Part 3 - Sporðalda to Selfoss

11.08.08 - Sporðalda to Landmannalaugar

We had a pleasant nights sleep at our wild camp and we were away reasonably early. It was a bright sunny morning with hardly a cloud in the sky as we set off and it was only a short distance up the 26 to our turn off at the junction of the F208. Here we left the tarmac for more gravel roads and unfortunately there was a sign saying that there was 5km of road works. This was due to a new bit of road and it was a horrible chossy surface to ride on. After accidentally clipping into the SPD's several times when I didn't want to and in the process nearly falling off, I decided to take the cleats off the my boots and put back the blanking plates. We stopped at a view point overlooking the Krókslón reservoir and noticed another cyclist coming up the hill behind us.  I noticed that he was riding a 'Chas Roberts'. "Another English man" I said, "A Welshman actually", silly me assuming he must be English. He had just come across the Sprengisandur route and was heading for Landmannalaugar as well. After a chat we wished him well and laughed that we would probably see each other at the campsite.

From there the F208 takes you through an interesting lava field unfortunately the rough road took it’s toll on my front rack as I suddenly realised that the steering was a bit funny and noticed that right pannier was almost touching the ground. Well this was the second front rack to go and we were running out of cord to repair it as we had used our spare cord to repair Frank’s rack in the Western Fjords. The only other cord we had was the stuff we used as washing line in the tent. We therefore had to unpack one of my rear panniers to extricate the tent and remove the cord, it was a good thing it was good weather. Unlike Frank’s rack which had sheared at only one point mine had sheared at both the top and the bottom so we had to use a combination of cable ties and good old scout lashing to fix it. With the front rack fixed we headed off again and a good hour later we found what we thought was a lovely spot next to the Tungnaá river for some lunch. As we were a bit hungry we decided on cooking up some super noodles, just after we had got started the wind dropped and the place was swarming with flies. Fortunately they weren’t the biting kind but they were still a real nuisance as they got everywhere. They were in your eyes, up your nose, in you ears and I'm sure we inadvertently ended up with a bit more protein in our noodles that we had bargained for! Lunch ended up being a rather hurried affair as we couldn't wait to get going again.

As we headed further along the F208 the road was flat and easy going as we crossed a broad swath of black cinder ash between mountains of a similar colour with the odd splash of green vegetation or red ochre of volcanic activity to break it up. It wasn’t until we got nearer to Landmannalaugar that things began to green up a bit and as we got to the glistening Frostastaðavatn lake the mountains of Landmannalaugar started to open up in front of us. The road climbed up above the lake to a small col where a coach was parked. We stopped there to catch our breath and take in the wonderful view that was opening out before us. It was absolutely beautiful in the late afternoon sun and Frank suggested that we walk up the hill a bit to get a better view. We parked the bikes and headed up past the occupants of the coach, which turned out to be a party of Italians having a lecture on the area by a very effervescent bearded chap who reminded me of David Bellamy. Our short walk turned into a long hike up the Frostastaðahals to a point at 701m where we were amongst the crater of small volcano whose lava had poured out into the Frostastaðavatn. The views overlooking the Snjóalda and the mountains behind Landmannalaugar were absolutely stunning and it was well worth the climb. We could have stayed up there for ages it was so beautiful and I was so great grateful to Frank for suggesting we climb it. As it was indeed getting late we reluctantly headed down to the bikes and headed the last few kilometres to the campsite at Landmannalaugar. As we approached the campsite the road stopped abruptly at a rather deep looking ford. Great, the last thing we really fancied was unloading the bikes and wading through cold water. As usual I thought I had better check out the lie of the land as there might be a better place to cross behind the small bluff to our left. I’m glad I looked over the bluff as there was a much better place it was a very nice wooden footbridge! Mind you getting the bikes to it wasn’t that easy as the only way was along a very narrow path across a steep slope!

The campsite is situated on a rather large expanse of generally flat but slightly boggy gravel with a bit of a drainage problem so you had to pick your pitch carefully. What with trying to find out who we had to book in with and faffing about deciding which bit looked less boggy or less gravely we didn’t quite notice this big black cloud behind us until it began to hammer it down with rain. We hurriedly started putting the tent up and as we tensioned it up there was a snapping sound. Opps! one of the pole sections had split, fortunately it hadn’t ripped through the pole sleeve and with the rain pouring down we had to remove the broken pole and get the emergency pole splint on and over the split part. Usually we are pretty careful in pitching but either the pole was getting brittle or one of us must have been in a hurry to get the tent up and had not clicked in one of the poles in quite right, I don’t know but these things always seem to happen when it is peeing it down with rain and you are tired and hungry! But hey we couldn't complain we had had a great day.

