Icelandic River Guides

Tom and Andy surfing in East Iceland

Back in the East Fjords

Andy nearly beat me out of bed this morning, but I put on a bit of a sprint and got their first. Stopped off in Höfn for the garage and post office. Saw two wally hitch hikers as we left town, clad in amusing hoods and bearing silly sticks. Got a hoot and a wave, but no lift from us. A moment of anxiety as we drove out of  Höfn as we were followed by the local Police, but our fast driving and cunning manoeuvring lost him.

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Back to East Iceland

Incredibly good night’s sleep with somewhat disturbing dreams about kayaking on a river made of lava. Raining when we got up; is Kirkjubæjarklaustur the wettest place on the planet? Set of in a subdued state back off to the East Coast, and stop off at the Dalsará for a paddle.

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Tom at the top of the Whirling Dervish, Skafta

Day 2 on the Upper Skaftá

Woke up nice and snug in my dry down sleeping bag after a good nights sleep. Poor Andy did not fair so well, and had a pretty rotten night wrapping in our spare clothing. Obviously dry bags are not a dry as we had hoped. Tom has developed somthing of a foot problem, and I hope that does not come to anything serious.

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Andy on one of the top rapids on the upper Skafta

Day 1 on the Upper Skaftá

Got up in the sunshine and packed up early. It could be a long day ahead and we are not sure what the river holds. I eased onto the river at 10:14am and paddled the first boily rapid without incident. I photoed Andy and Tom as they followed.

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The Grand Slide just above our ingress point on the Skafta

Setup to Kayak the Skaftá

Awoke in reasonable time and started to prepare to kayak the upper Skaftá. We are planning one night on the river and this is the remotest section of river we have done yet. The shuttle is 23 miles, and the roads are very quiet.

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Tom making Rivta sandwiches for our walk

A mountain walk near Laki

The sun got us up this morning again, first time for a while. Had a cooked breakfast, and for once, we are leaving the tent here for the day, so no made packing. We make an early start and head off on a walk. We plan to walk back to the Skafta, then head upstream towards the Vatna Jokull and come back via the hills.

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Tom and Andy posing in Buffalo clothing on the Lava Bridge at Ófærufoss

In search of the Upper Skaftá

Been here 3 weeks now. Just when I thought we were getting into a bit of a rhythm everything is blown out of the water. We all got out of bed within 5 minutes of each other. Next thing you know we will be eating enjoyable food and having some female company. (not much chance of either I think).

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Our trusty Landrover, crossing a tributary of the Markarfljót

Kayaking on the Markarfljót

After a day off walking to recover from the disappointment of not paddling on the Markarfljót canyon, we find a section we can paddle.  We make another cracking start and as Tom and I pack up, Andy checks out the Landrover…. continue reading…

Crossing the toe of the Tindfjallajökull, complete with crevasse and piles of black grit

A walk on Tindfjallajökull

 

We all manage to get out of bed before 9am this morning. Something of a record. Tom and I pack up whilst Andy writes his diary and has the mick taken. We drive up the Markarfljot canyon a bit and take another look at the impasse. It really is as bad as it looked yesterday. The whole problem is most frustrating but I don’t want to have to face a river wide pour-over in an overhanging section of canyon. There is a big drop at the top of the canyon, but that looks easy enough to portage.

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Crossing fords on the way to the Markarfljót

Up to the Markarfljót

Broke the 9am barrier this morning. I was up by 8:30, but Tom and Andy were still in bed at 9. We ate our meagre breakfast and had another go with the silicone sealant on the front of the Landrover. Got to try and keep the rain out some how. We drive back into town with the hope of finding a post office and a swimming pool. PO was open, but swimming pool was shut, so we had to leave in the smelly state we arrived.

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