First week of the trip (18-25.07.)

Finally start date was approaching! I had done standard process before the trip and gone through all the gear couple of times to get rid all excess material. Bike looked quite loaded due to all the camping and photographing gear.

Sunday - Monday:

First problem appeared even before I had started my bike. While I was packing the bike I noticed that one bolt from the bike´s center stand had broken. I did quick and dirty fix in the garage and decided to focus for the spare part in Denmark on Monday.

Trip started on Sunday evening 18th of July at 20:30.

Why did I decided to ride to Denmark during the night? Because air temperature is lower and roads have less traffic than daytime. This way I could keep speed quite low (around 110km/h) to save my knobby tires from excess wearing.

Traffic was not too bad, quite many trucks but otherwice ride went smoothly. Temperature dropped surprisingly down after sunset, but I had enough warm clothes on. I had short coffee / redbull / coffee & redbull breaks every 1-1.5 hours. At 03:30 sun started to show first lights of the next warm day and this gave some extra boost to my already a bit heavy eyelids.

Just before entering Denmark I decided to take short powernap in rest area. Helmet visor a bit open and then Ilayed down on top of the bike. After 30 minutes I felt much more energized to continue ride.

During the breakfast I started to call Danish BMW-dealers to get spare part for the broken centerstand. Luckily first and closest dealer (Toftlund MC) had bolt I was looking for. It took only few minutes and 10€ to get centerstand fixed, not bad...

Next stop was to see entrance of the famous Legoland in Billund (friend was there with his kids). Oh my God! There was massive crowd entering to Legoland so totally impossible to locate my friend. Quick call to him to agree where to meet in the evening and then head towards Hvive Sande shore in the west of Denmark.

Evening went too fast while chatting, eating and drinking few beers. Long day on top of the bike also had worn off all excess strength so I do not know how I got inside my sleeping bag.

Tuesday:

At 05:00 wake-up call from phone, quick morning routines, packed my camp and then rode quietly through the camping ground.

After 150km ride I arrived to Hanstholm. Boarding area was easy to find and I was lucky to arrive early enough so that I was able to avoid long queues.

In the queue waiting for boarding had quite many dualpurpose bikes and "Dakar"-style recreational vehicles. Most of the vehicles had germand and danish license plates.

Day at the ship passed really fast by sleeping, eating, having sauna and watching couple movies.

Thoughts:

First thought of the couchette brought Titanic to my mind... I do not know why, but this was the sentence I wrote to my diary. I also noticed that quite many things in the ship were broken (vending machines, games, stove in mens sauna etc).

During the boat trip I also tried to think what do I expect from the trip. Decision was that I try to be really open minded and take everything in as it comes. No plans, no schedules, just plan where to go based on the weather and what Iceland throws in front of me.

Wednesday:

First night in couchette was excellent. I was alone in 6-person couchette and slept like a baby. After delicious breakfast it was time for couple hour nap :) I love to be on holiday!

During the afternoon I had few cups of coffee and during this time I started to notice that quite many people had all sort of "adventure" shirts on. I guess many people had high expectations from their trip and expected Iceland to be remote and exotic country.

At some point of the day I started to see greenish & grayish, grassy steep hills rising from the sea. Sceneary in front of my eyes made me amaze that this kind of islands are in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Atlantic ocean! During the afternoon we arrived to Hanstholm harbour, Faroe-islands. Unfortunately we were not able to leave ship during this couple hour stop, so I shot some photos from the deck.

Final leg of the boat trip continued after couple hour stop. Iceland, here I come!

During the last evening on the boat I had nice buffet dinner, couple hour nap and again few movies. When I went back to couchette I noticed 3 new roommates, they were already sleeping, so no smalltalk.

Thursday:

Morning started with early wake-up call, breakfast, packing all stuff in couchette and jumping in to a riding gear. While waiting arrival to Iceland I was thinking this trip so far: I was full of energy after lot of sleep in the ferry, ferry trip is essential part of the trip (this way you can really get an idea how far Iceland really is).

