Magnus and friends visit volcanoes

Iceland 2004

This trip followed a gap of 11 years since being out in Iceland as leader of the University of Bristol Expedition Iceland 1993, and thankfully I could afford a much newer and stronger Land Rover for the trip this time.  "Magnus" (see my wheels) was shipped "Eimskip" from Immingham to Reykjavik, a few days ahead of our departure from Standstead via Iceland Express. The cost of shipping is high but if you want a 4x4 to tour the interior and are staying more than 10 days then this really is the most cost effective solution. Hiring a Land Rover is particularly expensive. Some of the smaller 4x4s will not cope with the river crossings in standard trim and the hire car insurance excludes driving in water - having to buy a new diesel engine in Krona when you've drowned the original will severely impact on your budget!

Rendevous accomplished and the import duty paid - I believe this has been done away with now and diesel costs the same at the pumps as petrol, making driving more expensive for tourists staying more than a few days - we collected our passengers and luggage from Rekjavik Youth Hostel and set off to Landmanalaugar asap - even the youth hostel is costly so we wanted to spend as little time as possible in the city. Fuel tanks and jerry cans filled on route we reached the hot springs at Landmannalaugar around lunch time - Phil and Lorna set off to walk to Alftavatn while Sue and I drove over the mountains. The plan had changed slightly as Sue wasn't feeling too well, so she filled the passenger seat while I enjoyed the best afternoon of off road driving I have ever experienced using the un-maintained mountain tracks to reach our overnight camping spot.

Sue and I pitched camp and made dinner and Lorna and Phil arrived around 7:30 pm. Next day we all drove the short hop to Botnar Hut where Phil, Sue and Lorna set off to walk to Thorsmork, while I drove Magnus out to the ring road and back up the other side of the Markjaflot river into the birch forests of Thorsmork. The Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork walk is one of the top walks in Europe - the guide books talk about a four day walk - It has never taken me more than three and with the short drive in the middle to save time, we did it two this time around. The driving to Thorsmork was on much more heavily used tracks, most of which were graded, though there were hundreds of river and streams to ford on route. The final river crossing to Thorsmork was very deep, but since I was there in 1993 the Icelandic Roads Authority have created a new "road" that avoids the shallow lake crossing with icebergs! It was our one and only wet night while we at Thorsmork, and the rivers out were almost impossible the following morning - we struggled for grip a few times - feeling a laden Land Rover floating and sliding downstream is not something I want to experience too often. We teamed up with a french couple in a big Nissan Patrol and we were all ellated when we reached the safety of the ring road.

Our route then took us to Vik and back to Landmannalaugar, for our third nights camp. The hot springs were okay, but the earlier rain meant the water wasn't as warm as it can be - too much flowing through, therefore less time in contact with hot rock!

From Landmannalaugar we header across the Sprengisandur Route before branching off on a rougher route direct to Askja. It took two days driving to get to Askja, including some pretty hairy desert driving. The piste was well marked but covered in frequent small dunes (more like sand-drifts) of fine black sand. Very power sapping requiring a mixture of speed and quick reactions. I hit the first of these drifts too fast as I'd been holding 50 mph on the smooth sand, which required an arm full of opposite lock as the back of Magnus tried to catch up with the front! Even so it took 30 mph off my speed in a split second. Too slow and we'd spend all day digging the Land Rover out - too fast and there was a major risk of rolling the vehicle. Lots of adrenelin from me and black smoke from Magnus.

The area around Askja is popular with tours, but most come in from the ring road to the North, the interior tracks are much less travelled - we passed three other travellers once we left the Sprengisandur route until we reached the campsite at Askja. As a passing comment the intervening 11 years since my visit in 1993 has seen a huge improvement in facilities at almost all the campsite in the interior - the old earth privvies have gone and shower/toilet huts are now the norm. It does reduce the feeling of being away from civilisation but septic tank drainage is better for the environment than just a hole in the ground.

After two nights at Askja and one at Herdubried we travelled north to the awesome Dettifoss and Selfoss waterfalls. En route we called at Myvatn for fuel and food. We stayed on a National Park campsite in the valley of the Jokulsa a Fjollum river which has carved the deep gorge.  While we were camped in the National Park, Sue, Phil and Lorna had a great day gorge walk from the campsite to Dettifoss, while I drove back to Dettifoss and sat with my sketch pad to try and draw what I couldn't really photograph.

After Dettifoss we moved onto Asbyrgi for a couple of nights, even paddling in the Arctic Ocean, before moving on to Akureyri for a few nights. Phil and Sue flew back to Reykjavik and home to the UK from here while Lorna, Magnus and I continued our tour with a journey to the north western fjords via the ferry from Stykkisholmur. It took a week to get back to Reykjavik, via Thingvellir and a walk up to the summit of Ok - Icelands smallest glacier - which is pobably gone altogether now!

We took Magnus back to Reykjavik docks on a Sunday - all but deserted - parked up and gave the keys to the solitary security man who assured us Magnus would be loaded up on Tuesday for the next boat to Immingham - somethings you just have to take on trust - and Lorna and I flew back to the UK on the Monday. The worst beauracracy of the whole trip was back in the UK - it took several hours to get Magnus out of the docks, past the official checks and back on the road to home. Post trip - Magnus did need three wheel bearings replacing and we had changed the axle oils soon after getting home!

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