in one piece. In fact, one of the 4x4 drivers heard about the hiker with the broken leg on the news while driving him to the ambulance - this is Iceland!
Just before the major excitement, we were surprised by Gummi's family joining us at the hut - it's common for Icelanders to head out of Reykjavik on the weekends. They prepared an unbelievable feast of legs of lamb, baked potato & sweet potato, dried haddock (which we obligingly tried), cheese, salad, beer, hot cocoa, Icelandic liquor, and even more hiking poles (not part of the feast). We loved playing more games with Gummi' parents and 10 yr old sister protected from the howling winds and sideways rain. This was an unexpected treat that you dream of creating with a local family while exploring a new country that just fell in our lap. Gummi said he is traveling the world starting in January - we can't wait to host him in the CT/NJ/NY area and need to do some serious brainstorming to come up with an itinerary that he will find exciting.
Hiking Day 2: 12 km; 4:40
Monday, July 23, 2012
Day 19: Reykjavik to Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker
If you can't pronounce the title of today's entry, join the club, and just refer to it as "Hiking Day 1." We have some Day 17 & 18 fun to share, but wanted to get back on the grid with more adventurous updates.
Turns out that Gummi, whom we randomly met on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, was going to be our guide. It took about ten minutes for us to decide that getting a guide was a great decision. A few obvious (at least in retrospect) immediate tips like putting sleeping gear in plastic bags and needing hiking poles were our first glimpse of this. We got bonus value as he told us informative/interesting/funny tidbits on the bus ride from Reykjavik to the Highlands. Did you know that the pipes leading to geothermal plants have periodic 90 degree turns? An early one was built straight and stretched from 20 to 28 km! DYK that the youngest Westman Island (off the south coast) is less than 50 years old? No one is allowed on it except scientists who study primary succession through such things as birds' seed dispersal; however, Gummi says the tough locals check it out whenever they want and one he knows had to take a #2 one day there. A tomato plant grew in the same spot and the scientists never figured out the anomaly. You won't find that in Lonely Planet. He had plenty to share with us about Arctic Terns after we told him how much we liked them. His grandfather was pecked in the head by one and had a two inch gash that needed stitches. Gummi also knows a biker who cycled through one of the many nesting areas, got pecked in the head, and the tern's beak stuck in his helmet!
Okay, the hike...today was the "short" 12 km hike, but a good chunk of the 56 km trail. Our views were of jagged peaks, shiny obsidian rock, shapely glaciers, steaming hot vents, and multicolored mountains that glimmered in the light. Other worldly juxtapositions like walking over a glacier to be greeted by a steaming geothermal vent will be hard to forget. This all sounds quite glamorous, but we reached a maximum altitude of 1120m as the hike was rarely, if ever, flat. Ascents were tough as we adjusted to our heavy packs and descents treacherous as we adjusted to our heavy packs.
We revealed our selfish subconciouses at lunch today as we tried to pedal the food we were carrying to lighten our loads. Some more laughs came when learning our first Icelandic card game: (phonetically) skeetluhkutluh, or "shit man."
At one point, we saw a monument to a young hiker who died in a blizzard on our trail and remembered it can be dangerous hiking in the fickle Icelandic Highlands. Again, the real story today was having our patient, fun, knowledgeable, well-connected, and funny guide by our side.
Hiking Day 1: 12km; 4:10
Turns out that Gummi, whom we randomly met on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, was going to be our guide. It took about ten minutes for us to decide that getting a guide was a great decision. A few obvious (at least in retrospect) immediate tips like putting sleeping gear in plastic bags and needing hiking poles were our first glimpse of this. We got bonus value as he told us informative/interesting/funny tidbits on the bus ride from Reykjavik to the Highlands. Did you know that the pipes leading to geothermal plants have periodic 90 degree turns? An early one was built straight and stretched from 20 to 28 km! DYK that the youngest Westman Island (off the south coast) is less than 50 years old? No one is allowed on it except scientists who study primary succession through such things as birds' seed dispersal; however, Gummi says the tough locals check it out whenever they want and one he knows had to take a #2 one day there. A tomato plant grew in the same spot and the scientists never figured out the anomaly. You won't find that in Lonely Planet. He had plenty to share with us about Arctic Terns after we told him how much we liked them. His grandfather was pecked in the head by one and had a two inch gash that needed stitches. Gummi also knows a biker who cycled through one of the many nesting areas, got pecked in the head, and the tern's beak stuck in his helmet!
