Day 6
Saturday 6th July – 48km
I wake up at 7:30 but it’s raining so I roll over and go
back to sleep for a while. After coffee, muesli and a quick oil of the chain
I’m away at 11:45!
It’s still cold, windy and damp but not as bad as
yesterday. There is not much to look at though beyond the farms singling at the
foot of the mountains. At one farm some of the outbuildings seem to be built
into the cliffs themselves.
When I reach Skogar I’m glad I didn’t make it last
night. There must be over a thousand people at the campsite. Most of them seem
to be drunk and there is a definite party atmosphere despite the cold and rain.
Now I know where all yesterdays’ traffic was going!
A short ride past the campsite is Skogafoss, an impressive 60m waterfall.
You can’t go near it without full waterproofs unless you don’t mind being
soaked in spray. Luckily I’m dressed for the occasion..
A few Km down the road I cross the bridge over the
sulphurous Jokulsa river and then follow a dirt road inland to the snout of the
Solheimajokull glacier, a long tongue of ice sticking out of the face of
Mydalsjokull. It’s too misty to see anything but dirty grey ice though so I
quickly turn around and go back the way I came.
Just before the town of Vik the road goes up for a bit and
then drops down in a 10% slope, it’s not as much fun as it should be though as
I can see the even steeper climb out of the valley ahead!
A long 12% gradient and then it’s down to Vik, officially
the wettest place on Iceland. I put the tent up and pay for the campsite, 400Kr
plus 200Kr for a shower. There’s a good indoor kitchen area but the wash block
is a bit grim.
In need of food I head for the supermarket, which is
closed. There are no other shops so I walk down to the much-photographed
sea-stacks of Reynisdrangur and then walk back along the black sand beach.
At the campsite I meet Martin and Richard, two Swedish
cyclists who’ve been following the same route as me. They have ridden from
Hella today, I must try to make earlier starts!
My food stocks are a bit low so it’s just pasta and
cheese cooked in the kitchen. I manage to make a mess of one of the pans and
leave the communal scouring pad clogged with cheese.
I give the bike a check and tighten all the nuts then phone home. Unfortunately I forget about the hour time difference and wake them up!