Day 24
Wednesday 24th July - 67Km
I wake up to a cold, grey morning. It starts to rain as I
put the tent away so the waterproofs go on straight away.
The road climbs steadily through high moorland with lots of
small to medium sized lakes on either side.
The first cyclists I meet are 2 Swiss travelling in the
opposite direction to me. We have a chat and they give me the unpleasant news
that a lot of the route has been resurfaced, local style. Lots of loose gravel
just left for cars to compact. Not good to ride on! They also tell me that the
weather forecast is for storms. Not good at all!
I carry on and the weather seems to get brighter although
there is a cold, blustery headwind.
This seems to be a very popular cycle route; I meet several
more groups of cyclists, all travelling South to North with a tailwind.
Just past the large lake Blondulon I stop at a place called
Afangli. This is a bunkhouse type place offering pony treks etc. More
importantly they also do food. For a 500 Kr I get a jug of coffee and a plate of
waffles with cream and jam.
I can see the large glacier Hofsjokull on my left but not
yet Langjokull. The mountain Kerlingarfjoll looms ahead on the horizon.
As the Swiss cyclists said earlier the road becomes much
worse. Loose potato sized rocks cover the road and I’m reduced to pushing,
even on the flat, as it’s impossible to ride.
A windsock in the middle of nowhere indicates a landing
strip and I reach the turnoff for the campsite at Hveravellir. It’s still
fairly early but I’ve seen no surface water or decent camping spots so decide
to stay here and do the 98Km to Gulfoss in the morning.
Hveravellir has a couple of huts and a toilet block. There
are also several hot springs.
I put my tent up and spend some time talking to an English
couple from Ross on Wye. They are touring with a BOB trailer and have found the
road rougher than they expected.
I cook pasta and bacon, as I’m eating the Germans who
were at Varmahalid turn up.
In lieu of a shower I soak in the hot pool with the English
couple and a big party of Germans. The pool is fed by 2 big hoses, one
delivering freezing water from the river, the other piping water at 80-100
degrees C from a natural spring. It takes some care to get the mixing right!
It seems strange to have a glowing pink body while my head
in cold from the drizzle.
It starts to rain so I retreat to the tent. If the weather is very bad tomorrow I may consider getting the bus to Reykjavik. It stops at the campsite at 12:00.