Okay, the hike...today was the "short" 12 km hike, but a good chunk of the 56 km trail. Our views were of jagged peaks, shiny obsidian rock, shapely glaciers, steaming hot vents, and multicolored mountains that glimmered in the light. Other worldly juxtapositions like walking over a glacier to be greeted by a steaming geothermal vent will be hard to forget. This all sounds quite glamorous, but we reached a maximum altitude of 1120m as the hike was rarely, if ever, flat. Ascents were tough as we adjusted to our heavy packs and descents treacherous as we adjusted to our heavy packs.
We revealed our selfish subconciouses at lunch today as we tried to pedal the food we were carrying to lighten our loads. Some more laughs came when learning our first Icelandic card game: (phonetically) skeetluhkutluh, or "shit man."
At one point, we saw a monument to a young hiker who died in a blizzard on our trail and remembered it can be dangerous hiking in the fickle Icelandic Highlands. Again, the real story today was having our patient, fun, knowledgeable, well-connected, and funny guide by our side.
Hiking Day 1: 12km; 4:10
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Day 16: Biking Iceland by the Numbers
We got to the airport at 5:15pm for our 7:25 flight to sort out bikes/panniers - we thought appropriately early - but the lady asked us if we knew we weren't flying until 7:25 (actually, she said 19:25). We are definitely not in 9/11 land. Since all we really did the rest of the day was kill time in Akureyri checking out a few Lonely Planet recommended spots, including trying "the best ice cream in Iceland," we decided it was a perfect time to summarize our biking Iceland adventure with numbers:
Countless - asshole terns, sheep, spectacular views, cairns spotted, cups of coffee
928 - distance biked, in IMEU (Icelandic mile equivalency units are actually the same distance as kilometers, but this reporting helps pad our stats and our self esteem - the conditions are tough!)
680 - distance driven in our rental car, in km (not IMEU)
247 - cost of gas, per liter, in ISK
125 - approximate ISK per USD conversion
110 - most IMEU biked in one day
81 - longest climb recorded, in minutes (we know there were longer!)
50 - cost of renting our bikes, per IMEU ridden, in US cents
33 - US bought Gluten Free energy bars consumed
31 - touring cyclists spotted, 12 of which were from a car
22 - passengers on our domestic flight
14 - different comment authors on the blog (thanks - we love every comment!)
13 - consecutive days camping
12 - Sundlaugs visited
11 - days of biking
10 - days we paid for camping (three were free, not stolen. It's actually legal to camp on public land anywhere in Iceland, so this isn't impressive, but the toilets are priceless.)
9 - most pools/hot pots in one Sundlaug
8 - longest no-laundry streak, in days (you'll never guess who owns this record)
7 - approx minutes holding our breath going through the clouds on our domestic flight
6 - modes of transportation used getting around Iceland
5 - most types of fish eaten in one meal
4 - dehydrated meals consumed
3 - empty peanut butter containers discarded
2 - colors an arctic fox can be (white in winter, dark in summer)
1 - estimated circumcised penises in Iceland, after a couple dozen Sundlaug showers.
1 - bike maintenance issues
0 - putrid shark/singed sheep's head eaten, night skies seen, headlamp uses
We will probably be out of touch for the next four days while hiking, but are excited to continue the updates when we're back on the grid!
Countless - asshole terns, sheep, spectacular views, cairns spotted, cups of coffee
928 - distance biked, in IMEU (Icelandic mile equivalency units are actually the same distance as kilometers, but this reporting helps pad our stats and our self esteem - the conditions are tough!)
