Trek - day 3: Emstrur to Thorsmork

I had a better night's sleep but was still glad the last night's camping was done.  We sadly lost one of our team today who suffers from asthma and had a really bad cold. There was no option to be picked up on the route so she'd have had to come out all day and couldn't risk it. We were so disappointed for her.

 

The last day of trekking was due to be the middle in terms of difficulty. My blister was covered in Compeed and thankfully held out for the day. I could feel it but not too bad. I then developed another one on my other foot. We had quite a few uphill climbs to day but many downhill. We were heading towards Mount Eyjafjallajokull and ended the day near it. We passed a sign warning us about floods in the area due to the risk of volcanic eruptions which could cause the snow to suddenly melt and flood the area. We were advised that in the event of an eruption we should get to higher ground!

 

It was a nice, sunny day generally, getting very warm at times. Our pace as a group was a lot quicker today, perhaps as it was the last day and we knew we had a nice meal and a night in a hotel to look forward to!

The trekking was 7 hours and soon after we started I knew I was going to do it (well I had no option anyway!). I kept imagining the end and thinking I could say "I did it!" then I'd well up with emotion. My blisters held out OK and my shoulders were stiff and sore from carrying my day pack. I had to keep loosening the straps and pulling the straps down off my shoulders but I knew I just had to get through the next few hours.

As the day went on we saw more greenery. There are very few trees in Iceland and we passed many and our trek ended in a woodland. Not before a final cold river crossing though. We started to see a lot of flowers then, initially beautiful purple lupins. We also heard a lot of birds singing but on the previous two days there had been little signs of life.

We walked downhill, which was quite steep in places, towards the end. I was glad I had use of a walking pole. I now had Rhos' who'd brought one but not used it. Reaching the end of the trek almost seemed an anticlimax after all the emotion from earlier. We reached a hut and dashed in for the toilet! We then got on a bus to drive back to Reykjavik. Then I could reflect. I had this idea 18 months ago. I had no idea whether I could manage it but I knew I had to. I really struggled with the time to train but I managed 10 mile walks, and went up Snowdon with Emily, my daughter (age 5) and Paul. The trek was tough physically, emotionally and mentally but I'm so glad I did it. It was an amazing experience in so many ways and I've raised a huge amount of money. I'm so grateful to everyone who supported me.

 

Trek - day 2: Alftavatn to Emstrur

We hadn't reached camp until 7.30pm and after putting up our tent and eating it was time for bed for me. It was very cold again but this time I was prepared. I wore thermal bottoms and my fleece lined trousers, thermal top, t-shirt, pyjama top, and a fleece plus I wore Heat Holder socks, a hat and a neck warmer! I needed them. I didn't wake up due to the cold but due to the discomfort. The campsite at Alftavatn was less rocky but it wasn't soft and I was sleeping on a blow up mat. It only reached about 3/4 inch thick. I woke up warm though.

We did better at packing our tent away today and we felt relieved we only had one night of camping left! I had to start the day with one foot inside a plastic bag in my boot as it was still wet from yesterday when we crossed a river. We had to step from rock to rock and it was a little deep and went over my boot. We started off with a river crossing that was knee deep so we had to put secure sandals on, and as practice for our more tricky crossing later in the day, crossed in pairs or threes, linking arms. The water was fast flowing and icy cold. My legs ached with the cold and it took a few moments to ease after crossing. We had two more river crossings, where we had to go through them, during the day. The second was thigh deep, fairly wide and fast flowing. Three of us were linked up to support each other. My legs were very painful. Thankfully it was generally a nice warm day and after the crossing I could leave my shorts on, which had got wet and needed to dry.

