Our two weeks in Iceland (August – September, 2002)
Trip summary
Tanya and I flew to Reykjavik, Iceland from New York on August 21st and returned on September 4th, 2002. During two weeks that we spent in Iceland we went from Reykjavik (West) to Isafjordur (Westfjords), then to Akureyri (North), continuing to Myvatn and the Jokulsargljufur National Park, from Dettifoss to Asbyrgi (North East), and finally to Vestmannaeyjar (South West). We traveled by official buses and vans, flew, hitchhiked, and walked. Most of the walking, however, we did without our backpacks. Overnight, we stayed mostly in our tent (North Face – Rock) with the exception of the first and the last night when we slept indoors in our sleeping bags.
Throughout the trip we enjoyed the cool Icelandic weather with the average air temperature being somewhere between 8° and 12° Celsius, in a stark contrast to New York weather which is around 30° in August. We had only two sunny days (with only minor sprinkles), and another two or three days when the sun would come out for an hour or two. The rest of the time it was either starting to rain, raining, or looked like it could rain any moment now (i.e., low overcast sky, or fog). It is interesting that even though we had regularly checked local temperature and weather in Iclenad for about a month prior to our trip, and, rationally, did expect rather cold and rainy conditions, the numerous sunny pictures of Iceland that we saw on the Internet and in guidebooks somehow made us feel that the weather would be nice when we get there. This is not say that we felt unlucky or depressed about the weather conditions we encountered, but to comment on a psychological effect that bright and sunny pictures have on naïve optimists like ourselves.
Most of the time we avoided public eateries and cooked for ourselves. Some of the food we brought with us from New York and some bought in local supermarkets. Several times Tanya also picked and prepared birch mushrooms that were plentiful in the lake Myvatn region. On two or three occasions that we ate in restaurants and cafeterias we didn’t find the food particularly good, although it wasn’t bad either. Sort of mediocre. As far as prices went, it wasn’t more than what we usually pay in New York, especially if you add tips. Cooking for ourselves was relatively easy given that many campgrounds provide free cooking facilities, and we did not need to worry about spending too much gas.
Our trip was a great success! Iceland turned out to be every bit as beautiful as we had expected it to be, and then some. We wished that we had more time and explored more places. It was sad to have to go back. Myriad of big and small waterfalls, rolling green hills, sharp and tall cliffs, virtual desolation, and even the almost unceasing rain gave us something that we greatly miss in our lives in New York. Who knows, one day we might be back to Iceland to get another full breath of clean air (sulfuric geothermal vapors notwithstanding), and to see the things that we did not get a chance to see this time, like puffins, whales, and the famous Geysir and Blue Lagoon.
Day-by-day itinerary
(Apologies for the anglicized spelling of Icelandic proper names)
Day 1 : August, 22nd
New York (Aug., 21st) – Keflavik – Reykjavik – Stykkisholmur
Keflavik airport – 6:30 A.M. Flybus to Reykjavik (1000kr). Intermittent rain and drizzle. BSI terminal. Got info from Destination Iceland at the BSI bus station. Left backpacks at the station (free of charge). Touring Reykjavik most of the day. Bus to Stykkisholmur at 5 P.M (2600kr per person). Confusing changing of buses on the way. Arrived at 8 P.M. Got sleeping bag accommodations at the Youth Hostel (1500kr per person – member price). Went to the outdoor pool and Jacuzzi (250kr per person). A night walk around town. Cooked dinner at the Youth Hostel.
Stykkisholmur – Brjanslaekur
A 9 A.M. ferry to Brjanslaekur (1600 kr), arriving at 12:00 P.M. Unsuccessful attempts to hitchhike West. Pitching the tent in the rain (600kr per tent) next to the ferry ticket office. Walked around Brjanslaekur (3 houses and a church). Cooked, ate, slept, read. Cooked again, ate again. Slept till next morning (to the sound of rain drumming on our tent).
