Whee! A trip to Þórsmörk! You don't get one of them very often. At least, not in my company of 101 kids and tiny cars. Doesn't mean I don't want to go though! I'd met Unnur a couple of weeks before at Kjartan's birthday, and she was heading out to Þórsmörk with a couple of friends of hers, Sverrir and Dagný, and their son, Daníel. I hitched a ride, and had a great weekend away in fantabulous weather. I probably didn't speak much, but I got to listen to lots of Icelandic, and they were supportive of my slowness. Unnur is good for that. All Icelandic, all the time.
We had fun even the first night. Sverrir is a fireman, and has a jeep with it's own name, so somewhat predictably, he made crossing Krossá look like a little puddle in a carpark. We stopped to say hello to the rangers there, they all knew each other from various rescue groups and excursions in the past, and while we were waiting we saw a convoy of three loud jeeps going pretty gung ho into Krossá, headed towards us at Langidalur. After some near mishaps, the group arrives, a bunch kids in their early 20s (perhaps) with beers tied to the antenna and in the hands of all occupants. First big trip for the boys in their new toys. They were looking for Bása! We collapsed laughing, they had crossed to the wrong side of the river, and now had to get back across. They managed it, just, much to the disappointment of the gleeful crowd standing around big blue waiting for them to get stuck.
We headed up stream a bit, and got ourselves our own private valley to camp in, and went to bed.
Saturday dawned clear and warm. Quite warm, it got to about 25°C or so during the day. We went for a walk up the valley, up to the plateau, heading for a nice loop around towards Rjúpnafell and Tröllakirkja and back down into Langidalur. We had absolutely amazing weather, we could see fog and low cloud down the valley by the highway, but here in Þórsmörk, it was all sunshine and warmth. The icelanders quickly stripped down to soak up as much sun as possible, though this would later come back to haunt one of them in particular, who got a little bit crispy.
After a good long walk, we arrived back in Langidalur, and after a bit of a chat and a hang out on the grass, we headed back to camp for our bbq extravaganza. After our feast it was time for tall tales, cheese and crackers, and some wine, which seemed to spend more time on the floor of the tent than in anyone's glasses.
About this time though, Unnur's fun in the sun was turning into a nice bright red unfun time. Incredibly burnt shoulders, chest, and backs of the legs made for one very tender young lady. Unnur even got up during the night to go and sit in the creek to cool down. (And the creek was pretty damn cold) Poor girl :( This is not a great way to enjoy a sunny weekend.