After the river crossing we walked down the river a little to view a spectacular waterfall. It was a nice treat during a pleasant day. There were few ups and downs today so the walking was easier. It was nice to get to chat to my fellow trekkers and find out why they were taking on the challenge. There were 17 of us in all and I generally got to talk to most people during the 3 days trekking. We'd walk at our own pace and chat to the person or people near us. There were some inspirational stories. Lynsey and Graeme had travelled all the way from Dubai where they work and had taken on the trek at Lynsey's suggestion, who was raising money for Breast Cancer Care, following the loss of her friend to the disease. She's vowed to do something every year. She'd asked friends to join her and Graeme had obliged. He was raising for a hospice local to his home in Scotland. I learnt about some charities I knew little or nothing about before like the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) that Heather was supporting, both to raise money and awareness. CALM exists to tackle suicide which is the biggest killer of men aged between 20 and 49, which is startling. Julia was raising money for the Mastocytosis Support Group. Mastocytosis is a relatively newly discovered illness of which little is known. I learnt so much from the variety of people and was entertained by many, including Clodagh, a bubbly Irish lady, who kept us all amused!

We walked a lot on black sand today, peppered with volcanic rock. The mountains in the distance looked beautiful but the immediate landscape was barren and lunar-like. I could see why NASA had sent it's astronauts here for training before the moon landings. The mountains we could see here were green, with the ground near us, black or grey with the odd plant with pink or white flowers. We still had to cross snow though and just in front of me Luisa fell through some. One leg went through and she was concerned she'd injured her leg, as were we. She was a little shaken up but recovered and continued.

The day ended nice and warm and we had an earlier finish than the last two nights so more time to set up our tents, enjoy and meal and relax. However, I'd got used to having a mobile phone signal whenever I had checked and had been able. I'd sent a message earlier in the day to my dad, who'd been picking up Thomas from the hospice, to ask how he was and when I turned on my phone at camp to get a reply and to send one to Paul to say how my day had gone I had no signal. I was upset and at a loss. I couldn't check how my children were or let them know how my day had gone. I was concerned about Emily being upset if she hadn't heard from me and I didn't know what to do. I considered walking back up the hill we'd come to see if I had a signal, and I had offers from people to join me. But I had developed a blister and questioned whether I should walk more than I needed to. I therefore spent some time in the tent, crying and then the early evening meal trying to stop myself crying, and not succeeding that much. I then heard someone say that they had a phone signal and I tried my phone again. I succeeded in sending and receiving some messages and felt much better. My toe though, was sore. Victoria had seen to it and had drained the blister. I hobbled around in my sandals and hoped I was better for the last day's trekking.

Whilst the campsite had been warm it cooled down a lot during the evening and I wrapped up for bed again. This site was softer. We were on sand and dust and it got everywhere! I also still failed to sleep well but being woken a lot in the night and sleep deprivation are my life so I'm used to it.

Today we'd walked 19km, nearly 12 miles and we were out 8 hours.

The trek - arrival and day 1: Landmannalaugar to Alftavatn

Eighteen months after conceiving the idea of doing a challenge I set off early on Wednesday 25th June 2014. I had taken my son, Thomas to stay at Ty Gobaith for 4 nights the Monday before. I was quite emotional doing so, knowing I wouldn't see him for a week and I'd be in a different country to him. On Wednesday morning I went to see Emily before I left. She was subdued, maybe just sleepy, but possibly upset. Paul went in to her after and said she was "OK". I felt myself welling up as we travelled to the station and then during my journey, first by train, then plane from Manchester to Keflavik, Iceland.

I'd forgotten how nervous I get flying and felt quite stressed during the flight. This exacerbated my feelings of emotion and then on arriving and going to collect my luggage I found that the walking poles I'd borrowed from my parents that had been attached to the outside of my bag had gone. Nobody in the airport was remotely helpful so I felt quite upset. The rest of the trekkers were travelling from Heathrow so I had to find them. Their flight arrived a few minutes after mine so thankfully not too much waiting around and I approached someone I thought looked a likely candidate. I was right and met Julia, who I'd be sharing a tent with later.

We travelled by bus then to our first campsite, a journey of some 4 hours. The reality of being away from my children, in the company of strangers, with the task facing me now imminent and with the loss of my walking poles meant i felt very emotional and I fought back the tears. I calmed myself but felt the tears pricking my eyes occasionally as thoughts entered my head.

