Iceland 2000
Off to Dettifoss
Thursday, 20th July 2000:
Dettifoss, or "Dirty-foss" is Europe's most powerful waterfall. It's where the powerful river Jokulsa á Fjöllum falls over a large cliff on its way north from draining the largest glacier in Europe towards the Arctic Ocean. I'd seen it 14 years previously and was so impressed I really wanted to show it to Peter. We left most of our equipment in the tent and travelled light. We'd heard the road was rough.
Finding the road to Dettifoss proved more difficult than we thought. We didn't want to go the tourist route, but up the old jeep track to the west of the river. We almost passed it among the long grass. Yes, it was rough - probably our roughest road yet. But the wind was behind us and we made good time, reaching Dettifoss in just over two hours from Reykjahlið. Wow, it was impressive! The whole ground was shaking. This was not a beautiful waterfall like Gullfoss, but sheer brute force. It was here in our book, "Running Blind", that Desmond Bagley's hero, Alan Stewart, disposes of the body of one of the Russian agents who was pursuing him. First over Selfoss, then Dettifoss and the body would be unrecognisable. We understood why.
We turned to head back. The wind had picked up. It took us nearly three hours to get back to the main road - often walking as every time we got on the bike we were blown to the side of the road. It really sapped our energy. I had made up my mind - when we got to the main road we were going to wait for a passing motorist with a large car or van and ask for a lift. There was no way I could cycle into that headwind in my present state.
Peter had different ideas. "Just follow close behind me and we'll be back in Reykjahlið in no time. And then we can go to that vafé that we went to last night." With Peter sheltering me from the wind and thoughts of the Gamli Bærinn in my mind, we set off. Two whole hours later - I really don't know how I made it - I certainly don't know how Peter made it as he did a sterling job of sheltering me from the wind - we finally freewheeled down from the top of the mid-Atlantic ridge into Reykjahlið.
I staggered into the Gamli Bærinn. People looked up at me, wondering what on earth I had been doing as I collapsed into a chair. The English guy we'd met on the bus from Akureyri came over to chat to us. He came here every year - loved the place. I could see why. Another hearty meal and yet more samples of the Icelandic beer and it was soon time for bed again.
Friday, 21st July 2000:
Yesterday, we'd booked ourselves onto the Askja Tour for today. We woke in the morning still shattered from the trip to Dettifoss. "Do you really want to get up now and go?", Peter asked. I said I didn't and instead went to tell Gunnar, the bus guide, that we'd changed our mind. He thanked us in a way which suggested that sometimes people just didn't turn up and said nothing. I booked us in for the following day.
Instead we had a rest day. We cycled off to Hverfell, an old ash volcano - now just a ring of ash several hundred feet high. We climbed up and walked around the rim. Inside people had written graffiti with many thousands of white stones against the grey background. There were names from all over the world. Today, you're not allowed in the cone. We came down and cycled over to the Dimmuborgir - strange lava formations weathered into wonderfully weird shapes. "Eeh, it's just like Brimham Rocks", we joked. We met the Australian non-cycling cyclist again. His whale watching off Husavík had been successful. Thankfully the locals there have realised they can make more money from whale watching than from whale killing. Let's hope it continues that way.
On our way back we met the German cyclists we'd met at the bus station in Keflavík.
We spent our third night in the Gamli Bærinn that evening. Was it this night that Peter had the fish soup? When he finished he said it was fantastic. The waiter came over and asked "Again?" Apparently a refill was free. So yes, of course. When he finished that it was "Again?" again! This time he'd met his match...