680 - distance driven in our rental car, in km (not IMEU)
247 - cost of gas, per liter, in ISK
125 - approximate ISK per USD conversion
110 - most IMEU biked in one day
81 - longest climb recorded, in minutes (we know there were longer!)
50 - cost of renting our bikes, per IMEU ridden, in US cents
33 - US bought Gluten Free energy bars consumed
31 - touring cyclists spotted, 12 of which were from a car
22 - passengers on our domestic flight
14 - different comment authors on the blog (thanks - we love every comment!)
13 - consecutive days camping
12 - Sundlaugs visited
11 - days of biking
10 - days we paid for camping (three were free, not stolen. It's actually legal to camp on public land anywhere in Iceland, so this isn't impressive, but the toilets are priceless.)
9 - most pools/hot pots in one Sundlaug
8 - longest no-laundry streak, in days (you'll never guess who owns this record)
7 - approx minutes holding our breath going through the clouds on our domestic flight
6 - modes of transportation used getting around Iceland
5 - most types of fish eaten in one meal
4 - dehydrated meals consumed
3 - empty peanut butter containers discarded
2 - colors an arctic fox can be (white in winter, dark in summer)
1 - estimated circumcised penises in Iceland, after a couple dozen Sundlaug showers.
1 - bike maintenance issues
0 - putrid shark/singed sheep's head eaten, night skies seen, headlamp uses
We will probably be out of touch for the next four days while hiking, but are excited to continue the updates when we're back on the grid!
Day 15: Lake Myvatn to Akureyri
Riding along the Eastern and Southern shores of Lake Myvatn on our way out of town, we had another bike & hike as we walked around a few trails to get to some viewpoints, see rock formations, and get close to a series of craters that formed when lava flowed into the Lake. Some of these spots are clearly favorites; we ran into countless tour busses of every shape, size, and language spoken. In fact, this traffic wasn't all bad, as they sometimes signaled us when to stop riding. We said goodbye to the lake and made good time getting to Godafoss - Waterfall of the Gods - for more photo ops and time off the saddle.
The decision to go on or not was a tough one. We'd reached our goal, but it was easier than expected, and we could both "see" our final biking destination on the horizon. So, we covered tomorrow's miles too, and made it back to Akureyri with plenty of time to visit the Sundlaug. Ahead of schedule, we moved our flight back to Reykjavik up a day to get to a bed, somewhere to leave gear during the day, and to meet Tina in a couple of days! All a welcomed change of pace.
The decision to go on or not was a tough one. We'd reached our goal, but it was easier than expected, and we could both "see" our final biking destination on the horizon. So, we covered tomorrow's miles too, and made it back to Akureyri with plenty of time to visit the Sundlaug. Ahead of schedule, we moved our flight back to Reykjavik up a day to get to a bed, somewhere to leave gear during the day, and to meet Tina in a couple of days! All a welcomed change of pace.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Day 14: Lake Myvatn
We followed an unusually productive day with an appropriately restful one. Our bodies must be acclimating to the light nights - we didn't stir until after 10am, despite staying in our busiest campground yet (plenty of others in tonight's pic!).
As promised. We hung around Lake Myvatn today to explore some of its geological wonders. The biggest portion of our exploration involved a bike and hike to/around Hverfell, a "classic tephra ring." This roughly symmetrical volcanic crater is over a km across and 500m tall. The hike around the perimeter at the top offered picturesque views of the varied surrounding landscapes. Along the way, we stumbled upon fissures, steaming vents, caves, hot springs, and caves with hot springs. This wore us out, but the best thing about camping in the same place two nights in a row is the ability to take a tent-nap. We rose from our slumber to finish the day at the Myvatn Nature Baths - "The Blue Lagoon of the North" is open until midnight!
