Out into the wilds...

heading out of Egilstaddir ......

The road out of the town heads north on the 1 for a while before we turned left on to the off road tracks.

Roads are unusual in Iceland ....

the main roads are usuallly marked bz single letters and no F ie     [1] would be the main ring round the island (although dont let that fool you into thinking its a GOOD road!)

Next are the smaller 2 number roads like     [19]  this is a minor road but still surfaced.

There are 2 types of track.... 

Those marked with an F and those not

ie

93 or F93

93 means a minor road but maybe sections or parts that are gravel ..

and then F93 means 4x4 track road usually because of river crossings or higher ground

and then you come to the grand daddy of them all Fxxx   ie F910

These are very minor roads and usually open only sometime of the summer

You can check the road conditions easy on the iceland roads department web pages . ..

Our plan was taking the F93 from Egilstaddir across country to the F910 and over to Mödrudalur, a small group of houses we knew had a good campsite high in the interior ... around 3-4 hours cross country drive.

First we stopped at  Hengifoss a lovely waterfall .... we decided to take the 3km walk up this mountain to the waterfall ....

Good tip .... the ground is soft and consists of volcanic ash and debris ..... use strong boots or shoes .... take a jacket and waterproofs and ensure you can cover your camera .... :)  your in iceland now!!

Ohhh DO NOT walk in flip flops, trainers etc ..... I scream in my head every time I see people walking rocky unfirm tracks in sandals or flip  flops.  It takes a single mis footing to either have you sliding down a scree slope or with a badly sprained ankle or worse . .. then someone has to come get you ... PLEASE if your walking the hills wear decent shoes/boots and protect your ankles .... I saw this so many times on the highlands in Scotland .... :(

Deep breath .. so .....

Ling is pretty new to all this walking lark ... Im a bit of a goat when it comes to walking so was not worried on the tiniest of tracks no wider than a footstep on soft volcanic ash ... but with the drop down Ling was feeling alittle nervous..

So we had a lesson on hill walking and the time we came down the Panda found some feet and could walk ok !

:)   great!

Coming down we also ran into Yara and Ivan ... After some nice pics we continued on together onto the F910 .........

Now the real fun!

The roads became a track, muddy, slippy, some snow . ... now this is exactly what I came for!

The temperature dropped rapidly as we climbed the summit between Egilstaddir and Mödrudalur....... 4c, 3c, 2c, 0..... wow!

Dropping down the other side I was pleased with the Hill Decent Control on the D3 and thankful ..... those gravel tracks and steep slopes means you need to think ... alot and fast!

After that we came face to face with our first real river........!

All the 4x4 training came flooding back ... reading the river ... looking for signs how deep.... where to drive .....

Ok got it .... we followed a distinct curve round the bed of the river where I could see the water being disturbed by rocks.....

Slow in ..... Diff locked Low and 2nd selected...... splush!

Nice and slow ... create a bow wave. .... Water is up to the bonnet .... thankfully I have a snorkel fitted......

Bouncing across rocks ... water splashing over the bonnet ... Lings face is amazing .. she has never been really off road but I can tell shes hooked! Yep the Landie can swim too as well as climb!

Then we are across ... up the bank and off again ....... great ... confident now and happy that the D3 didnt cause any issues I am ready for my next one!

Most of the tracks across here are ok and passable with care and just need to be careful on the river crossings ... there have been many accidents with tourists and locals alike in river crossings iceland .. sadly some fatal ..... when crossing always know when to say no and turn back .... and be prepared ... dont try cross raging rivers in a susuki!

Next stop Mödrudalur and the first camp......