Hike across Iceland - Myvatn to Nyidalur (Day 9-15)

Day 9, Tuesday 10. July 2018

Start: Reykjalid - Hild Campsite (65.649243/16.918751)

End: Next to the Sellandafell (65.416288/17.093525)

Distance: ~26 kilometers

Switching to the cabin was great. I slept like a rock. We got on our way at 08.30. We followed the road towards the southern point of Lake Myvatn. The wind was fierce, and it almost threw me into a ditch at one time. We came by a tourist attraction and took a break out of the wind next to a toilet building. We left the asphalt road and would not see asphalt again for another 8 days. Because of the wind we hiked with our sunglasses on all day. 

Sunglasses and wind jacket is needed

The terrain turned grey and dull and we just wanted to get to camp. It was difficult to find a good spot and we ended up pitching our tent in the sand, much to my regret. The lack of big stones made it difficult to keep the stakes in the sand. The loose sand combined with the wind made a couple of my stakes go loose. I went stone gathering and made it work. I noticed that the sand was very sticky, it kind of glued itself to my tent and it was impossible to keep it out of the tent.

The mighty Sellandafell

Day 10, Wednesday 11. July 2018

Start: Next to the Sellandafell (65.416288/17.093525)

End: Botni hut (65.269571/17.068033)

Distance: ~20 kilometers

I woke up at 06.30, one of the tent stakes had loosened so we quickly packed up to get out of the sand. As we were about to go I noticed that I was missing my sunglasses. After the last couple of windy days, I could not imagine hiking through the highlands without sunglasses. I ran through my gear in my mind, nope they could not be there. Thinking back to the day before... We had stopped at a small stream crossing, to get water, a couple of kilometers before camp. Here we had put down our backpacks and my sunglasses had been placed in the sternum strap. We stashed the backpacks and made a mark at the road, so we could find them again. Now we went back towards the small stream to find my sunglasses. One the way we went by places we had been checking out as possible campsites. At the stream crossing there were no sunglasses. On our way back to the backpacks we were still looked for the sunglasses. At one time a glimpse caught my eye, on the road, in the sand right next to Ove’s foot. It was my sunglasses which Ove almost stepped on, what a luck.

The road where we found my sunglasses

In one of our breaks during the day I noticed that there was a hole in one of my socks, I sewed it and began to wonder if the other two pairs would be enough for the last part of the hike.
The terrain now changed into a big endless lava field. The trail towards the hut swayed its way through the old lava.

The contours of the landscape made it hard to see anything further away. It was only because of our map and the GPS, that we knew that the hut was not far away. We were only a few hundred meters from hut before we could see it. At the hut we meet a Frenchman who was hiking from Åsbyrgi. As we came to the hut pretty earl, we decided to lay out our tents and clean them from the black sticky sand. Later in the evening a German guy came and then two other Frenchmen. The clouds darkened, and the rain came but we were warm and cozy in the Botni-hut.

The cozy Botni hut

Day 11, Thursday 12. July 2018

Start: Botni hut (65.269571/17.068033)

End: Dyngjufell hut (65.12499/16.92064)

Distance: ~18 kilometers

Half the cabin was asleep at 06.30 when Ove, Eric and me, packed up our stuff, ate breakfast and started the hike across a big lava field. At first there were yellow markers pointing out our direction. Soon We found it difficult to follow the trail indicated on our map, so we decided to make a compass bearing pointing out a road junction, from where we would follow a trail.
We hiked over and between huge crusts of old lava, using the sandy space in between as a path. Often, we could not see more than just the lava blocks right in front of us. The wind was a bit cold and the wind was making it a bit colder. As we were nearing the junction, we found a big lava rock. Here we held a break using the rock a cover from the wind.

After the break we got a last view back towards the Sjellandafjell, before the terrain lead us downwards. We now followed a gravel road that would take us the rest of the way to the Djungafell hut. The temperature was higher now, and the wind was gone, so we ditched our fleece jackets. On the last part of today’s hike, we meet a big group of hikers, coming towards us from the hut. Lucky for us as this indicated that we properly would arrive at an empty hut.