As promised. We hung around Lake Myvatn today to explore some of its geological wonders. The biggest portion of our exploration involved a bike and hike to/around Hverfell, a "classic tephra ring." This roughly symmetrical volcanic crater is over a km across and 500m tall. The hike around the perimeter at the top offered picturesque views of the varied surrounding landscapes. Along the way, we stumbled upon fissures, steaming vents, caves, hot springs, and caves with hot springs. This wore us out, but the best thing about camping in the same place two nights in a row is the ability to take a tent-nap. We rose from our slumber to finish the day at the Myvatn Nature Baths - "The Blue Lagoon of the North" is open until midnight!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Day 13: Akureyri to Husavik to Myvatn
Sometimes we like to proclaim that it's the daylight, not our legs, that generally determines how far we can make it biking in a day. Iceland has surely called our bluff on this thus far, but today we took advantage of the endless daylight.
We woke up early in Akureyri to catch the first bus to Husavik. It was only an hour bus ride, but we decided not to bike so we'd still have our one day cushion before the flight back to Reykjavik. The bus costs $26 per person and $24 per bike. We're really sparing no expense here - we even paid 80 cents for hot showers at camp last night.
The reason just about everyone goes to Husavik is for the Hvals (whales to you). Less than 50 miles from the Arctic Circle (brrrrr!!!), it's waters are teeming with over a dozen kind of cetaceans (though most stay out of sight). We saw incredible pods of active white beaked dolphins and loads of humpback whales in their summer feeding grounds. The whale museum was a fitting post-boat-ride place to get feeling back in our extremities, but we still hit up the Sundlaug to get warm to the core before biking (we promised we did a lot today!).
At 6pm, we hit the road for Myvatn. Steph fell behind after a few km, so we knew something was up - her breaks were permanently engaged (yes, she kept up for a few km!). After trying a couple of adjustments, we called our bike experts in Reykjavik (the call to Dr. Jon would have been more expensive) before simply detaching the front break. The breaks have really just been a cosmetic enhancement thus far anyway! We were motivated to bike 60km to Lake Myvatn today in order to have a day wide open to explore the wonders of the lake at our leisure tomorrow.
If "the sky's the limit" in Iceland, it's really up to you to decide how much to pack into a day.
We woke up early in Akureyri to catch the first bus to Husavik. It was only an hour bus ride, but we decided not to bike so we'd still have our one day cushion before the flight back to Reykjavik. The bus costs $26 per person and $24 per bike. We're really sparing no expense here - we even paid 80 cents for hot showers at camp last night.
The reason just about everyone goes to Husavik is for the Hvals (whales to you). Less than 50 miles from the Arctic Circle (brrrrr!!!), it's waters are teeming with over a dozen kind of cetaceans (though most stay out of sight). We saw incredible pods of active white beaked dolphins and loads of humpback whales in their summer feeding grounds. The whale museum was a fitting post-boat-ride place to get feeling back in our extremities, but we still hit up the Sundlaug to get warm to the core before biking (we promised we did a lot today!).
At 6pm, we hit the road for Myvatn. Steph fell behind after a few km, so we knew something was up - her breaks were permanently engaged (yes, she kept up for a few km!). After trying a couple of adjustments, we called our bike experts in Reykjavik (the call to Dr. Jon would have been more expensive) before simply detaching the front break. The breaks have really just been a cosmetic enhancement thus far anyway! We were motivated to bike 60km to Lake Myvatn today in order to have a day wide open to explore the wonders of the lake at our leisure tomorrow.
If "the sky's the limit" in Iceland, it's really up to you to decide how much to pack into a day.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Day 12: Isafjordur to Akureyri
If you're following REALLY closely at home, you may notice that the distance we covered today almost equals how much we've biked so far. If bikes were "cheating," then we're DQ'ed after a day with a rental car. In figuring out how to get to Akureyri, we decided bikes would take too long (the rest of the trip), busses were $360 (including bike surcharges), and last minute flights were too expensive. So we settled on a rental car for under $250 (the surcharge for dropping in a different "city" was more than half of the cost). We actually charmed the guy into a free double upgrade to a car that could fit the bikes, and were thrilled this meant we could stop along the way. Without going too far off route, we made quick stops at the arctic fox center (and saw cubs), a massive 50m natural hot pot, and some hidden hot springs in a town of 70 tucked into the rocks on the shore of the cold northern waters.
