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Published: September 21st 2011
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Lava fields
Notice the lava fields now covered in moss Please note: all the photos and titles have been mixed up during the upload by travelblog. So sorry, try to imagine how they should be!
Iceland is just gorgeous. I arrived to near-zero visibility, driving rain and icy temperatures, but still I was instantly in love. The landscape is magnificent and the postcard pictures finally do a place justice. The ground is black larval rock that rises in mounds like giant chocolate muffin tops, breaking through. There is soft, luxurious. luminous green moss covering most of it, with sprinkles of red, orange and yellow flowers. Yummy!
Melissa took me on a drive on the first day to see the geothermal areas. Here, the ground is literally broken open by hot steam and water. They bore holes into the ground to capture the steam in pipelines that supply most of the country's heat and electricity. In every small town there is a local swimming pool, heated and used as a social gathering spot. Then we headed to one of the local spas. A lake has a geothermal spot that has been developed into a heated swimming pool and sauna rooms. After that, there was still time to go see
the gap between the tectonic plates - the large split between North America and Eurasia. It's separating at 1 to 2 cm per year, matching the rise in the Himilayas I was told about in Nepal. This split is clearly visible as a series of deep chasms, with waterfalls and rivers filling the gap - really stunning.
Then began our adventurous (and ambitious) hike. We planned to do the classic 3 day Laugervegar hike in 2 days, then squeeze in a day hike from Thorsmork to Skogafoss. Our guide, Ivar, picked up two sleepy intrepid hikers and I think he had his doubts that first morning. Melissa and I were nervous but determined and the first day was stunning. 27ish km up and down gorgeous volcanic mountains with geothermal hotspots bubbling along. The views were incredible and ash-covered craters made it worth while. We were prepared for heavy weather, but got only a light drizzle towards the end. We stayed at a mountain hut - in Iceland, a heated wooden house with stocked kitchen and bunk beds, but an outhouse toilet (flushing!). That night the wind blew so hard, the hut rocked. We woke up to more drizzling and
wind but set out in our waterproofs. These 27ish km were much more flat but crossed an ash dessert - left over from the eruption of Eyjavjallajokal last year. This would have been quite magical had it not been for the driving wind that brought the ash up into our faces, and even into my toothpaste, in the ziploc, in my bag!
We had some really horrid river crossings wher ethe best option was to remove shoes and socks and cross in our sandals. The water is glacial melt ie 1 to 2 degrees celcius and I have never experienced the excruciating pain of that icy water, intensified as we stepped out into the wind. I cried out during the first crossing and on the 3rd or 4th actually just sat on the banks sobbing. I now know what the mountaineers describe as the pain of defrosting frostbite. Towards the end of the day, we had our last crossing, quite a rapidly flowing river so we linked arms and headed over. As we put on our shoes, Melissa realised her camera was missing. Ivar, without hesitation headed back over the river to look. Later, Melissa did too. I sat
on the far bank analysing the last photos I had taken when she had had the camera moments before. I just could not take off my shoes and face crossing back. After 20 minutes, we gave up the search, realising it must have fallen into the river. At this point, we should have seen the signs of a doomed trip. The heavens opened and we arrived 20 minutes later at the hut, wet through (despite all the "waterproof gear"), sad and exhausted. My feet had obviously swollen after the first day and I had throbbing toes and a large blister on my heel. Ivar threw together some great food and I hit the sack by 8pm, mentally preparing for a 10 hour walk with massive hills the next day.
We woke to farily good weather and set off in intermittent drizzle. My feet and legs were acheing but drugs and warming up helped. We stared up the hills to face more rain, then eased off on the short flats. We even managed to see some beautiful Autumn colour changes in the small Icelandic forest. We looked back at a magnificatn rainbow that put on a full performance for us:
at times arching right across the sky, and doubleing in parts. As we reached the top of a big peak, it was becoming more and more windy. I was blown to the ground twice. We all had most of our clothes on now, but Melissa and I were soaked though. We were heading to a plateau again, with the wind driving hail directly into our faces. Ivar's tactic was - head down, keep walking, don't stop - we were planning to use our walking to generate enough heat. At this point, I realised that a sprained ankle would threaten all of us. My view along the plateau was Ivar's black trouser ankles and the flash of yellow stripes on his boots. Melissa saw only my boots. Ivar stopped at the end, looked up and told us he thought we should turn back. The next peak was covered in a cloud of snow. It was going to get colder and colder, and we were only about 3/4 of the way up after 3 hours. It took about 2 seconds for Mel and I to agree, and we turned to push back downhill to the last hut - another 2 hours of
walking. As if in answer, there was a 2 min break in the wind and rain, and our rainbow showed itself again. Our smiles started to return as we descended into warmer, calmer weather. We came across 2 other hikers and warned them of the bad weather on the hills, but they pushed on. At the hut, we found 2 sad-lookgin hikers who had turned back the day before and were looking for a lift to the road. Ivar had contacts and we were driven safely back to Rejkjavik to live to hike another day!
Today, the morning after, my feet and muscles have already recovered. My big toes are throbbing and I've plans to buy bigger hiking boots, and PROPER waterproof gear! Also, there'll be huts, no camping in Patagonia.
Today, we head to the Blue Lagoon. More on the trip later.
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