Dyngjufell valley

We arrived at the hut about 13.30. The hut was situated in a desert valley. We had access to a good water source from a small creek right next to the hut. You will need to cross the creek to reach the hut, but it is not difficult. The huts placement on a high point, gave us a great overview of the route we used to reach the hut. The sun was warm, so we enjoyed our food and coffee on the porch.

Easy access to water right next to the hut

Eric arrived a few hours later and the Frenchmen about 20.00. The lava landscape had taking its toll on both Ove's and my shoes. More particular it was the front part of the sole, where it bends upwards, that had come loose. I guess it must be from all the kicking into and dragging over rocks, when taking a step. Fortunately, Eric had some super glue, so we fixed them up, and hopefully they would last the rest of the hike.

Day 12, Friday 13. July 2018

Start: Dyngjufell hut (65.12499/16.92064)

End: Next to a creek in the middle of nowhere (65.018023/17.271601)

Distance: ~30 kilometers

Left the hut around 07.30 with three liters of water each, as this properly would be the only water source before camp. The first couple of hours we spend hiking out of the valley. On the way we saw some scattered big stones. One of them looked like a snail.

Ove putting on rain gear. Notice the snail stone to the right

Eventually the valley ended, and we were now going upwards. There was snow on the side walls on the last part leaving the valley. Then the rain started and continued for a couple of hours. Today we would reach the F-road 910, then the navigation would consist of just following the road. This might sound boring, but on the other hand, it would give us time to just relax and enjoy the landscape, without thinking about navigating. The map showed that the way out of the valley joined the F-road 910 further southeast. Another option was to go west, cross country for about 5 kilometers and joined the 910 further West. This would save us about 8 kilometers, so the choice was easy.

Our rain gear is a big contrast in the black environment

The rain came to a hold, so we took the opportunity to stop and eat lunch just before reaching the 910. After our short break, it rained again and would continue so for the rest of the day. I think we had been hiking for 25 minutes, when Ove realized that he had lost his 2-liter soft water bottle. The one with the water filter attached. So, he dropped his backpack and went back towards our resting point. I waited 40 minutes in the rain until he was back. It turned out that the water bottle had dropped to the ground, when he was putting on his backpack after our break. We had been hiking for a couple of minutes when a car coming from Dreki passed by. Then an auto camper stopped, and a woman came out. She looked very concerned and asked us if we were okay? Sure, we said, we are just hiking. She asked if we needed anything? and we kindly insured her that we were fine and thanked her for stopping. This was a fine example on one of the reasons why we do hikes like this. When you meet people in such remote areas, we are all our here for the same reason, to enjoy nature and having an adventure. I like to think that this is a common denominator that makes us help people who we don't know.

We came to a small lake/creek which we navigated around and rejoined the road. Then we came to another creek. It was now 17.30, if we were to cross the creek we would need to change into our neoprene socks and crocks. On our map there were about two hours of more hiking to reach another water source. So, we decided to make camp and get out of the rain. We found a perfect place literally speaking next to the creek.

Day 13, Saturday 14. July 2018

Start: Next to a creek in the middle of nowhere (65.018023/17.271601)

End: Campsite at bridge crossing the skjálfandafljót river (64.829271/17.630825)

Distance: ~35 kilometer

Started the day with a water crossing, then we followed the road winding its way through the lava landscape. The sun came through the skies and soon the terrain changed. We were out of the lava for now and found our self in the desert with a good view towards a lower terrain. 

We came across several smaller lakes with green moss on the sides and a beautiful miniature waterfall made of several smaller creeks joining in a pool. We saw so many cars that we gave up counting them. 

Later on, we needed water and found a source a few hundred meters from the road. It was coming right out of the ground, creating a small green oasis. While we were filling up our water bottles, a ranger drove by. He said hello by using his sirens shortly, nice to know that they are there.