If so far we have biked from the San Diego of Iceland to the Seattle, then today we drove to Chicago. We're excited about the "Wrigley Field" and "Lake Michigan" of Iceland, but today was really a travel day.
If so far we have biked from the San Diego of Iceland to the Seattle, then today we drove to Chicago. We're excited about the "Wrigley Field" and "Lake Michigan" of Iceland, but today was really a travel day.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Day 11: Kirkjubol to Isafjordur
We only had about 20 km left before reaching our final West Fjord destination. When you factor in the 6km gravel detour to get out of our guest house/campground, it may have been silly not to just push though to the end yesterday. Perhaps stopping early had something to do with the Lonely Planet's description of the steep mountains around Isafjordur as the "Alps of Iceland." But on the 7th day, God made tunnels! Glorious tunnels. Just a short way up the mountain, we were greeted by not-your-ordinary-tunnel. We were inside a mountain for 6km and actually had to take a right turn to stay on route as though we were in District 13 of Panem. We never pedaled so hard as in a 6 km death trap in one of the most geologically active places on Earth - but it was WAY better than going over the mountain :)
Reaching the "surprisingly cosmopolitan" Isafjordur at 10am gave us plenty of time to:
*finish off the food we've been lugging around now that we're back to civilization.
*stroll through the old town - the newest house on one street was built in 1898. If only we could have removed the cars we would have thought we'd traveled back in time.
*actually zip off the legs of our stylish camping pants on what must have been the hottest day of the year in Isafjordur (to cap off a four day streak of blue skies in the West Fjords - just as we were ready to dub Iceland Rainland). We even waited in line for ice cream.
*plop down in three Kaffi Hus's to blog, plan, try local beer, compare coffees, and escape the heat!
*scope out a restaurant we read and heard great things about. We asked about a menu/what fish they serve but the nice girl couldn't tell us much - her dad wasn't back with the catch yet! We came back for a buffet feast of grilled local plaice, cod, catfish, halibut, green line halibut, monkfish...each pan cooked a little differently. They even cooked some fish separately, sans gluten. We love Isafjordur!
Reaching the "surprisingly cosmopolitan" Isafjordur at 10am gave us plenty of time to:
*finish off the food we've been lugging around now that we're back to civilization.
*stroll through the old town - the newest house on one street was built in 1898. If only we could have removed the cars we would have thought we'd traveled back in time.
*actually zip off the legs of our stylish camping pants on what must have been the hottest day of the year in Isafjordur (to cap off a four day streak of blue skies in the West Fjords - just as we were ready to dub Iceland Rainland). We even waited in line for ice cream.
*plop down in three Kaffi Hus's to blog, plan, try local beer, compare coffees, and escape the heat!
*scope out a restaurant we read and heard great things about. We asked about a menu/what fish they serve but the nice girl couldn't tell us much - her dad wasn't back with the catch yet! We came back for a buffet feast of grilled local plaice, cod, catfish, halibut, green line halibut, monkfish...each pan cooked a little differently. They even cooked some fish separately, sans gluten. We love Isafjordur!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Day 10: Dynjandi to Kirkjubol
We'd like to say that we slept like babies after tough biking and the soothing sounds of the West Fjords' largest waterfall just about splashing us last night, but the especially cold evening and the endless light made for a typically restless Icelandic summer night of sleep.
We had some amazing, perspective giving views as we set out across the water from where we camped two nights ago. We then turned inland and spent just about the entire morning doing another epic climb. There were literally five different times when we thought we spotted (what turned out not to be) the top of the mountain. We took an extended midday break in thingeyri, starting with the Kaffi Hus. In this cute old cafe, we enjoyed comfy couches, homemade soups, an endless cup of coffee, a homemade waffle w rhubarb jam and fresh cream, great views, friendly staff, and some familiar Ed Sheerin and Mumford tunes playing out of one of their iPods. Dayenu! (We took pics for Holly's place and Carolina Girl.) After a refreshing Sundlaug dip, we decided to get burgers and fries on the way out of town to complete our delicious two part lunch.