Brjanslaekur – Patreksfjordur – Latrabjarg – Brjanslaekur – Isafjordur
Took a 12:00 P.M. bus (a 12 or 14 passenger van) to Latrabjarg cliffs, with a brief stop at Patreksfjordur, and a marine museum. The cliffs were almost completely deserted, but still beautiful even in the fog. Walked around for an hour. Drove back via Patreksfjordur and Brjanslaekur. Weather improving towards the evening. Great views on the drive from Brjanslaekur to Isafjordur. A friendly quadrilingual driver would stop on the way to let us take pictures and appreciate the views. Arrived at Isafjordur shortly after 10 P.M. Campground 2 km outside of town near the golf course (with hot water, but no cooking facilities, seemed free). Big waterfall next to the campground.
Isafjordur
Drizzle, intermittent rain and sun. Walked to town. Visited info center (not particularly helpful). Wondered around town. Visited the local pull (indoors). Set in a restaurant (Pizza67) drinking coffee watching the weather change from minute to minute. Contemplating it all. Walked back to campground around 8 P.M.
Isafjordur
Foggy with some drizzle and rain, periodic clearing. Walked to town. Climbed the hill West of the town center (up to the shelf). Going got tougher towards the end. Several times we were ready to turn back. But were glad we didn’t. Great views of the town, glaciers, and the fjord when we finally got there (the fog had lifted). The climb took about 2 – 2 ½ hours. Picking berries on the way there and back (lots of them). Visit to the local library (Internet and email). Booked a plane ticket to Akureyri (via Reykjavik), with the help of a kind librarian. The price for the plane was only 100 kr more than that for the bus. More coffee and cakes in a local cafeteria. Back to camp.
Isafjordur – Reykjavik – Akureyri -- Reykjahlid
Clear sunny sky. Got to the airport at 8:15 A.M. after an hour walk from the campground. A memorable look from above at the town, fjord, and the surrounding hills and glaciers. A 45 min. flight. Drizzle and rain in Reykjavik. An hour wait in the airport. Another 45 min. to Akureyri. Arrived at 11:50 A.M. (It would have been around midnight had we taken the bus.) A 3km walk to town. Still fair weather and wormer than in Westfjords. Stopped at the bus station for info. Left backpacks at the station (in the corner – free). Went to the other side of town (past the stadium). Ate at a restaurant. Walked back. Dried our tent which was wet from last night. Wondered around town, stopping in stores, visited the botanical gardens – very nice and mellow. A bus to Reykjahlid around 6 P.M. Stopped at Godafoss for about 20 min. on the way. The weather was getting worse with drizzle and fog. Arrived to Myvatn past 8 P.M. Getting windy. Got a spot in a crowded campsite (Elda). Went to the pool, before turning in for the night.
Reykjahlid – Dimmuborgir – Hverfell – Grjotagja -- Rejkjahlid
Heavy rain in the morning. A trip to an improvised steam room on top of a geothermal spring about 2 km from the diatomite plant (on the advice from a local). Rain ending, then becoming intermittent through out the day. Wondering around old moss covered lava fields. Getting on a path to Dimmuborgir near Grjotagja. A trip up the Hverfell, picking up mushrooms on the way there and back. Scrambling around Grjotagja. A ride back to the camp with French auto tourists on a 4WD. Cooking mushrooms. A delicious meal with people at the camp.
Reykjahlid – Krafla (Viti & Leirhnjukur) – Reykjahlid
Drizzle in the morning, intermittent rain, drizzle, and fog throughout the day. Caught a 12:00 P.M. bus to Krafla. Walked around the crater, Viti (lake inside the crater), and other hot springs and boiling mud pots. Then went to Leirhnjukur (about 500 m away). A circular walk around the lava field (noticeably warm and even steaming in places), more boiling mud on the way. Dry lunch around 3:30 – 4 P.M. A walk back from Leirhnjukur to Reykjahlid across the lava field (almost lifeless except for rare birds and moss). Fog lifting. Good views of Myvatn. The path is marked and ends at the back of the pool building. It took about 4 hours. A mushroom soup (from yesterday’s mushrooms) and freshly made home fries for diner.