Finally ferry arrived to the harbour and I was able to ride to the fresh Iceland morning!

I had already done rough plan for this day. Plan was to ride towards north-west and look how far I could get before I should start looking camping area. I also decided that I would travel without any hurry and also I would shoot a lot of photos.

After the whole day ride this was the route I had ridden:

Route was filled with asphalt and gravel roads, straigh roads and hairpins, flat and hilly sections.

One of the highlights of the day was to see the northernmost point of Iceland, Rifstangi (I saw it from the distance because I did not want to walk an hour to get there). Biggest and unforgettable highlight of the day was to see first big waterfall, Dettifoss (other link). Even I saw lot of waterfalls during the trip, none of them was as majestic as Dettifoss (I cannot describe the power of this waterfall, you must see it by yourself). Dettifoss is 100m wide and 44m high, most biggest waterfall in europe by the quantity of water that flows through it. Power of water in this waterfall is something unimaginable, unspeakable, not from this world... I sat a long time just watching this miracle of nature.

After I got to the road #1 I started see marks of old volcano eruption. Roadside was full of all sort of shapes of old lava. Soon after I turned towards Krafla, which is 818m high old volcano crater. While I was riding towards Krafla, my nose started to identify a fine scent of sulfur...

Some photos at Krafla and then I rode short distance to Namafjall to see boiling mudholes and steaming piles of rocks (I am terribly sorry if my terms are not really accurate :) I know absolutely nothing about geology...)

Wow, this is really a natures wonderland! Sulfur smell combined with hissing rock piles, bubbling mudholes and steaming vents in the ground made me think that I am in another planet. Next I crossed low hills and started looking camping area next to lake Myvatn. While looking camping area I saw this large rupture in the ground. I stopped to shoot some photos and heard people talking but did not see anyone. After a while I noticed that people were having a bath inside the rupture because water over there was warm.

Final touch for this exotic area I got in the camping area shower, water smelled heavily to sulfur... wow, this is unreal!

First 409km in Iceland offered already many different things; silence and peace in Hraunhafnartang while watching calm Atlantic ocean, exitement of first gravel roads in Iceland, amazing power of Dettifoss (which I will most propably remember the rest of my life) and power of mother earth in Krafla area. I guess I screamed couple times inside my helmet during the day :)

Friday:

Holiday rocks! On Thursday evening I started sleeping when I felt sleepy and on Friday morning I woke up when sun started to warm-up my tent :) I made a promise to myself, I will not check what is the time and what is the day on this trip. I knew that I had 14 days in Iceland and I could keep track of the days by checking page number in my diary.

After a Friday ride this track was in my GPS:

After packing the camp on top of the bike I went and filled fueltank in Reykjalid. After this I climbed on the top of the nearby volcano.

My stomache was screaming a breakfast, so I rode to the south side of the lake Myvatn to the village of Skutustadir. I was looking small pseudocraters while enjoying small breakfast.

Lake Myvatn surroundings are quite beautiful. I could have easily spent 1-2 days more just in this area and at that point could have visited also Dimmuborgir.

Next plan was to check Godafoss and then head towards the center of the island. Godafoss was ok, but not even close as nice as Dettifoss. After Godafoss I followed road #842 to south. While on this road I stopped at one house to fill watercontainer in my backpack. It is extremely important to have enough water with you in these remote areas, you never know what kind of problems might be waiting you behind the next corner (I was carrying 3-4l of water all the time).

At some point road number changed to F26 and at the same point road changed narrower, rougher, stonier, sandier etc. Nothing special, but big difference in road surface after F-letter is in front of the roadnumber.

Road was narrow and every now and then road had some blind spots. Usually there is road sign warning of these blind spots. It is always better to ride these areas really carefully in extreme right edge of the road. You cannot see what is on the other side or if the road is making a sharp turn on the other side (happens also quite often). You migh also face sheeps, bus, bicyclists, car, superjeep etc.

