LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk | Epic Journey Over the past 5 years, I've returned to Iceland many times. At first, I traveled there for personal exploration, photography and hiking, and over the years, as my photography business, Wildernesscapes Photography LLC began to grow, I combined my in-depth, local, Icelandic knowledge, with my photographic skills, and now offer several photography trips and workshops there every year. Even though my travels are more business-related these days, leading international photo tours to a place like Iceland can hardly be deemed work. It's a great way to combine one's love for the outdoors, travel, and photography. By now, I've driven on nearly all the roads in the entire country of Iceland, and the more I see, the longer it is that I want to stay and explore. As small as Iceland looks on a map, it's a big island. The main ring road is 1400 km long, and encircles the country. I was fortunate to have climbed Iceland's highest mountain, Hvannadalshnúkur, twice. A mountain that is even harder and longer to climb that it is to pronounce! Once, I was with a guided group that was roped together because we crossed heavily crevassed glaciers. The second time was with my younger brother Josiah, who came to travel with me. Summiting takes 14-16 hours, round trip, with over 2000 meters elevation gain in a single day. Both times I was frustrated, because the summit, which was initially clear, clouded up just before we reached the top. I have yet to see views from that mountain! Incidentally, I now work with a local ice cave guide Einar Sigurðsson, who holds the record for most number of ascents of Iceland's highest peak, 271 times! Backpacking trips in Iceland can be challenging due to the harsh weather and winds. My favorite Icelandic backpacking trip was an eight-day crossing of the wild Hornstrandir Peninsula region, and across the Drangajökull icecap in the West Fiords. We planned a route starting at a coastal landing called Hesteyri, which once housed fishermen and very isolated families. In recent times, however, most people have moved to bigger towns looking for an easier way of life. On our trip, we Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall, Snaefellsness Peninsula, Iceland crossed seven snowed-in passes, hiked along beautiful vacant beaches thriving with driftwood from Russia's shores, and passed abandoned fishing shacks. The biggest challenge in this type of terrain was our exposure to wind and storms; there are few trees offering protection in Iceland. We stopped at Hornbjarg, which is an amazing 1000 ft. sea cliff, with a sheer fin of rock, over which one can peer down to the Arctic Ocean. The area around these spectacular cliffs is the best place to see the Arctic Fox; the only mammal native to Iceland. At midnight on the Hornbjarg cliffs, we scrambled up a high sea cliff for midnight, sunset views of a layer of sea-fog below. In Iceland the night belongs to the adventurer. We continued over additional mountain passes and around fjords to the seldom visited, and remote Drangajökull icecap, over a 24-hour long, no-darkness hike, in flawless weather. Traversing ice caps may sound exciting; however, it can be rather discouraging as the flat expanse of definition-less snow beyond you never shortens. But like any adventure, the boring or hard parts are quickly forgotten. For my brother and me this was the first big trip like this together, and Iceland made it the perfect. The 55km Laugavegur trek is Iceland's most popular, going from the geothermal hot springs of Landmannalauger in the Highlands via Thórsmörk valley (named after the Norse god Thor) and over Fimmvörðuháls pass between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull over to Skógar in southern Iceland. This is where the famous Eyjafjallajökull eruption occurred in 2010. Along the Laugavegur trek there's a network of wilderness cabin outposts where hikers can stay. Thórsmörk valley was decimated from the ash eruption, illustrating the changeability and fragility of Iceland's landscape. Once one of Icelanders' favorite camping holiday getaways, filled with flowers and birch scrub forests (forests are rare and highly appreciated in Iceland), the ash eruption that darkened skies as far away as Europe, also blanketed this valley with a thick layer of ash. When I was driving through the pelting, wind-blown reddish-brown haze afterward, it felt and looked like I was on Mars. On the Laugavegur route, hikers can enjoy 24 hours of daylight and develop their own cycle of rest. From a

• Cover