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Trip Dates: 21st-31st July 2000
Flight: Stansted to Reykjavik Team Members: Frazer Pearce, Clive Williamson, Adrian Healy, Jim Ellis, Martin Wightman, Will Forester |
Lots of pictures split by river:
Jokusla
Austari
Jokusla
a Bru
Barnafoss
Jokusla
a Fjollum
General
Hvita
Ice
Lake
Lava
Mugs
Tungufljot
With over 40 major international trips outside the alps between us we'd
managed to put together a reasonably experienced
team. All of us imagined that Iceland would involve lots of steep creeking
with low volume waterfalls. How wrong we were. Almost everything we paddled
was flowing at way over a hundred cumecs, some of it much more. Overall,
we all felt that Iceland was at least as good a destination as Norway.
However, it would be easy to get into some serious difficulties due to
the very large volume and presence of volcanic effects (sharp rocked drops,
siphons) plus generally cold water and changeable weather. A lot of the
sections are quite isolated although a walk out would usually be possible
eventually. For these reasons, Iceland probably wouldn't be a good location
for beginners, although if you've some big water experience (200 cumecs
on up) and are looking for something a little different then Iceland is
really worth moving up the list.
Getting there:
We took advantage of Go's cheap flights to Reykjavik. Go have a great policy for kayaks in that you can claim they are sports equipment and they'll take them for 20UKP. We managed to avoid this charge by using all the tricks, paying only 68UKP excess in total (20 out and 48 back), for 6 kayaks and a bike plus kit and camping equipment. Be careful here as you could get stung, Go make up for great flight prices by charging 4UKP per kilo excess with no leeway. The allowance is 20kilos each. We were weighed in at 127kg on the way back and they refused to waive the 7kg excess even though we were 6 people (only 1kg each !). The cheapest tickets on this route are 118UKP return ! These go fast so book early, we didn't and ended up paying 220UKP each, still a good price in my opinion.
Hiring vehicles: |
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This is the expensive bit. The cheapest deal we could find was with Hoddi at Bilaleiga Islands who provided a 4WD Hyundai Starex (7 seater van type thing) for a mere 1200UKP for 9 days. More Icelandic rental firms can be found on; Hiring cars in Iceland. This vehicle was fine for our paddling needs although extended roof bars would have helped and kit space wasn't ideal. Note that diesel is less than half the price of petrol (0.35UKP/litre as opposed to 0.90UKP/litre) so a diesel vehicle might be a good idea. Lots of gravel driving and quite interesting roads to some of the put-ins, we used the 4WD capability a couple of times but could probably have gotten away without it. Still, the 4WD was reassuring on some of the more isolated roads.
Guidebook and further info:
We found that the online Icelandic
guidebook was pretty much spot-on. Our own additional river notes
are included below together with similar guides to the Austari Jokulsa
and the Tunguflot. Equipment wise we took the same gear we'd use in Scotland
at Easter. Air temperatures average around 10degrees, water temperatures
are around the pogie level. Camping wise, we dossed (or "wild camped")
pretty much every night. Good wild campsites are not the easiest things
to find due to the prevalence of lava and lack of flat ground. Still, many
of our sites were truly beautiful.
Further information can also be found on the web page of the Icelandic
Kayak Club.
or this alternative site
(in Icelandic).
Itinerary:
Date | River | Camp Location |
22/7 | Hvita i Borgarfirthi | Thingvellir |
23/7 | Hvita i Borgarfirthi | Barnafoss |
24/7 | Rafters section on Hvita i Arnessyslu, Tunguflot | Geysir |
25/7 | Upper canyon Hvita i Arnessyslu | Selfoss |
26/7 | Jokulsarlon Ice Lake | Djupivogur |
27/7 | Jokulsa a Bru | Dettifoss |
28/7 | Jokulsa a Fjollum | Myvatn |
29/7 | Austari Jokulsa | Bakkaflot |
30/7 | Reykjavik hot pools | Keflavik |
Hvita i Borgarfirthi
Grade: IV
Time: 2 hours
Level: 100cumecs first time - just flowing over Barnafoss blockage,
70cumecs second.
Rocked drops, sharp rocks, lots of swirlies. Very scenic, right through
the middle of a lava field. You can get in about 2km upstream of the bridge
mentioned in the guide just above another slot rapid typical of those further
down. Clive ran everything except for the rapid where an old bridge has
collapsed into the river, no idea what rebar might be in this one. He reports
no rocks hit but several drops looked horrid from the bank.
Hvita i Arnessyslu (lower rafted section)
Grade: III(IV)
Time: 2 hours
Level: 400 cumecs
We ran the 6km stretch used by the rafters which starts where the Icelandic
guide suggests you take out. The playwave mentioned here was completely
washed out due to the high level of the river, so we'd say the guidebook
description was written for a much lower level (i.e. not "high"). The rapid
approaching the bridge was the worst, forming a large whirlpool which could
deal out quite a trashing if gotten wrong. A very scenic canyon that made
a good warm-up.
Tunguflot
Grade: III(IV)
Time: 30 minutes
Level: 30 cumecs (running blue)
Distance: 3km
Access: Turn up the track running river right off the route 35, 4km
outside Geysir. Drive 3km upstream until the track turns away from the
river.
Egress: Route 35 road bridge.
One fall of note right after the start which you can see as you drive
up, we ran it down the right. Quite playful and a little cold.
Hvita i Arnessyslu (Upper section)
Grade: IV+(V)
Time: 5.5hours
Level: 350cumecs (high, see lower section above).
Fantastic drive just to get to the put-in. The Dangleberry drop is
the V, a 5m drop near the start. Isolated and very, very scenic, lots of
big bouncy waves and boils. Beware of the 2m drop mentioned, this is at
the end of a cliffed canyon section and was unportageble (and difficult
to inspect) at this level. Lots of downtime in the hole at the bottom,
although there was a line on the right. We also ran the lower volume alternate
at the end, the two drops didn't look at all nice at high levels although
the first most likely went.
Jokulsarlon Ice Lake:
Do this. Incredibly pretty and lots of fun paddling around icebergs.
Around 4km to the ice-face, further than it looks from the road.
Jokulsa a Bru
Grade: IV
Time: 75 minutes
Level: 400 cumecs (but higher than the level for which the guide is
written)
Distance: First 8km (to petrol station)
All big and bouncy, down the middle stuff. Waves big enough to backloop
you. Inspected a couple of bits, one of which had a great window line at
this level. Felt higher than the level the guide appears to be written
for, perhaps washing out some of the more difficult features ?
Jokulsa a Fjollum
Grade: IV
Time: 3.5hours
Level: 500 cumecs (but again, felt like more than that for which the
guide was written)
Awesome canyon, quite relaxing and very, very scenic. Some massive
waves but line was generally down the middle, with large boils forming
the only real obstacle as there were few bad holes.
Austari Jokulsa
Grade: IV
Time: 3 hours
Distance: 18km (24km ferry)
Level: 40cumecs (medium)
Not the hardest river in Iceland but perhaps the hardest rafted. Mainly
III with a few harder drops, the hardest a rocky IV+ half of us portaged
on the left. Deep, scenic canyon with lots of playwaves, one great one
at the end.
Access: Put on at Skatastathir, where the 758 ends above Bakkaflot.
Take out where the rafters do at Villinganes. Both are on the left hand
bank.
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