Ride was really enjoyable in sunny weather. I noticed sign which pointed direction to Aldeyjarfoss (2), I thought that this is a good spot to drink some water and check this waterfall.

Luckily I stopped here, because this waterfall was really worth seeing. It was not as big as Detti- and Godafoss, but with lava formations around the waterfall this was more beautifull.

I continued on a same road towards south. Road surface varied between fast to really slow, really soft to really rocky. Also sceneary started to change to wide open grayish ash/lavastone fields. Remember to raise your hand to everyone you meet here (seems to be normal behavior), also if you see someone stopped on the road it is good to stop and ask if everything is ok.

At the intersection of F26 and F881 I decided to change my plans to head more south, toward southern shore of the island. I calculated that I should have enough fuel to the next marked gas station (which was marked to my map). This track would pass quite close Vatnajökull.

After this point I had to cross several small streams. Widest of them were mayby around 5-10m and depth around 20-40cm.

This part of the leg was incredible, breathtakingly beautifull (actually, I cannot find correct words to describe my feelings at that point). Wide open area all the way to horizon with grey ash/sand/gravel surface as far as you can see, F26 was passing through all this :)

In the horizon I saw two white glaciers. I stopped numerous times to take photos or just to sit next to the road and enjoy this amazing scenery. Here I felt myself extremely small and insignificant, nice!

While I was approaching Tungnafellsjökull glacier I was wondering to which direction all water will flow. Surprisingly after next corner I saw river flowing over the road. Road dived into the rapids in the river and came out from the other side. So, helmet off, parked the bike and then started to search place where I could cross this river.

Problem was that water was brown in the rapids and I could not see the bottom. I was able to walk few meters in to the river until water reached my knees. Current was so strong that I could not go any further. So, back to the starting point and another try from different location. Soon same thing happened again and I was forced to return to the shore. I tried to cross river from several locations, also from up- and downstream, but no luck.

I also started to worry if I had enough fuel to return same way I came here. I knew that it would be extremely tight with the fuel (actually I did not want to return same way because I wanted to check also road #881).

Earlier I had made a promise not to cross a river if I could not walk over it, so turning back started to look only option.

After a while 3 cars arrived (Czech license plates in their Humvees). One of them told me "me show, you look". After this he drove over from 3 different locations (looks really easy with the Humvee). After he got back, he said that they will wait until I have safely crossed this river. I tried to cross the river by foot from the paths he had taken with the car, but same thing, no chance to get over without swimming... They also mentioned that there is another river in 5km which would be same size and after that river it would be much easier. Note: usually morning is the best time to cross these rivers, in the afternoon water level is higher and current stronger.

I decided to turn back... I also asked if they could sell 5l of fuel to me so that I could get back. Luckily they had quite much spare fuel so I got what I asked for. I wanted to pay this fuel, but they did not want to take any money! BIG thanks to this group!!!

While I was enjoying chocolate bar, one more car arrived and passed the river. I am sure that many others would have crossed it with the bike, but I did not want to take a risk.

During the ride back to F881 intersection I noticed that rocks hit now much harder to the handlebar. I could not figure out any other explanation than location of the sun. Now sun was behind me and I could not see rocks as easily as earlier when they looked darker.

Road surface at #881 was partly in much worser condition than F26, so I had to focus really hard for a little bit longer. I was going to camp in the campground next to F881 where I arrived without problems even speed was really slow in the worst sections.

Wind was really strong while I was putting my tent up. I just hoped that wind would calm down by morning because packing tent in such a strong wind would be a big challenge.

After dinner I relaxed in the nature´s hot spring. Temperature was around 38C. Otherwise I would have been in paradise, but after a while couple young extremely loud kids jumped to the spring and started throwing pieces of moss around... Where are parents when you need them?

Later in the evening I heard that road which I had planned for the next day had couple bigger rivers with strong current. In the same day couple bikes had crossed these rivers on top of a truck, due to no chance to cross these rivers with bike without swimming. So I spent rest of the evening reading my map.

