The Iceland Traverse (ish) - Day 10-14
A depressing morning all round in Myvatn. Strong wind and rain, the fact we decided to turn back still weighed heavy on my mind and England out of the world cup felt like the final kick in the teeth. We packed away our tent and made our way to the bus stop at the local shop. We had planned to take the bus back to Akureyri, hire a car and drive round the eastern fjords to Reykjavik. It fills our time and is the same price as flying back down to Reykjavik. I felt sick this morning. Maybe the amount of sand I had consumed over the last week or the heavy feeling of defeat. Either way, it was not helped by the bus drivers erratic driving through the mountains. We spent some of the time on the correct side of the road. I concentrated so hard on not throwing up on the bus for nearly 3hrs.
When we arrived in Akureyri, we said goodbye to our new friend and picked up the smallest and cheapest car we could hire. I had left my driving license at home so all the driving fell to Miranda. We pulled out of town, stopped for a quick lunch and headed east. Back through Myvatn and out towards the fjords. The weather was due to be significantly better on the east and it was a different part of the country for us to see. Stopping to pick up some healthy fruit and vegetables on the way, we soon found a very busy campsite for the night in Reyðarfjörður. Only to be a quick stop on our way down, but seriously busy nonetheless.
The next morning, we planned to summit some peaks along the fjord. The sun was shining but there was a bit of a chill. We had breakfast at the start of the climb and got going early. We were aiming for Holmatindur peak on the end of a small peninsular in the fjord. The climb was steep and took a bit of route finding to get up into the basin before the ascent to the final peak. We crossed a crystal clear river and continued up towards a snowfield. We had planned to kick steps into the snow and make our way up like that but there was a small gap along the side of the snow that made for better scrambling and was out of the now hot sun.
We hiked the remaining kilometre to the summit and found some of the most spectacular views we have ever seen. Clear sight right down both sides of the peninsular and all the way along the fjord. We found a summit register and left a little note before having lunch. After, we walked a few hundred metres to the very end of the cliff and lay in the sun. I drifted in and out of sleep as the big lunch and the hot sun made me feel very tired. At this point, pulling out of the trail no longer mattered.
After the hike we continued south following the coast road, taking in the spectacular views. We decided to pick up some hitchhikers, to return the favour really. They were two sisters (Rita and Maria) from Germany hiking and hitchhiking their way around Iceland. They had no real plan and came with us all the way to our camp spot that night. We had a quiet night and chatted through the evening about our adventures and travel aspirations. We offered to take them further the next day. We had decided to be tourists for the next day or so and they joined us. It was wonderful company and they were so much fun. We visited diamond beach and took in the icebergs coming off the glacier.
Next we took the, longer than expected, hike up to the top of Mulagljufur Canyon. Spectacular views back out to see and up onto the glacier made it well worth it.
We then drove to the next busy campsite, quickly set up and the four of us took a short hike to see the glacier and a few waterfalls.
The next morning we went into Vik, picked up some food and took a short walk on the beach to see the nesting puffins on the high cliffs. Today we were heading to Reykjavik. We dropped of Rita and Maria, said our goodbyes and headed into the city. It was a miserably wet day. We washed everything, dried out all our clothes and enjoyed a hot shower. A quick healthy meal then we got to bed. We got to the bus station early the next morning as we were taking the highland bus to Landmannalaugar. It was a 4 hour journey, some on the roads, the rest spent swinging our way across sandy mountain roads. I did my best to hold onto my stomach. We met an American woman on the bus who planned to hike with her friend who was a couple of hours behind us. When we arrived the 3 of us took a short hike around the area taking in mountain vistas and local lakes.
I later took a short hike up some of the local mountains to get an amazing view over Landmannalaugar and the surrounding area. The next morning we were due to hike this as we were back on the traverse and now starting the Laugavegur trail. Probably the best and most famous section of hiking in Iceland.