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12.08.08 - Landmannalaugar

l went over early in the morning and put our camera batteries on charge with the warden at the hut. They work off a generator system and only have electricity for certain parts of the day so the warden said she would put the batteries on charge when they next had electricity. We had planned to stay a day and to spend some time walking around the area. We decided to walk up Bláhnúkur the grey Rhyolite mountain behind the campsite. It was a bit of a steep and loose path in places and it certainly stretched the calf muscles. It was certainly worth the effort as there was a wonderful view from the top although it wasn’t as sunny or as clear as it was yesterday. We were really glad that we had climbed up the Frostastaðahals in the really sunny weather yesterday. The route down the otherside gave us wonderful views of the multi-coloured mountains of the geothermal area. We took it leisurely and looked at all the flowers as we strolled down. When we got to the small river which was warm from the geothermal activity we headed through the broken lava field to the hot spring area below Brennísteinsalda and then back through the lava field to the campsite. When we got to the bus café we met Rob from Wales and chatted to him about his cycle trip back from Tibet to Wales and his experiences of the Pamir highway. It so interesting to chat to another like minded cyclist and hear their experiences of cycletouring. Unfortunately the weather stopped our chat as it began to rain heavily and we all retired to our tents.

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13.08.08 - Landmannalaugar to Skuggafjall

The weather had improved a bit as at 7.00am there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We had hoped to get going but when I checked on the charging of the batteries at the ITA hut the warden said the power had gone off at 11.00pm and she was waiting for the electric to come on at 9.00am. Therefore we would have to wait a bit and we decided as the weather was good that we would wash out some clothes while we waited and we could always hang them on the back of the bikes to dry as we cycled along. We packed up the tent and checked on the state of the batteries fortunately they were done and so we loaded the bikes. As we needed some more food for lunches and breakfast we headed for the shop in the old bus and bumped into Rob again who had been for a swim in the hot river and was just having a coffee. We chattered about the bikes as he was interested in the Bikebuddy bottle carriers. We showed him the repairs we had to do to the front racks and he said that he once repaired a rear rack with dental floss and sellotape and that lasted 5 months. He also told us about the time he had been knocked off his bike in France by a French lorry driver early one morning. He said that he was lit up like a Christmas tree, but the driver didn't stop. He had one pannier ripped right off and his pedal and rear rack were bent, he suffered a cracked rib and ankle as well as cuts and bruises! Someone eventually stopped to help him and called the French police who were apparently next to useless! He ended up cycling back to Wales after a day’s rest still with a broken ankle and cracked ribs, he felt that having come all the way from Tibet he was so close to home he just didn’t fancy spending any time in a French hospital.

The clouds had by then been building a bit and as we left we were hoping that the weather was not on the turn, but we couldn't complain as we had been lucky so far. As we stopped at the junction of the Landmannalaugar turn off a cycle tourer came from the direction we were heading. He was from Germany and was heading for the Sandur route. He told us that there were many fjords at least a dozen but they were not too deep, the deepest one had a foot bridge you could use. He was heading in to Landmannalaugar to buy some bread we wished him good luck with his trip and a 'Gutten fart' It was easy going at first as it was flat and the gravel surface was good. As we passed over the bridge over the Jˆkulgil I noticed that there was a man in the water with a pole and he didn't look like he was fishing. My curiosity got the better of me and I had to stop and ask him what he was doing. I hadn’t noticed but he had a very glamorous assistant who told me that they were from an electricity company and were putting in a flow meter to monitor the flow rates of the river for a hydro scheme. It was a very beautiful route as we headed around lake made by the river Tungra There were indeed many fjords and most weren’t too deep but still deep enough to have to take of you boots. The road got steeper in parts and on one occasion going up a hill I tried to change gear a bit too quick and it resulted in the chain coming of the front mech and wrapping itself into the gap between the mech and the bottom bracket bringing me to an abrupt stop and an impressive dismount that Frankie Dittori would have been proud of, thank goodness I didn't have my SPD's still on! After taking the entire panniers off and turning over the bike it took us ages and a lot of black oily fingers later to get it all un-entangled. This was too big a job for the chopstick alone. At one point the road went alongside a river through a narrow gorge with some interesting rock formations either side and resulted in a deep ford with a steep climb out the other side which was too steep to ride up and we had to push the bikes. After the final few fords Frank was getting a bit fed up with have to remove our boots and I could tell she was getting tired, time to find a good pitch for the night. A quick look at the map showed that in the next valley after short climb over the next spur there was a small flat section with a small river running through it. Hopefully this would give us water a soft grassy patch for the tent. My hunch was correct and sure enough we found a nice grassy flat bank close to the river near the end of the valley just before the road climbed up again.

