Andy paddling a Pyranha Mountain Bat on the Jökulsá í Fljótsdal, Iceland
First of the Great Northern Rivers
We head over to the Jokulsa i Fljotsdal, one of the huge rivers that flow northwards from the Vatnajokull. The weather is flat calm, and the scenery is like a picture postcard, snow covered mountains, green forest and all relected in mirror calm bright blue lakes. Unfortunately we fail to photograph any of this.
The Landrover and tent at our campsite at the Geithellnaa
Back on the Geithellnaá
Four weeks into our kayaking expedition to Iceland and all is well. Rather misty this morning and we are planning to paddle the lower gorge section of the Geithellnaá.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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…