Reykjahlid – Dettifoss – Vesturdalur
Rain in the morning. Dried our tent and sleeping bags in the campsite’s inside drying room (free) adjacent to the laundry room. A 12:00 P.M. bus to Dettifoss which is inside the Jokulsargljufur National Park. Raining hard. Tanya with backpacks took another bus to Vesturdalur from Dettifoss (left at 14:30 P.M.). I walked North along the canyon rim. The path is marked, but was confusing in the beginning near Dettifoss. (I got lost for awhile). The trek took about 6 ½ hours. Not a single person met on the path. North wind in my face and rain, but some beautiful sites on the way. Rain ending when I reached Vesturdalur. Tanya already set a tent. Cooking and eating dinner inside the tent (for comfort) without burning or spilling anything (a technical accomplishment), drying shoes and gloves at the ranger station.
Vesturdalur – Asbyrgi – Husavik – Akureyri
Beautiful sunny morning. Left the backpacks at the ranger station to be picked up by a bus to Asbyrgi (free service). A walk around local Ejlan, then on to Asbyrgi around 11 A.M. Amazing sites on the way. Geological formations that words alone cannot describe. The weather is still unbelievably good. A walk to Asbyrgi along the canyon rim, lunch at a picturesque spot. Arrived at Asbyrgi campsite around 4:30 P.M. Our backpacks were still in transit. Took the 18:30 bus to Akureyri (the same bus that brought our backpacks, and that Tanya had taken yesterday -- last run of the season) with a 45 min stop in Husavik. Arrived to Akureyri shortly after 9 P.M. Weather getting worse with some wind and drizzle. Pitched a tent at the local campsite next to school, and went to town (a 5 min walk downhill). It was a celebration of the city’s 140th anniversary. Galleries and shops were open till midnight. Streets were full of people – young and old. Spectacular fireworks at the end.
Akureyri
Rain and strong wind overnight and throughout the day, with some clearing at times. Went to the bus station for information on bus schedules which had already changed to off season. Souvenir and postcard shopping, a couple of hours in café Amour watching people and weather go by. A trip to the city pool (outdoors – Excellent in rain and wind!). A big rainbow across the whole sky before the next onset of rain. Dinner. Hanging out in the campground dining space.
Akureyri – Reykjavik – Dorlakshofn – Heimaey (Vestmannaeyjar)
Windy but dry in the morning with patches of blue sky. A scenic 4 hour ride to Reykjavik with a couple from Chicago who were travelling with their 1 ½ year old daughter Maya in a rented 4WD. Brave and adventurous people. Weather becoming excellent as we arrived at Reykjavik BSI station around noon. Information gathering at Destination Iceland on ferry/bus schedules (turned out to be wrong, mostly). Left backpacks at the station. A couple of hours wondering around Reykjavik, unrecognizable in the sunlight. Returned to the station shortly after 4 P.M. Cooked a delicious rice and fresh mushroom (from our morning ride) meal in the tall grass behind the station. Took a 17:50 bus to Dorlakshofn, followed by a 19:30 ferry to the island of Heimaey (Vestmannaeyjar). The weather is still good! Watched the sun set behind the shore from the ferry. Wind and noticeable waves during the ride. Uneasy feeling in the stomach. Magical arrival to Heimaey around 10:30 P.M. It was already dark. A 30 – 40 min. walk through the quiet town to the campsite. Pitching the tent under the dark and clear sky. Quick tea. Our first and last sighting of Aurora Borealis in Iceland – grayish in color, changing in intensity fading away and coming back over and over.
