Iceland - Day 11

Grundarfjordur to Near Bodir

15.5 miles

Having had a lazy day meant that I woke up at 11 PM completely rested and ready to roll. It was so nice knowing I could be lazy for a few more hours. As the forecast showed strong winds, at the top, in the early hours, I decided to start late. At least late for me. At 6.20 AM, I set off with my belly full and my sense of adventure in full swing. The clouds seemed lower today, and even Kirkjufell was slightly hidden, but I was optimistic about the weather.

After a bit of fence hopping, don't ask, I started climbing. And climbing. And climbing. There were no waymarkers or a proper path. The mossy/grassy ground was not the best, but it was great for my knees. I don't know why, but I felt a kind of heaviness in my legs, so I did the only thing logical. I ignored it and carried on.

I really didn't want to take chances, so I had my Garmin GPS on standby. Boy, oh boy, was it needed. I lost my way 4 times before I found actual waymarkers at higher ground. They were far away from each other, so I spent quite a bit of time squinting and glaring to find them. There was no breeze but the air was cool so my jacket stayed on. Let me tell you, my back was soaking wet, and the sweat was running down my arms at one point. Carrying a big backpack had its ups. It kept my back extra warm.

Breaks meant a large rock to lean against or just stand and try to breathe from all the exertion. There was a waterfall everywhere you looked but the views to Grundarfjordur and the sea stole the spotlight. The clouds were shifting so quickly that they made me dizzy. Close to the top, everything changed. The wind picked up quite dramatically, and at one point, I thought it would pick me up as well. I had to hide my sunglasses under my hat and had to triple-twist my walking poles around my wrists so they wouldn't fly away. I'm not kidding. At one point, they were pointing skywards, and purely by luck, I managed to hold onto them. Luckily, the wind was behind me, so it propelled me forward. However, this sadly didn't last long. Once over the edge, I thought, "The rest should be easy." Well, damn. It was most definitely the hardest part of my trek. The wind was pushing me all over the place. The ground was seriously rocky, and the incline was stupidly steep. I bent my knees, leaned into the wind, and took every step with scary precision.

More than once I lost the path and missed my turning. Because of this I had to go downhill at a section with an insane incline. So, I did the most fun thing ever. I sat down and very slowly sledged down using my ass breaks. Luckily it was on grass. It was very efficient, safe and only left a fist size hole in my trousers. No biggie :) literally. No rivers had to be forded today, but I had to rock-hop 5 streams instead. It took me over 3 hours to get to the top and 2.5 hours to get to ground level. That's when the sun and my shorts made an appearance. The wind was still playing, so my fleece and hat stayed in place.

The next section wasn't very exciting as it involved 4.8 miles of road walking. Most cars kindly moved to the other lane when passing, but there were a couple who simply didn't bother. My death glare was getting a good workout. Budin is not a town, it's not a village, but simply a black church (and a hotel) with a stunning beach and lava field nearby.

At the hotel, I was informed that camping wasn't allowed as the whole area was a nature reserve. I have the highest respect for nature and its conservation, so I quickly changed my plans. Plan B was all about figuring out the boundaries and staying 10 metres outside it. The next 3 miles felt long but once I crossed the border. I walked 30 steps and dumped my stuff on the first almost flat surface. Setup was quick, the 'wipes' shower was even quicker, but changing into clean(ish) clothes was absolute heaven. My view was beyond stunning. The Snæfellsjökull glacier is in the distance with some glorious sunshine. I had to ring my nephew straight away because he kept talking about the movie 'Journey to the centre of the Earth' which was based on this mountain.

While waiting for my dinner to warm, I realised that today was the Wimbledon final day. The joy when I found out that my favourite player won was so overwhelming that I squeaked and did a mini happy dance. I spent quite a bit of time, staring at the view, reading and just enjoying the moment. I went to bed with my feet throbbing, the sun shining and me smiling like a loon.