The journey was fascinating with spectacular landscape. We saw Mount Eyjafjallajokull, the volcano that erupted in 2010, causing all the problems for airlines. It was topped in snow and covered in cloud. We also passed close to Mount Helka which erupts about every 10 years and last erupted in 2000. It has apparently been swelling in recent years and it can't be too long to an eruption.

We arrived at Landmannalugar at around 7.30pm local time, 14 hours after I'd left home. We had to then pitch our tents after being paired up. The ground was hard and rocky and it was noticeably cold. There were patches of snow and ice not too far away. We were shown how to pitch the tents before doing our own ourselves. Thankfully Julia is involved with the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and was clearly no stranger to camping so our tent was pitched, thanks to her. We then all met in the Mess tent for a meal. Our tents and the food were provided by Edwin and Miriam who are Dutch but now living in Iceland. It was a good chance to get to know some of my fellow trekkers a little along with Carmel and Victoria from Charity Challenge. Victoria was our trek leader and had spoken to me at the airport and offered me her walking poles for the trek as she said her job was easier if I was OK!

After our meal a few of us visited the hot spring pool on the site. I was not too keen on it given the temperature but felt it had to be done! Before we got in though we saw a sign warning about "Swimmer's Itch" which caused me some concern, being the worrier that I am. Very little information was given except we basically bathed at our own risk. I'd come this far though so had to carry on and try it. The water from the spring was lovely and warm but flowing into the pool was also melting snow and ice so we'd get hit with some very cold water too.

I finally got to bed about 11pm (1 hour behind UK time). It was still light. Sunset and sunrise are only 3 hours apart this time of year and it never gets completely dark. It was also very cold and I struggled to get warm all night. I woke frequently feeling cold and uncomfortable.

 In the morning we had to prepare for the day and pack our tents and belongings. Thankfully we got our tent packed away due to the efforts of Julia again. We carried a day pack with all the essentials for the day but Edwin and Miriam transported our main bags between camps. We set off around 9.30. We had been provided with lunch and snacks and also there were some Thermos flasks to make tea, coffee and soup during the day. I felt I ought to do my bit and volunteered to have one. However, my day pack weighed heavily on my shoulders and I felt discomfort immediately. At every opportunity, when there was a brief rest I took it off my shoulders. This led to Carmel and Victoria being concerned about me and after only about an hour Carmel took the Thermos flask from me. So that was my contribution to the flask carrying for the entire trek!

It was damp and raining a little but the scenery was stunning all around. It looked unreal in places, as though it had been painted. Today was due to be our toughest day and it definitely proved to be. Thankfully it didn't rain too much but it was cold and got very foggy. There was a lot of uphill climbing and we spent a lot of the day hardly able to see those in front of us. Our guide was Oskar whose usual job is a banker but who does guiding a little in the summer as he enjoys it and is friends with Edwin. He would stop and wait for all the group to catch up every now and again, which was especially important when visibility was poor. We walked over a lot of snowfields and it felt like we could be in the Himalayas! In the fog we passed a plaque, commemorating a man who had died at that spot in a blizzard almost exactly 10 years ago.. This brought home how extreme the weather can be there and how quickly it can change. Oskar said later he'd never experienced fog like we did that day.

 

 

Part way through the day I discovered my water bladder had leaked in my bag. That lead to a lot of wet belongings, including a pair of socks that didn't dry until 2 days later. I also got one foot wet crossing a river and my boot was still wet the next day. With us sleeping in tents and it being so cold, there was no opportunity to dry anything. My towel from visiting the geothermal pool remained damp and I didn't have a shower until the hotel at the end of the trek!

As we reached the end of the trek that day after 24km/15miles and 10 hours of walking I chatted to Victoria about why I was doing the trek and what it involved for me. She asked if I was excited and I told her to ask me on Saturday. I felt so proud and a huge sense of achievement but also overwhelmed and anxious that there was still two days to go. I had managed to send and receive text messages so I felt happier about being able to report back home and found out how they all were. I heard from Paul that Emily seemed a little tearful but she was so proud of me she wouldn't show it. I filled up with pride and knew I had to do her proud.