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14.08.08 - Skuggafjall to Svartihnúkur

We do like wild camping it is so restful and peaceful it is just you and the nature surrounding you. We had such a peaceful night’s sleep! As we had got to bed early the night before we were up reasonably early and got going without too much fuss. As we had got most of the way up the first hill I noticed that we were being chased by a lone tourer in a white helmet. When we were at the top taking some pictures and putting on yellow jackets for the descent he arrived. He stopped and asked us where we were from and he told us he was from Germany, I asked him if he was having a good tour and how long he was in Iceland, he said he had been out for 12 weeks. Frank asked him where he had been and he replied 'I have been everywhere' I asked him if he flew in but no he had come on the ferry to Seyðisfjörður. Ah we said we came in that way last year and wasn't that climb out over to Eglisstaðir awfully steep. Oh he said that wasn't that difficult! I then mentioned that the last bit of this road the surface was awful and the hills were too steep to ride in places. Oh he said I have a special new bike with fat tyres which make it much easier I don’t have a problem with the hills. You can guess at this time what we were now thinking. Anyway I asked him how long he had left "Oh 2 weeks plenty of time to get back to Seyðisfjörður. I shall probably stop off at Skaftafell to do some hiking." "Where are you heading now I asked", "Oh down the F208 and then to head east". He then asked us where we are going I said down the F233 and then across the Mydralursandur. "You are going that way, but on the internet it said that there were deep fjords and a lot of sand along that route". Oh well I said we will see. We wished him well and I said he had better set off before us as he was obviously faster than us. We carried on and found the deep ford with the footbridge that the previous German had mentioned. Soon after this was our turning down to the F233. There was a nice grassy area near to the river so we decided it was a good place for lunch and while we tucking into some 'Supermee' who should come past but the German guy or 'Fat tyres' as we dubbed him. Where he had got too I don't know as at the speed he was going he should have been miles ahead of us. When we got to Altnavotn there was again another deep ford and again I'm glad that I had a good look around as there was a natural bridge where the river disappeared under the bedrock and left a paved or rather a rough paved crossing. We had intended to camp at Altnovtn but it was only 4.00pm and felt we might as well head on. We had a lovely view along the Skafta valley and headed along it and over the next col and found a nice sheltered place in the Lambagljúfurádalur valley. The only slight problem was that there was no flat grassy areas to camp on, the only flat parts where covered in moss which had the appearance of a green shag pile carpet. Unfortunately the moss wasn't as close knit as grass and it was difficult to get the pegs to stay in. We ended up pilling rocks on them to keep them in place!

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15.08.08 - Lambagljúfurádalur to Hirfunes

We had a comfortable nights sleep on our green shag pile carpet of moss. I was glad that the wind had died down last night, as I'm not sure if the pegs would have held that well in the moss, even though we had put large rocks on the main pegs. While I was behind a small bluff getting some water from the stream, who should be coming down the hill into the valley but 'Fat tyres'. He hadn't noticed me, as I must have been hidden by the bluff. I watched his progress and saw him pushing his bike up the next hill! So much for his special bike that can go up anything! It was indeed a good climb out of Lambagljúfurádalur and after seeing 'Fat tyres' push his bike up the hill we didn't feel so bad in pushing ours up to.

There were several steeper and chossy bits where we ended up pushing the bikes up although they weren't so long and drawn out as ones we did yesterday. In a short while we were soon looking down into Hólmsá valley with the Myrdalsjökull glacier in the distance. When we reached the junction of the F233 and the F210 we turned left and headed west and came across the Hólmsá River and a very wide and deep ford. We had a long look up and down to see if there was a better place to cross but to no avail. The water looked very deep and cold, ‘Fat tyres’ was indeed correct this route had some deep fords on it. It was time to reappraise our route. We had 2 nights food left which would have just got us back on our original route with out any slack or room for error. If ‘Fat tyres’ was correct and there was a lot of sand crossing the Mællssandur we might be pushing a lot of the way. We both admitted that we were tired, the barometer pressure had been dropping which probably meant a change in the weather. We decided to be sensible and take an alternative southerly route by the F210 towards Hrifunes. We could then continue onto Vik via route 1. We backed tracked the short way to the junction of the F210 and headed south down the Hólmsá River valley.