On the way up the last climb of the day, we passed an elderly couple struggling to pedal up the hill fully loaded. They had to be in their 70s, and although very cute, we decided we don't have aspirations to be in their biking shoes in 40-50 years.
We had some amazing, perspective giving views as we set out across the water from where we camped two nights ago. We then turned inland and spent just about the entire morning doing another epic climb. There were literally five different times when we thought we spotted (what turned out not to be) the top of the mountain. We took an extended midday break in thingeyri, starting with the Kaffi Hus. In this cute old cafe, we enjoyed comfy couches, homemade soups, an endless cup of coffee, a homemade waffle w rhubarb jam and fresh cream, great views, friendly staff, and some familiar Ed Sheerin and Mumford tunes playing out of one of their iPods. Dayenu! (We took pics for Holly's place and Carolina Girl.) After a refreshing Sundlaug dip, we decided to get burgers and fries on the way out of town to complete our delicious two part lunch.
On the way up the last climb of the day, we passed an elderly couple struggling to pedal up the hill fully loaded. They had to be in their 70s, and although very cute, we decided we don't have aspirations to be in their biking shoes in 40-50 years.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Day 9: Bildudalur to Dynjandi
During breakfast, we swapped stories with a Vulcanologist leading a college trip from North Carolina. In addition to some geology, he told us about a scare they had yesterday when the other driver in the group fell asleep at the wheel and drove off the road - luckily into a swamp. Falling asleep at the wheel in Iceland...are you out of your Vulcan mind??? Yesterday, at the bird cliffs, we ran into a group trying to figure out the birds' migration patterns. They tagged 20 birds last year and have been back since June looking for their tags. They actually found their 14th while we were there chatting them up. Part of the tag is light sensitive so they can deduce where the birds "winter" from how far the chemical reaction has progressed. Iceland is clearly a great place for scientists to come explore - whether your interest lies (lay?) in geology, ornithology, or just good old fashioned elementary science.
We hit our first real stretch of "unsealed" roads today - the mountain bikes finally worked to our advantage! Stretches of uphill, gravel, and head winds made for our most difficult conditions yet. The climbs were harder, but the views from the top more spectacular. We were above the snow (glacier?) line at points, weaving in, out, left, right, up, and down through the countless fjords. A natural hot spring (our first in a completely natural setting) and an incredible waterfall made for idyllic lunch and camp stops.
Throughout the whole day, we leap-frogged with two nice German ladies. We helped them navigate the hottest parts of the natural hot spring when we first met; they passed us during a big climb after lunch (and asked if we needed help - clearly we looked strong going up the hill); we then caught up to them as they were finishing a picnic; they quickly passed us again (still in the same climb!!), and we finally saw them walking down from the main chute of the spectacular Dynjandi waterfall as we were eating dinner at camp. It was a great feeling to think we accomplished exactly what they did today.
We hit our first real stretch of "unsealed" roads today - the mountain bikes finally worked to our advantage! Stretches of uphill, gravel, and head winds made for our most difficult conditions yet. The climbs were harder, but the views from the top more spectacular. We were above the snow (glacier?) line at points, weaving in, out, left, right, up, and down through the countless fjords. A natural hot spring (our first in a completely natural setting) and an incredible waterfall made for idyllic lunch and camp stops.
