<Prev - << - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - >> - Next>

Hraunhafnartangi
After a couple days in Reykjavík, and a couple  more on the bus, the immediacy of being "on the hike" was a bit of a shock. No longer was it something to plan for, it was something to do. Before we started hiking, I had a thousand little worries about equipment, weather, mail, food, feet, etc. But all that quickly took a back seat as the bus drove off and left us alone. Either we'd done our homework, or we hadn't. There was no point in second guessing at this point.

The bus left us a couple km south of our official starting point - Hraunhafnartangi - the first of an endless string of unpronouncable hiking goals. Along the way, people would ask, "where did you start your hike". To this, I would pause a moment, then reply "Har-a-nar-far-na-tungi?", guessing at the correct sequence of letters. The Icelanders would usually reply, "Oh, near Raufarhöfn?"... Yes!

We walked over the tundra landscape, down an improvised 4-wheel drive path lined with old fish nets. At the lighthouse, a group of men were sitting nearby. They'd just finished re-painting the lighthouse, and were enjoying a lunch break. We headed beyond the lighthouse to the rocky north shore. After a quick dip of fingers in the chilly dark waters, we were officially headed south. And we were grateful that for now at least, the weather was great - light breeze and light clouds