The Iceland Traverse - Day 1

The morning was very cold. The desolate town has a charm to it but was clearly used to this freezing weather. We had a quick breakfast at a local hotel, which was exceptional by the way, before we got on the gravel road north to the start of our hike. We hoped we could maybe hitchhike but guessed that there would probably be very little traffic. Well, we were right about that. Absolutely no cars passed us on the 15km up to the lighthouse.

Start of the Trail

The lighthouse was kind of grey and rather bleak but what an amazing feeling to get to the start and stare up north into the arctic ocean. We turned and headed south continuing along the coast for a further 12km road walk. Lots of road walking caused some rather achy feet. When we turned off the road, we stopped for lunch and let our feet breathe. What a difference that makes! The sun had come out now and Iceland was, dare I say it, warm!

We continued down across the tundra absolutely amazed at the quantity and diversity of bird life. There were Sandpipers, Arctic Terns, Rock Ptarmigan and Oyster Catchers amount many others! The open tundra with very distant mountains had an almost South American plains feel to it. Well from pictures anyway. I loved this landscape. Maybe because it was new and exciting, but, also probably the bright sun and minimal wind. I am sat writing this wishing for those good weather days to return.

More road walking!

We found a sunken sort of depression in the land. Like a mile across parcel of land as far as the eye could see just dropped. Just a couple of metres. It made for a perfect tent site. We found a small grass patch between the tundra shrubs we were careful not to walk on. Ground nesting birds were not to be disturbed! We set up the tent and left open the door to keep us cool and keep the view visible. The sun never set, but that didn’t stop a minutes sleep.