A rough wake-up this morning. The wind blew all night, and let’s just say it didn’t exactly rock us to sleep! But we do eventually drag ourselves out of bed: coffee, breakfast and off we go again.
First goal of the day: finish the track to the ice cave at Vatnajökull, the biggest glacier in Iceland.
1F902 7:41
Olivier has understood the directions perfectly. Well… that’s what he thinks.
We pull into a car park and, after an extremely precise measurement with the “thumb-ometer”, the glacier seems to be about 600 metres away. Perfect! A little morning stroll.
Except… 3.1 km later, we’re very, very happy to be reunited with Big Ben, but without having seen so much as a hint of an ice cave.
Verdict: once again, wrong car park!
The 3.1 km morning stroll
2F902 10:16
Right, back into the Def and back on the track. This time we do end up in the right place, and there it finally is, right in front of us: the ice cave.
With summer having done its thing, the melting glacier has swollen the river. Sadly the water is too high to get under the cave and take THE photo we’d been picturing.
Never mind. We take our photos anyway, the drone comes out, we soak up the show and head off. Vatnajökull is still absolutely stunning, and the scenery alone is worth the trip.
3F902 11:44
We then retrace our steps to the hut where we spent the night to fill up Big Ben’s water tanks. Meanwhile, Olivier is happily having a good old natter with a German.
No stress, no rush. It’s cold, the wind’s still blowing, but the atmosphere is so serene and the setting so incredible that we just enjoy the moment. It’s wild, vast, silent…
5Upptyppingar 12:07
But we do have to get going again at some point. F902 then F910, heading for Askja!
More track, more kilometres through lunar landscapes (167 km over the whole day) and still that incredible feeling of being alone in the world.
6F902 12:44
8Dreki 13:49
It’s already 14:00 when we finally decide to eat. Express lunch: a sandwich and a few hard-boiled eggs. Protein is life!
And then comes a moment that’s absolutely essential to any Icelandic expedition worthy of the name: THE ASKJA WAFFLE!
The hut makes them all day long for passing travellers. And honestly, what a treat! Because Icelanders aren’t exactly big on sweet stuff… and let’s face it: travelling makes you hungry!
Once the waffle’s been wolfed down, we take a breather, then head for Drekagil, right next to the hut, for a first little hike in this deep, narrow rocky gorge in the middle of the volcanic scenery. Short, but really nice.
Then straight on to the next one: Nautagil, 5 km. Off we go again. Except that about halfway along, things get a bit trickier. The vertigo starts to kick in seriously. No question of playing the daredevil here: in a place like this, you have to listen to the warning signs.
So Nautagil won’t be finished today. And honestly, that’s no big deal. The mountains will always be there, and we’d much rather head back calmly than turn a lovely hike into an ordeal.
Back to Big Ben, very happy to be home on wheels again. So we decide to stay here for the night.
But of course there had to be one last little surprise to round off the day: we spot a problem with one of the Defender’s shock absorbers. And that, naturally, we like a lot less. We’re at Askja, slap bang in the middle of the Icelandic Highlands, surrounded by tracks. Clearly not the ideal place to discover a mechanical problem.
So Olivier goes off to see the park ranger to ask for advice and get a first idea of where we stand. The ranger gives us a number: watch this space.
Because the plan was to go back and see Víti, one of our favourite places in Iceland… but before thinking about hikes and new tracks, Big Ben comes first.
NDrekaskáli night
Either way, we’re not going anywhere tonight. The wind’s still blowing outside, we’re settled in at the Askja hut, and the Def’s doors are shut.
And after the tracks, the “bonus” kilometres from the wrong car park, the ice cave, Drekagil, our attempt at Nautagil and now the shock absorber, I think we’ve done more than enough for one day!
Goodnight from the end of the world.
Is another day… and with Big Ben, apparently, another adventure!