We still got some lovely views of the Myrdalsjökull glacier as we cycled along and at one point the clouds just cleared enough for us to catch a glimpse of Katla the Myrdalsjökull glacier's summit. It was fairly easy going as we headed east on the F210 with craggy peak of Einhyrningur 694m on the right. The road took the higher ground to the east of the river which meant we had a bit more climbing to do before we got around the south side of the spur and we were looking down on the farmsteads at Snæbyli. It was quite steep and rocky as we descended through the Snæbylisheidi to Snæbyli. It was quite a change to be in among rich fertile hay fields and farms, it made quite a change from the stark vegetation less barren interior we had been in the last few days. We stopped for a while to look at the lovely maintained little church at Gröf with its orange roof, doors and windows contrasting nicely with the white painted walls in the evening sun. We followed the Tungufljót river southwards and were glad to see the sign that said Hrifunes was only 6km away. We knew from the map that there was a campsite there and rather hoped that it had a lovely hot shower. However when we got there it was a basic cold water site with the traditional utilitarian Icelandic green and brown toilet block which had obviously seen better days! Oh well you can’t have everything, we will have to wait till we get to Vik for a good shower.

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16.08.08 - Hirfunes to Vik

It rained heavily in night and we woke to overcast skies but at least it was dry. We were a bit slow in getting going as we were both shattered from all the exertions of the previous few days. Unfortunately it was a hill climb to start out of the campsite and then some downhill to te small hamlet of Hafnshöll. After bridge there was a very straight flat gravel road that cut across a very flat ash field which gave you a hugh vista across to the Myrdalsjökull. It seemed a long 11kms but fortunately the gravel surface wasn’t too bad although there were a few wash-boarded parts to contend with. We eventually arrived at the junction with route 1 at Laufskálar where there were many stone piles. Apparently they were made by travellers to give them good luck when crossing the Mrydalssandur. It was good to be on tarmac again as it was a lot easier going although the wind at first was head on to us and slowed our progress a bit.

As we gradually turned westward it became less of a problem. There were good views of the Kötlujökull glacier as we cycled along the Myrdalssandur and the colours of the grasses where quite amazing. We stopped for some lunch at picnic spot just after the Dyrallækir River and where grateful for the ‘Bunts’ they had created around it, as the wind was a bit keen. As we headed westward the isolated outcrop of Hjörleifshöfði stood out in the distance to the left of the road. We wondered had many thousands of years ago that it had once been an island in the Atlantic Ocean and when it had been marooned when the sea levels changed. It wasn’t long before we could see the famous Reynisdrangar sea stacks at Vik in the distance. There was a small incline to get up past the airfield opposite the craggy sides of Höfðbrekka and we were soon in Vik. We just got in by 15.45pm and decided to go to shops before pitching at the campsite. We were glad we did as it closed at 16.00pm.

The wind was starting to get up when we got to the campsite and we tried to find a pitch with a bit of shelter. We found it a little difficult as the wind was coming from the south and was hitting the cliffs behind the site and bouncing back in sudden down draught gusts. Fortunately the site had good shower, which was great as it was the first one we had had since Landmannalaugar.

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17.08.08 - Vik to Selfoss

It was a very windy and gusty night but the tent survived quite well and despite this we got a reasonable nights sleep. Whilst having breakfast we decided we needed to get to a chemist to get something to ease the sun blisters on Frank's legs and as the weather was pretty horrible we decided that the only place with a chemist would be Selfoss a little too far to cycle so we decided to catch the bus. I nipped off to the loo and when I got back Frank was chatting to the lassie in the tent opposite ours. She was also touring and was from Doncaster.  Her goal was to do route 1 all around Iceland and she was about to set off to cycle to Skógarfoss but she was having problems with her brakes
A split pin was sticking out and she needed a pair of pliers to push it back in. I got mine out and immediately broke them trying to get it back in! Oh well another thing that we will have to be replaced next year. The problem was that it was gouging into the rear tyre when the bike was loaded, I wasn't surprised as there was very little air in her tyre so I got my pump out and pumped it up for her. She said it was so nice to have a man to sort these things out for her. She told me that she had a husband once but got rid of him, as he wasn’t any good at fixing things like this. She was quite a character!

We wished her well and said we would look out for her from the bus, although it didn’t leave until16.00 so hopefully she would be there by then. Indeed when the bus pulled into Skógarfoss we recognized her tent on the campsite next to the foss. We hadn’t realized just how tired we were as we both fell asleep on the bus and fortunately woke up as we arrived at Selfoss on time at the N1 station. The Bonus supermarket next door had just shut so we decided as we were both so knackered and the KFC was just next to us that we would be lazy and eat there, well we were on our holidays!

18.08.08 - Selfoss

Although we had travelled yesterday and done little cycling we still felt pretty tired and decided that we needed a rest day. It gave us an opportunity to do some washing, as the clothes were distinctly grubby and beginning to hum their own tune! Whilst we were there we got chatting to a couple of French girls who had arrived on a tandem, they told us that they had had a lot of fun going around Iceland on it and even managed to get it onto a bus at one point without any trouble!

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