Continued from Day 1

Day 2. Normally this would be a fairly leisurely day, stroll over to check out the icecaves at Hrafntinnusker, maybe take a side trip up one of the bigger peaks along the walk, and eventually end up dropping down off the high plains towards Álftavatn and Hvanngil.

It was a touch on the cold side for us though, and very damp and foggy. Not the best weather for casually roaming around in. Quite a bit of trepidation, but the track was pretty well trodden, and well, it wasn't going to get any better anytime soon. At least Kata and I had tents, but for everyone else, there were no beds if they stayed here, and warm beds beckoning on the other side of the mist and fog.

So, after the umming and ahhing of starting out on a less than spectacular day, we did start out. With 14? of us, we made a nice sized group with lots of herd protection, and so we left the hut at Hrafntinnusker with 4 extras who joined us for the walk. Basically, this was just a day of damp and cold. But sometimes you have to take that. Still some nice sights, green moss poking out of the mist, or the occasional warm stream carving shapes in the snow.

We ran into a couple of small groups walking in the other direction, who had been walking a lot longer than us, and had absolutely no idea how far they'd gone. They were quite relieved to find they were less than an hour or so from the hut. Eventually of course, the high plain ends, and you make a controlled fall down the hillside towards Álftavatn. Finally below the fog and mist it was high time for some lunch, before continuing downstream and looking for a good way over.

Drama ensues. Some cold wet people had to cross a cold wet stream, and some people simply aren't all that big compared to the creek. One of the girls took a tumble, getting very wet in the process, and promptly very cold. With a bunch of warm dry clothes from the group, and some chest warming fluid, she was good to go again though, with just some wet shoes the only real damage.

But, we were staying at Hvanngil, not Álftavatn, so we had more creeks to cross, and more hills to climb even before we got home for the night. Trudging into Hvanngil, wet and bedraggled with the whole gang, we actually managed to score ourselves a bed for the night in the hut, which gave us warm showers, and some drying space with the rest of the group. This was a very welcome luxury. We really hadn't been looking forward to tenting it :)

But still, the group triumphed. We were now all reunited with all sorts of luxurious goods jeeped in for us, and would only need daypacks from here on. Woo!

Of course, our heroics were nothing. We were only halfway through. Sharing the cabin with us for the night was a group that had just finished Strútur, what sounds like a rather excellent journey across some less travelled parts of the highlands, including some places I would visit later in the summer. (No link, no pictures, no camera. Stay tuned!) They were having _quite_ a party having just met what was basically a party waiting in a jeep trailer :) We had to be content with telling tall tales and drying clothes.

Continued on Day 3