Throughout the whole day, we leap-frogged with two nice German ladies. We helped them navigate the hottest parts of the natural hot spring when we first met; they passed us during a big climb after lunch (and asked if we needed help - clearly we looked strong going up the hill); we then caught up to them as they were finishing a picnic; they quickly passed us again (still in the same climb!!), and we finally saw them walking down from the main chute of the spectacular Dynjandi waterfall as we were eating dinner at camp. It was a great feeling to think we accomplished exactly what they did today.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Day 8: Stykkisholmer to Bildudalur
Getting up to pack up the bikes, bike down to the ferry, biking back to camp to get Austin's forgotten towel, and making the 8:30 ferry was easy after our short day on the bike yesterday. The ferry across Breidafjordur (broad fjord) took about three hours (broad indeed) and treated us to views of thousands of little islands. We have since spotted signs for Breidavik ("broad bay") and Einbrein Bru ("unbroad bridge") and were quite proud of our progress in the language.
Upon disembarking in the West Fjords, we biked right past the "bus" that we booked for an afternoon excursion to beautiful bird cliffs while looking for our bus. We figured it out eventually, and even managed to get our bikes bungeed securely and our panniers safely in a trailer. The cliffs of Latrabjarg are the western-most tip of Europe - just 300 km from Greenland (we convinced ourselves that we saw an outline of some land at one point). We're certainly not the biggest ornithology-philes, but this was magnificent for anyone. Up to 400 meter cliffs stretching kilometers down the coast are home to swarms of birds (but no terns!), our favorites of which were the puffins and guillemots. Their tame nature was reminiscent of the Galapagos and allowed us to get incredibly close - in fact, maybe a little too close. The strong winds and steep drops were enough to make your stomach turn...but this was only our second biggest fright of the day. The 45 km or so drive from the nearest town was on a gravel road, about 12 ft wide, that twisted and turned through the tough terrain between the fjords. Our driver had clearly done the drive before (we hope!), since we were slaloming around cautious tourists as though they were standing still. It was like a roller coaster ride with no rails. The few times he slowed down for a blind or hairpin turn were just as scary because if HE felt the need to slow down.... All well worth it!
We braved the return ride to Patreksfjordur (named for St. P!) to start biking for the day...at 6pm. Our potential stops of Talknafjordur and Bildudalur were 14 and 30 km away, respectively. Each of the three towns were separated by a veritable mountain. Our climb heading to Talknafjordur took us 56 minutes - like a spin class on permanently high tension. Feeling bold, and as though the next climb couldn't possibly be as bad, we went for Bildudalur. This climb took 81 minutes. We rolled into town (and by roll we mean use gravity, not our muscles) at about 9pm looking for the "campground near the golf course" - it was easy to find, but we could have asked any number of golfers still out of the links if we'd had any trouble.
We chatted with a nice guy who grew up in close by Grundarfjordur. He told us he started peeling shrimp in the local factory at 13 ("common 25 or so years ago when [he] was growing up"). He has since moved to Reykjavik, as most now do, and completed medical school. Bildudalur had about 450 people when he was a kid, and is now down to about 150. He thinks there will be many abandoned former fishing towns in our lifetime - the need to be closer to the best fishing waters no longer exists with current practices and technology.
Upon disembarking in the West Fjords, we biked right past the "bus" that we booked for an afternoon excursion to beautiful bird cliffs while looking for our bus. We figured it out eventually, and even managed to get our bikes bungeed securely and our panniers safely in a trailer. The cliffs of Latrabjarg are the western-most tip of Europe - just 300 km from Greenland (we convinced ourselves that we saw an outline of some land at one point). We're certainly not the biggest ornithology-philes, but this was magnificent for anyone. Up to 400 meter cliffs stretching kilometers down the coast are home to swarms of birds (but no terns!), our favorites of which were the puffins and guillemots. Their tame nature was reminiscent of the Galapagos and allowed us to get incredibly close - in fact, maybe a little too close. The strong winds and steep drops were enough to make your stomach turn...but this was only our second biggest fright of the day. The 45 km or so drive from the nearest town was on a gravel road, about 12 ft wide, that twisted and turned through the tough terrain between the fjords. Our driver had clearly done the drive before (we hope!), since we were slaloming around cautious tourists as though they were standing still. It was like a roller coaster ride with no rails. The few times he slowed down for a blind or hairpin turn were just as scary because if HE felt the need to slow down.... All well worth it!
