A day on the mountain
16th August
If you don't like hill walking pictures - look away now. You-know-who decided to ascend the nearby mountain: Bjarnfell, just 752m high. Easy peasy from a 100m start he told Rowena, who declined the invitation to accompany. Except he didn't have a local detailed map & it wasn't attached to the ridge above the hot spring area, it was in the next valley, on the other side of a river, across fenced fields and looked quite steep from this angle. At this point realised it was going to be a more tolerable all-day hike to the end of the valley then take a long approach on the ridge.
Wild strawberries on route. No well-worn path trod by previous walkers or sheep - this is what it must have been like in Scotland in the pioneering walking days. Thick beds of moss on the tops, like walking on a foam mattress, and in the moorland bits- heather & the smell of thyme crushed underfoot. With some short steep ascents & scrambles, wandered around on the tops (there were several of them) for 2 hours. Great views across to the glacier & mountains in adjacent valleys to the West, down to the wider valley to East & the village of Geysir, Hekla, as far as the sea & the Westmann isaland. Yes - a beautiful clear day, perfect conditions for navigating without a map.
Returned to base by 6pm (had been in touch by phone text) to meet the others who had happily spent a while in the hotel pool then gone to Reykholt & found a pleasant walk. I rounded off the evening with another wander to the thermal area, trying to get a good movie of the erupting Strokkur.
Wild strawberries on route. No well-worn path trod by previous walkers or sheep - this is what it must have been like in Scotland in the pioneering walking days. Thick beds of moss on the tops, like walking on a foam mattress, and in the moorland bits- heather & the smell of thyme crushed underfoot. With some short steep ascents & scrambles, wandered around on the tops (there were several of them) for 2 hours. Great views across to the glacier & mountains in adjacent valleys to the West, down to the wider valley to East & the village of Geysir, Hekla, as far as the sea & the Westmann isaland. Yes - a beautiful clear day, perfect conditions for navigating without a map.
Returned to base by 6pm (had been in touch by phone text) to meet the others who had happily spent a while in the hotel pool then gone to Reykholt & found a pleasant walk. I rounded off the evening with another wander to the thermal area, trying to get a good movie of the erupting Strokkur.
Wait for it ...
Thar she blows
Vetch in flower tangled around lupin
Loved the bristly green branches & contrasting reddish pine cones
Wild strawberries - delicious
The less-travelled path
Summit cairn
View South West from summit
Looking down on Geysir village
View SW of Geysir
Strokkur in action (not the biggest blow - you need to get lucky)
Labels: geysir
posted by Eva Lutian @ 02:49
1 Comments
1 Comments:
You-know-who looks in his element.As I said 3rd week looks like back to basics and no maps, but @ least you had modern technology with the mobile, so you must have had a signel.Must say great pictures again. Who were the sensible ones that found some less strenious activity. Make the most of the few days left. Did you dine on wild strawberries.
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