Heimaey (Vestmannaeyjar)
Woke up around 9 to the sound of very strong rain and wind. It seemed that the fly of our tent could fly away at any moment. The tent acting as if ready to collapse, but it didn’t. Weather getting better around 10 – 11 A.M. A walk up the hill next to the campsite and to the cliffs. Lots of seagulls everywhere, but no puffins. Walking on the ridge towards the southern end. Got a view of almost the whole island before it was enveloped in the clouds. Rain and wind starting again -- light at first, but getting stronger and stronger. Watching the rain in a dry mountain crack for ½ an hour then coming down to the campsite during a brief pause. Lunch. A trip to the local library (Internet and email). Sky gradually clearing up and becoming almost cloudless around 7 P.M. Walking around the whole town. Watching a picturesque sunset from the small cliffs on the western shore near the golf course. A trip to the local supermarket. Dinner. Starting to drizzle. Slept in our sleeping bags on the floor of the drying room of the campground, to avoid having to dry our stuff next morning.
Vestmannaeyjar (Heimaey) – Dorlakshofn – Reykjavik – Keflavik – New York
Took the 8:15 A.M. ferry to Dorlakshofn (the only ferry for the day). Arrived at the BSI terminal in Reykjavik around 12:00 P.M. Went on a two hour shopping spree in Reykjavik. Took a 14:30 P.M. bus to Keflavik (with confusing changing of buses on the way). Checked in at the airport. More souvenirs and alcohol from the Duty Free area. An uneventful flight to New York. Home.
Gear
Iceland is a great place to test your gear because of typically adverse weather (i.e., wind and rain). We certainly found out a lot about our gear (mostly discouraging information having to do with water tightness). In general, we were well prepared and what we took with us was sufficient. But we also took some thing that we could have easily done without (e.g., many short sleeve T-shirts), and other things that we wish we would take instead of or in addition to what we had (e.g., water resistant boots and gloves, more long sleeve shirts).
Here is what we took with us (most of it):
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Tent: North Face - Rock |
A nice tent in fair weather, but in Iceland the fly started leaking along the seams near the entrance after several days of rain. Also under constant unidirectional wind and rain the wet fly sticks to the tent walls and lets in some moisture. The covered area between the tent and the fly entrance is too small for two backpacks. |
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A footprint for the tent |
Ours was several years old, but served us well. A must have. |
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Two dawn sleeping bags – Campmor |
Easily compressible, light. Great when not wet. |
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A compressor bag |
Great for the sleeping bags. Saves space, and, supposedly, keeps them dry. But I doubt that it is really waterproof. |
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Styrofoam sleeping rags (Link-Rest, full length) |
Ours were OK, light and comfortable, highly recommended to have. |
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Propane/butane mini stove |
It is about 6 years old but worked fine. Sometimes, however, gas containers it works with (blue) may be quite bad and unreliable. The first one (small) lasted less than two hours, the second one (also small) lasted about 8. |
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One cooking pot (2 litters) |
Stainless steel. OK. Maybe a bit too big for two people. |
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Several (~8) large garbage bags |
Came very handy several times, for storing backpacks, covering clothes (especially, when the tent is leaking). But ours were very thin, we wished they were thicker. |
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A head light, and a flash light |
Both useful in the dark. Of course, the head light is more useful. |
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Gas light |
Attaches to same gas containers as the stove. Mostly useless. |
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A Gerber and a Leatherman knives |
The Gerber was useful as always (later on we found a simple but good Swiss army knife, in addition). The Leatherman was essentially a dead weight. |
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A compass and an Etrex GPS |
Both were not necessary since most of the trails we were on were marked. But both were good to have, just in case. Made us feel safer. |
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Boots: Merrell (Tanya) & Vasque (Valeriy) |
Both pairs are 2 years old, but have been used only on occasion. Both were treated before we left. Both had the same problems. Could withstand only minimum of moisture before letting water in. We had to put plastic bags around our socks to keep feet drier and warmer (relatively speaking). Although both are comfortable to walk in when dry. |
