Iceland Star Grab

[whereisgibson]

Star 25 of 25. Lónsöræfi.

This star was the one to worry about. The F980 is famed for having a challenging river crossing:
" This road is only suitable for experienced drivers on big jeeps with high clearance. On the way, you will have to cross the deep and fast flowing Skyndidalsá river. Please do not attempt to cross this river on a small jeep like Suzuki Jimny, Suzuki Vitara, Honda CRV, Toyota RAV or similar cars. Your will end up sitting on the roof of your car, waiting for the rescue team to pull you out. "

Frommer’s Guide to Iceland says:
" technically passable in a 4WD vehicle with good clearance, but definitely not advised, because the river crossings are volatile and dangerous. "

Many of the guides however go on to say that a bus tour runs the route, and in my mind this meant that there’s a chance of making it with the bike. YouTube threw up a promising video making it look child’s play:

So off I went at 7am, bike unloaded, in high winds and sideways rain.

Turning off Highway 1 and onto the F980, the signpost suggests a short 25km journey to the star. Cutting through some farmland, the track resembles most other F roads in Iceland: rocky, loose, winding. That is until you crest one summit and are presented with your challenge:

I need to cross that. The F980 skirts along the side of it, or at least the map claims it does. In reality between this photo and the end of the valley, vehicle marks scour the riverbed, attempting to find any ways to cross. With wet riverbed boulders comprising the landscape, the suspension got a workout - and so did I.

There were at least five crossings, the first being up to my thighs just a meter in. Any further in and the depth gave way to strong current making me unable to stand. Things were looking challenging. You can see from the GPS trace that I went up as far as possible to the valley where the river comes from, which was narrower, faster, and deeper. I then rode over the boulders back south, looking for any crossing. There were none.

I headed back to the hostel, defeated, wet, and cold. With one more spare day to play with, I started calling up the tour companies for info. After speaking to a handful, one thing was for certain: no bus companies or indeed super jeep tours were attempting this track. A combination of heavy rains and increased volcanic activity meant far more water than normal was in the delta.

With one more spare day to investigate, there must be another way?

[Zander]

Great attempt Martin! Comparing your photos to Wikipedia, it seems you’ve already seen the “Lon” part of Lónsöræfi at least

Its mad enough to wade solo through that fast and freezing water, let alone push a bike through. I gather seeing a braided river is pretty rare, even if you’ve not got to Star 25. The Google Sat Map looks tough - https://goo.gl/maps/y3MFX

Hmm … getting to Star 25 … any friendly helicopters around? Icelanders are pretty helpful and a good sense of humour, maybe for such things. Bonus points if they can hoist the bike over and back too Think I’d pay to see that!

There’s something on Wikipedia about a foot bridge for hikers, get a bike across too? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B3ns%C3%B6r%C3%A6fi … this might be it here … https://goo.gl/maps/2PGfi

Looks like its more of a place for hikers than bikers, some impressive sights though - http://www.planiceland.com/lonsoraefi/gallery/1043/

PS - if there’s bad weather coming in, take care on those fjords between you and the ferry. From memory, they’re quite exposed, windy and surprisingly twisty and time consuming. More great views though

PPS - Another idea … Iceland is a small population and everyone knows each other. You might put a call out on the radio or TV there that you’ve got one day to see Star 25. They could well be interested in your story!

[whereisgibson]

Haha Alex, sadly today was my free day and yes you’ll be seeing pictures of that bridge…

[silveR6]

what an insanely stunning landscape, its always been on the top of my list to see Iceland! thanks for the pictures Martin, awesome trip i would probably not go there on the bike though

[whereisgibson]

After the last day’s attempt I spent that evening studying maps. The Open Map project had an interesting lead:

You’ll notice the white line on the left, that’s the F980 - the track I couldn’t cross. Now on the right is a red dotted line - a hiking trail. A closer look on Google Earth showed that the hiking trail had been used by vehicles - the parallel line left by an axled vehicle was clearly visible.

After some googleing it transpired a tour company was transporting people along that track using an old Mercedes bus:

The tour company describes taking the hikers by this bus to the end of the track, where they meet a footbridge. Put in by the locals, the bridge allows hikers to cross the river without getting wet. More searching online revealed a set of photos from a hiker, who shared a glimpse of it:

It’s forbidden in Iceland to go ‘offroad’, so as tempting as it was to think about riding over the footbridge and along the hiking trail, it would be wrong and embarrassing if I required any emergency assistance later on.

My new plan was this: ride the track from the east side, find and follow the trail as far as other vehicles have reached before, and hike if necessary from there. Onwards!

Crossing the highway 1 bridge to the east side demonstrated just how much water was coming out of this river.

The trail was mostly loose fine rock, which in places had been washed away, leaving gulleys. These were fun to cross as they were crystal clear and easy to calculate.

I rode the trail for a few miles, providing a new perspective on an area I was becoming increasingly familiar with.

The trail ended abruptly. It looked to have been recently carved off by the river, leaving a sharp edge where the landscape had been ripped away by the power of the water. Clearly the extra water in this river was unusual, and unrelenting in its ability to change the landscape.

At this point I left the bike, and swapped MX boots for trainers and continued on foot. I’d read that the footbridge to the star would be around 6 miles, and I guestimated that I was about 4 miles from the footbridge. 20 mile round trip, 3 miles an hour, a respectable day out without too much fatigue…

The trail was still visible in places, but flooded. I was starting to wonder when any vehicle last used this track - years?