We braved the return ride to Patreksfjordur (named for St. P!) to start biking for the day...at 6pm. Our potential stops of Talknafjordur and Bildudalur were 14 and 30 km away, respectively. Each of the three towns were separated by a veritable mountain. Our climb heading to Talknafjordur took us 56 minutes - like a spin class on permanently high tension. Feeling bold, and as though the next climb couldn't possibly be as bad, we went for Bildudalur. This climb took 81 minutes. We rolled into town (and by roll we mean use gravity, not our muscles) at about 9pm looking for the "campground near the golf course" - it was easy to find, but we could have asked any number of golfers still out of the links if we'd had any trouble.
We chatted with a nice guy who grew up in close by Grundarfjordur. He told us he started peeling shrimp in the local factory at 13 ("common 25 or so years ago when [he] was growing up"). He has since moved to Reykjavik, as most now do, and completed medical school. Bildudalur had about 450 people when he was a kid, and is now down to about 150. He thinks there will be many abandoned former fishing towns in our lifetime - the need to be closer to the best fishing waters no longer exists with current practices and technology.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Day 7: Poll
If you were biking with us, what would you eat for lunch?
a) An LTM on rice cake
b) A PBTCTMN sandwich
c) Putrified shark and singed sheep's head
d) Halvsies on a couple of options
(We couldn't figure out how to post a poll but look forward to some comment responses.)
a) An LTM on rice cake
b) A PBTCTMN sandwich
c) Putrified shark and singed sheep's head
d) Halvsies on a couple of options
(We couldn't figure out how to post a poll but look forward to some comment responses.)
Day 7: Grundarfjordur to Stykkisholmur
We reached the endpoint of our trek around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula after a short 41 km ride by 11am today - about the same time we left camp yesterday. The Stykkish. campground dubs as the town info center, and we found a nice lady to help us plan the rest of the day, starting with the beginning of a new Sundlaug streak and a much needed load of laundry. We then hit "the town" to check out the library of water and volcano museum, stock up on groceries before we ferry to the remote West Fjords tomorrow, and enjoy the freshest seafood from Breidafjordur for dinner. It put our lunch to shame (pics to come).
Monday, July 9, 2012
Day 6: Arnastapi to Grudarfjordur
Headlines read: DISASTER STRIKES...Sundlaug/Hot Pot/Pool streak snapped at three days. The one we had our sights set on closes early on Saturdays, strangely, so we did not get our daily dip or - gasp - shower. This did, however, give us more time to explore a cute old fishing village, cook up a delicious hodgepodge chili (we'll start taking some food pics mañana!), and try some Icelandic favorites at the local bar.
The day started late, on purpose, as we decided to book a fun glacier snowcat/hike excursion - whether pending - to the top of Snaefellsjokull. After waking up to the pitter-patter of rain on the tent and cloudy skies, it was no surprise that the 10:00 tour wasn't leaving. We enjoyed our "lay-in" nonetheless, and braced ourselves for the last stretch of tough headwinds. We pedaled hard, highly motivated, as the end of the peninsula meant the wind turning our way. We may have even forgotten we were on mountain bikes for brief stretches.
Although there was something cool about the novelty of the arctic terns yesterday, we think we reached their headquarters today and will not be upset should they show up on the menu at our next stop.
The day started late, on purpose, as we decided to book a fun glacier snowcat/hike excursion - whether pending - to the top of Snaefellsjokull. After waking up to the pitter-patter of rain on the tent and cloudy skies, it was no surprise that the 10:00 tour wasn't leaving. We enjoyed our "lay-in" nonetheless, and braced ourselves for the last stretch of tough headwinds. We pedaled hard, highly motivated, as the end of the peninsula meant the wind turning our way. We may have even forgotten we were on mountain bikes for brief stretches.
Although there was something cool about the novelty of the arctic terns yesterday, we think we reached their headquarters today and will not be upset should they show up on the menu at our next stop.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
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