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Socks |
Regular thin cotton socks, and one pair wool socks each (great for sleeping after getting feet wet). Would get wet in concert with boots. |
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Shirts |
We had overdone it with short sleeve ones, needed more long sleeve shirts. |
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Fleece (one each) |
Good to have, light, useful. |
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Dawn vest (one each) |
Also warm, light and practical. |
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Jeans (one each) |
Our main day wear |
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Long underwear |
Polyester (Valeriy), Cotton (Tanya). Very good to have. |
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Light thin pants |
(mostly for airplane or if jeans get too wet / damaged) |
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Wool jacket (one each) |
Tanya used hers, I could probably do without mine. Plus it is not light. |
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Worm hats |
Brought with us, but could also buy very good ones there. You need one in any case. |
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Waterproof jackets and pants |
Do not even think of going there without them. |
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Gloves |
Cheap non water resistant. Needed better ones – waterproof. |
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Rope ~ 30 feet |
Used only once, when attaching backpacks to car roof. But it might have come useful at other times. |
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Individ. space blankets: 2 |
Didn’t use. But might have needed to with less luck. |
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Scotch tape |
Didn’t use. But could be useful (potentially) if, say, our tent leaked harder than it did. |
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Insect repellent, insect head nets |
Didn’t use. The bugs were dead before we got there. |
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Sun block, sun glasses |
Truly useless for us, but might have been necessary on glaciers (had we gone there). |
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Water filter |
Dead weight in Iceland. Should’ve left it home. |
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1 litter water bottle |
Useful as always on short trips |
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2 gallon water skin |
Didn’t need it. But might have been useful if camping on lava (Not something I would recommend, if you care about your tent). |
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Lonely Planet: Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Island |
An OK guide book for basic orientation. Not more than that. Some info is outdated (e.g., Asbyrgi has only one campground now). |
What we wish we had taken:
http://picturecenter.kodak.com/share?invite=OEUr4HPg8maQ1hoUUUMo
Links (Iceland)
http://www.vedur.is/english/vedurisland_ensk.html
Iceland weather
http://www.dice.is/htme/dice-english_32.html
Iceland ferries
Iceland buses, has schedule and destinations but not maps or tariffs.
http://www.travel-library.com/europe/iceland/index.html
This site has much information on Iceland (and other coutnries), including personal travelogs that we found very helpful in planning our trip.
Iceland general info by area, including bus, and camping info for each
place around the country
http://www.eyjafjordur.is/eng/maps/index.php
North Iceland -- general (maybe too general)
http://www.gundimat.co.uk/equipment/equipment.html
A travelogue about a trip to Iceland. This is equpment page
http://www.gundimat.co.uk/shopping/taxrefund/taxrefund.html
From the same authours as above. Tax refund info.
http://www.randburg.com/is/tourism/plans.html
A site with links to Iceland related site. Seems a bit commercial to be
useful for our purposes.
http://www.atvest.is/eng/Tourism/Tourism_II/body_tourism_ii.html
A site with general information about West Fjords
http://www.vesturferdir.is/index.phtml?uid=&id=&flokkur=&leit=&start=&lang=e
More on West Fjords from a tour operator (I think)
http://www.northwest.is/1vita.asp
General info and links in North West Iceland
We both grew up in Odessa, Ukraine. Prior to moving to the USA, Tanya also lived in Moscow and I (Valeriy) lived in Petropavlovsk – Kamchatsky, Russia. Separately, Tanya and I have gone on many backpacking trips in Ukraine and Russia. Some of our recent trips include Patagonian Andes (me solo), Nova Scotia, Mexico (the Cooper Canyon), Europe (from Amsterdam to Prague and back), California (the Dead valey and Sequoia National Park), plus countless trips in Long Island Sound (sailing) and upstate New York (mostly to the Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondaks). Not all of these trips are pure backpacking, on some we also used cars, canoes, or sail boats. Currently, we live, work, and study in New York.