The last stretch towards the camp was long and hard. It was warm with no wind and there were flies all around us. We finally crossed the bridge over the skjálfandafljót river and found a small wilderness campsite next to it. This gave us easy access to a water source.

Day 14, Sunday 15. July 2018

Start: Campsite at bridge crossing the Skjálfandafljót river (64.829271/17.630825)

End: Nydailur campsite (64.735065/18.072316)

Distance: ~30 kilometer

Thought that I would had learned it by now. All ways use the biggest rocks you can find to put on the pegs. At 02.30 I woke up. One of the corner pegs in the head end had come loose. The wind was crazy strong and constantly beating on the loose corner, on top of that it was raining. I was out of the sleeping bag faster than you can say 'shit this is not good'. I knew that this was serious as the wind could do severe damage to the tent, when it was so loose. I put the left leg into the corner which stretched the tent fabric, making it more stable. I shouted to Ove to find out if he was okay and to let him know that I had some troubles. He just mumbled and went back to sleep. With one leg on the tent I began to find and put on my wet rain gear. Now I was waiting for the right moment to exit the tent, to fix the problem. After about 15 minutes the wind calmed down and I got out and replaced all the rocks with the biggest ones around. 
After a few hours of more sleep, we were on our way. Today we would reach the Nyidalur hut. This meant that we were about halfway on our Iceland crossing. But to get to Nyidalur we would have to hike around the Tungnafellssjökull glacier. Even though we just needed to follow the F-road 910, it was not going to be easy. At first the temperature was warm. Then we started to climb upwards, then the wind kicked in and we put on our thin wind jackets.

Lunch break at 900 meters altitude 

We did four river crossings. At the deepest one, we were into our crotch. On a day like this we were glad that we brought along the neoprene socks and crocs. Later in the day we meet a Dutch hiker, he had only his leather boots, which he also used when crossing the rivers. This had given him severe blisters causing him to limp.

River crossing coming up

The last river crossing was right before the Nyidalur hut. As we came down to the river, a group of bikers (cyclists) were crossing the river several times to bring across their gear and bikes. They did this with bare feet.

On the other side of the river we walked the last stretch up to the hut. Here we changed into dry socks and shoes. Meanwhile a car had come to a stop right in the middle of the river. Luckily the Icelandic rescue team has an outpost right by the Nyidalur hut, so the car was quickly pulled out of the river.
We decided to camp out in our tents as it was not allowed to hang out in the common room even if you had paid for sleeping in the hut. You were only allowed to use the common room while eating. In my opinion this is not a way to threat guests, neither does it do any good for culture of hikers, bikers etc. Usually a common room is a place where you spend the hours talking and listening to other people about adventures and making new friends. The only good thing was the hot shower and toilet.
The Dutch man was not at the campsite. Guess he must have limped on.

Day 15, Monday 16 July 2018

Start: Nydailur campsite (64.735065/18.072316)

End: F-road 26 next to a creek (64.547253/18.417120)

Distance: ~35 kilometer

We started the day with a water crossing. Now we were hiking on the F-26. The terrain consisted of soft shaped spread hills. There was not much difference between the quality of the F910 and the F26. Only main difference was the traffic, it was right at the point of making us annoyed. We made a quick calculation and agreed that we had only about 100 km left before we would reach Landmannalaugar. If our body and the weather would allow it, we decided to make it in three days. Later in the day we saw a man limping in the distance. At first, we thought that it must be the Dutch guy. But his limp was to the wrong side. It turned out to be a Norwegian guy. After a short chat we hiked on. The last 6-7 km we were hiking while listening to music as the wind was strong and the landscape was boring. 

Up hill in the boring landscape

Due to the earplugs we could not hear the cars coming from behind. A one point we had been hiking with a car behind us for some minutes before noticing it. We apologized to the driver and told him what we were up to. He was surprised, impressed and wished us good luck. We came across a small creek right next to the road and decided to camp there. This time my tent was ready for anything.
During the day I had noticed some pain in my right achilles. Hopefully it would not evolve into something serious.