With the footbridge in sight and the trail seemingly leading to it, what I couldn’t see was the minor stream that had turned into a monster under my horizon.

I headed upstream to see if I could find a narrower point, and found a sheep’s trail through the scree that allowed me to scramble east - albeit very carefully, as the slightest misstep would result in the scree sliding into the river, along with me! You can just make it out dead ahead:

I followed that around the landslide to a more open area, which was beautiful, but offered no better crossings.

Back I went, to see if I can think of anything more.

Nope. At the best point I could only venture a meter in.

I had read up on this hike, and at no point did anything mention that swimming was required to cross this section. I also don’t believe that hiking even ‘challenging’ trails involves swimming across fast rivers, let alone solo. To my mind it was clear that the whole east side and hiking option was now out.

Four miles back the way I came.

Back at the bike I rerode the trail and emerged back on to highway 1. I couldn’t ride past F980 without just checking the condition just one more time.

The day before these land slides were not here.

The marked crossing was noticeably wilder too.

One last check to where I was yesterday turned out to be impossible, as an entirely new river had appeared overnight prevenitng me from returning to my previous point.

With that I felt that I’d done my absolute best to reach star 25. The ‘Lon’ part of Lonseraefi I had hiked, but the vista of coloured mountains the other side of the valley could not be reached. Not reached by super jeep, bus, motorbike, or even hiker.

Gibson 24: Iceland 1.

[me_groovy]

nicely done but your last set of videos are private

[whereisgibson]

Cheers, should be fixed shortly,

[Zander]

Well done Martin I think the weather’s been quite kind to you to get 24 stars.

Glad you got out of that scree safely … with fresh avalanches and rivers around the place, that can’t be safe stuff to scramble over. Did you leave a call with a hotel/campsite to send out a search if you didn’t come back?

Always good to have at least 1 reason to go back to Iceland. I’ve been twice and still not seen the Aurora from there!

[LiM]

Looks like good fun!

The hunt for Star 25 shows the journey can be at least as interesting as the destination

[Gazaragi]

Hi Martin, checking in on this thread has brightened up a eek in the office. Another great journey with lovely photos. I hope you enjoyed it even when the weather was bad!

[whereisgibson]

I left the hostel and headed north along the coast to set myself up for the return ferry.

Along the way I couldn’t help but try one last time the F980. Today the weather was much clearer, but still too much water to cross. In the distance the elusive star 25.

Back on the road I felt like Iceland was apologising by giving me great riding weather

I took a short-cut off the main highway and along my last gravel road, which passed high up between the mountains.

Then for my last F road

[whereisgibson]

My last day in Iceland was to ride 20 miles to the town where I fitted my tires, and then to the ferry port.

Leaving another lovely hostel:

The rear MT21 had done roughly 3500 miles / 5600km, with around 60% of this offroad, much of which was done quite ‘enthusiastically’! I have been very impressed with these tyres, even when very worn there was still grip on the edges. I will buy them again.

Life still left in the front

I carried the MT21s with me to Iceland three weeks ago and had them fitted on arrival. At the time I asked the garage to keep hold of them, just in case I needed them again. Lucky I did. With the original Mitas E10 again fitted to the rear, I now had enough rubber to complete the last 1000 miles home without worrying about punctures or the police.

Whilst the bike waited for the ferry I had one last Icelandic beer.

And with that, my journey around Iceland was over. Iceland was better than I ever imagined.

The return to Denmark leaves at 8pm, sails for a full two days, and arrives in the morning. With many other bikers on board to swap stories with, I think the journey won’t be so bad.

[Zander]

Well done Martin. You can compare and contrast with New Zealand now

[whereisgibson]

Cheers Alex. I did both islands of NZ a decade ago; whilst I was in a car I’d say that whereas NZ is somewhat like Scotland, Iceland is like nowhere else. Highway 1 is wonderfully scenic, but the interior of Iceland is simply in another league and this is what elevates Iceland into easily the best place for a dirtbike on this continent, and a peer of the famous routes East and South.

[whereisgibson]

The ferry was jam packed with vehicles, and we waited around an hour to get off and into Denmark.

I spent a comfortable few days being hosted by the Cosy Chicks MCC, providing generous hospitality, excellent knowledge of Denmark, and potent ‘carb cleaner’ special brew!

I hiked to the Sky Mountain of Denmark. A modest 150 meters above sea level, it offered twisty roads and lovely views.

My hosts took me out to the North West of Denmark, following parts of the Daisy route and visited both ‘Cold Hawaii’ and the WWII bunkers.

Before I knew it I was back at the Hook of Holland

The ferry kicked me off at 6.30 and by 7am I was back in the UK

As it turns out I had an idea of where the BCR meets on a Sunday, and the timing was too perfect to not say hello.

And because I haven’t been riding enough this last month I decided to join them on their B-road blast through the sublime Essex countryside.

Finally after 5485 miles / 8827km the 640 got me home, eagerly awaiting some new parts and a bit of love.

The End! Thanks for following! Thanks for your comments, it’s lovely ending a difficult day reading them and making the trip a little less ‘solo’.

[DangerousB]

Welcome back! Good riding with you this morning and still enjoying your updates!
I think the 640 has earned a bit of love!

[WildBoy]

Amazing pictures and story Martin! thanks for sharing!!