Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

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Iceland — 17, day 8 — the sparkling plain

2012-10-01

Glancing at the GPS, I was surprised: the road ahead was as straight as a German autobahn. I figured we were in for something interesting. In mountainous Iceland, where the roads are dotted with loops and bends, and in some places almost serpentines, seeing a perfectly straight line on the map was a bit weird.

The road crosses a black volcanic plain leading to a green mountain and a glacier under a blue sky with white clouds.

It turned out our path ran through a massive plain right before the glacier. In the distance, something incomprehensible was glowing, resembling a lake, which was pretty surprising and scary — does the road really go right through a body of water, and are we in for something even tougher than the river before?

However, you should never guess and try to anticipate future problems — life will show and tell you everything itself, and it will all become crystal clear and simple.

A black volcanic plain stretches to the horizon, where green mountains rise, including one pointed peak. Above the landscape is a blue sky with large white and gray clouds.

A cyclist rides along a dark road across a vast plain leading to a green mountain and a glacier on the horizon under a blue sky with white clouds.

And here's the answer: what looked like a lake to us was actually wet mud, made that way by the little streams flowing down from the glacier. This huge sparkling plain with a snow cap on the horizon looks simply mind-blowing; a rare case when it shook me to my very core. Riding across it was easy, but we took our time: it's just too beautiful, you want to savor it a little longer.

A vast glacial landscape with winding streams on dark volcanic soil reflecting the blue sky and white clouds. In the background rises a green conical mountain and a white glacier stretches out.

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Up close, it's cute too

A large cone-shaped mountain covered in green vegetation rises above a vast black rocky plain. Above them is a blue sky with scattered white clouds.

And a bit further out – a mountain

A barren plain of dark volcanic sand in the foreground and gently sloping green mountains in the distance under a gloomy sky with dense gray clouds.

A field with volcanic ash, or something like that

A wide river landscape with numerous channels flowing across dark volcanic sand against a backdrop of green mountains under a cloudy sky. In the distance, a few yellow marker posts are visible.

Winding streams glisten on a dark sandy plain, beyond which a wide glacier and a green conical mountain can be seen under a blue sky with sunbeams.

A broad plain with winding rivers on dark volcanic sand, a green hill on the left and a glacier on the horizon on the right, under a blue sky with sparse clouds.

Near the mountain (about 700m high, by the way), we cooked some grub and bolted on toward the campsite. By evening, Andrey had gotten somewhat tired and was reacting sluggishly to external stimuli, even though there were plenty of them. First off, in some places, we were riding on hard volcanic rock, as if on the potholed and cracked asphalt native to our parts.

A cyclist with luggage rides across a dark, uneven rocky landscape stretching towards hills and mountains under an overcast sky.

Secondly, there were these weird triangular things scattered around, which upon closer inspection turned out to be the handiwork of the European Space Agency.

A metal triangular radar reflector with a plaque in the foreground, set against a rocky volcanic plain and gentle green mountains under a cloudy sky.

The inscription reads: “Do not break, radar reflection point, European Space Agency”

Panorama of a mountain valley with a wooden pedestrian bridge in the center, surrounded by rolling green hills and rocky peaks. The sky is overcast, and in the foreground is mossy, rocky soil with sparse vegetation.

At the end, we approached a pedestrian bridge

As we moved along, we saw a weird guy in a jeep who kept driving back and forth, periodically getting out, walking into the field, and sitting there. I hypothesized that he was meditating, looking for a place of power where energy surges out, so he could shed his mortal coil and ascend to the next level of existence. It seems he wasn't a Sufi after all, but a scientist, since he never did depart for the higher realms, but he did tip us off that the campsite was right across the bridge. A bridge is cool and all, your feet stay dry, but dragging a loaded bike up there is almost as hard as fording a river.

A person with a bicycle stands on a wooden bridge spanning a rocky gorge amidst moss-covered hills under an overcast sky. To the left, by the stairs leading up to the bridge, another parked bicycle with a touring backpack is visible.

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And here's the campsite called Hvanggil. Electricity comes from a solar panel, but they do have 220 volts; though they did charge us for two devices (instead of three), rather than for just one, like they did in Landmannalaugar. This campsite was smaller and cozier, but it welcomed us somewhat unhospitably (see the previous sentence, and just the general attitude of the female warden in general), and it was cold, too. On top of that, another local cataclysm struck – our stove broke down, and we had to ask our fellow hikers to borrow theirs. So there's your perk of spending the night in civilization, alongside the omnipresent gas-powered shower that costs 500 krona, which is a bit over two lats for 5 minutes. The warden, by the way, mentioned that cyclists only show up here once or twice a week, unlike trekkers, who are a dime a dozen, since the famous path from the Varangians to the Greeks Laugavegur, which I've already mentioned multiple times, runs right through the campsite.

A glass door reflecting a person and a mountainous landscape with clouds, featuring several notices: about paid battery charging (500 Icelandic krona), a welcome to visitors of the Hvanngil hut in Icelandic and English, and an information sign.

 

A round white and blue emblem with the letters «FÍ» and an image of a stone cairn against a background of mountains and waves, mounted on a green wooden wall.

This is the megacorporation that controls the campsite market in Iceland - FERÐAFÉLAG ÍSLANDS

A green house with a silver roof and red trim stands on a rocky plain among green mountains. Two SUVs are parked nearby.

While we were trying to figure out the slickest way to pitch our tent among the stone fences to avoid the wind, the camp wardens threw themselves a barbecue. Since I'd been choking down water-based porridge with canned fish I was absolutely sick of for the past week, the temptation to murder and rob them all just to get a proper meal was huge. Fortunately, my moral and ethical imperatives kicked in, and instead of carrying out my criminal plot, I buddied up with a French hiker girl. To my shame, though, we communicated in English.  But she did tell me about some traditional well-wish along the lines of “Fair winds”. I couldn't remember what it sounded like in the original language, but it's still nice to recall. Culture is everywhere, even up in the mountains!

A campsite amidst rocky hills and fields covered with green grass and moss, against the backdrop of distant mountains under a cloudy sky. In the foreground, a man walks along a path past a pitched dome tent.

This day was just as uplifting and amazing as the last one. True, we were dead tired by now, but the hope for a better future lived on — if any of our readers have actually been looking at the GPS tracks, or at least read about how we ran out of our paper map in the previous installment, they've already realized that our path now lies to the west. And that means we've finally started heading back, and half the road is behind us.

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