Day was absolutely amazing, one of the best days I have ever spent on top of my bike! I am sure I will remember these spectacular scenearies the rest of my life. I got only 246km today, but the quality of each km was excellent.

Saturday:

In the morning I woke up to the warmth of morning sun. I did not care about the time anymore and this is the way how holiday should be! Start sleeping when you feel sleepy and wake up when your body says it is time to go :)

After morning coffee I was ready to see what today will throw in front of me.

F821-road towards north was in ok shape, similar surface as on Friday (a bit more washboard)

While I was riding in the valley towards Akureyri I met Italian fellow GS rider. We were exchanging information of the road conditions. I warned him about these couple bigger rivers which I did not dare to cross.

In Akureyri I filled my stomach with quite bad hamburger and bike´s gas tank with 95E-fuel. Ring road #1 to the west from Akyreyri follows nice valley. After a while I left road #1 behind me and started riding towards Saudarkrokur and Skagaheidi peninsula. After short ride I noticed grassy roofs on the right side of the road. This is Glaumbaer (2) museum area. Few photos and then back to the road again.

At the northern tip of Skagaheidi I sat quite a long time just watching calm ocean and listening silence. This area was almost free of any traffic, I think I saw only two cars here.

Bike needed refilling again at the Blönduos gas station. Here I met a couple from Vilnius, Lithuania. They were on a one week trip around Iceland riding Aprilia. After we noticed that our target was same camp ground, I got invitation to come and have a taste of some whiskey.

Before camping I wanted to see Hvitserkur rock formation which can be found from Vatnsness peninsula. Western shore of this area should also have one of the biggest concentration of seals in Iceland.

Hvitserkur was a bit disappointment. I thought this rock would be bigger.

After the photos I was already looking forward to get to camp ground to get something for the dinner. I noticed Lithuanian couple waving their hands in a small camp ground so I put my tent up next to theirs. Evening passed too fast by chatting and tasting some whiskey. Antje and Thomas were really a nice couple so if you read this, thank you for the whiskey :)

During the evening I heard that they had more action in their couchette than I had. They had 3 young german guys sharing same couchette and these guys did some heavy partying in the boat. Result was that one of them started throwing up from the top bed during the night...

During the Saturday I rode 418km.

Sunday:

Once again sun woke me up after a good night sleep (weather had been excellent in each day in Iceland). While I was packing my tent, I heard snoring from almost all other 8-9 tents :)

Today target was to ride somewhere in Westfjords (westfjords.is, additional info). Quite many people had said nice words about this area, so I had high expectations for the day. Quick breakfast in the intersection of roads #1 and #61.

Actually I did not find Westfjords to be so exiting as everyone had said. First 2-3 fjords were nice, but after this it was same looking sceneary over and over again. I had few highlights during the day: hotspring in the ocean in Reykjanes, gravel roads (best gravel road today started after Peingeyri) and Dynjandi waterfall.

In any case, I have been there and done that now. During the day I passed couple road construction areas where gravel was layed on top of tarmac (this part was quite interesting because it was quite hard to find any grip from this loose surface).

Dynjandi waterfall was nice, but I think tedious long ride today took it´s toll.

First time I started searching camping area from Bildudalur, but even after couple rounds in the village I could not find it so I decided to continue to Patreksfjördur. Also in Patreksfjördur I had stop and ask where is camping area. I had not noticed that it was in the football field :)

This camping area was really quiet, only few other people were camping on the same area. Camping here was free, no showers (but this was already quite familiar).

Few notes which I wrote of the holiday so far to my diary:

No plans, no schedules (= no stress) has worked really nicely.
It seems to be extremely hard for me not to play with the bike in the gravel... I should not play but I cannot help myself :)
Iceland is much much more than I expected it to be... Stunning sceneary and extremely nice people.
Last 3 camp grounds had no showers (seems to be quite normal here)

563km today.