The Travel Diary: Cycling through Iceland's feral Fjords
- Text by Steve Brown
- Photography by Steve Brown
Feral Fjords is a touch on simplicity, journey, freedom and satisfaction. The series is a documentation of a month journey around Iceland on bicycles. The journey was to focus on being temporarily free from the modern pressures of society that has now become increasingly unavoidable. Without such restrictions we were free to appreciate the notion of time and travel at leisure, experiencing Iceland in it’s rawest form.
It’s a journey of friendship, patience and endurance, living outdoors for 31 days. By travelling in this way we were able to camp wild, fish, replenish water from glacial rivers, bathe in natural hot springs, be in direct contact with Iceland’s irrational climate, enduring cold, wind, rain but also the magic of the endless midnight sun.
Arriving in Reykjavik day one we were already wet, cold and with wind burnt faces. We had only made the short distance from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik central, and by choosing to wild camp and not reside in the comfort of fully equipped camp sites we found ourselves spending the night in the overgrowth of a nursery school playground, thinking to ourselves surely there’s more to Iceland than this.
Having left behind dreary and cold Reykjavik, we found what we were looking for in the form of the very remote Western Fjords. Although the mighty 24-hour sun had made its appearance, so too did two mountain passes, gravel roads and a high mountain plateau.
The Arctic wind blasted us, our numb hands and numb feet struggling to remain sane and in control of the bike. It must have been written all over my face when a passing motorist stopped to hand me a banana for energy; I’m guessing I looked like I needed it. Bjork’s greatest hits just wasn’t enough to get me over this icy plateau.
Akureyri, Iceland’s second largest city if you want to call it that, found us in a similar situation as Reykjavik two weeks previously. Arriving late in the night tired and lost, we had a unanimous decision to spend the night in the display shed outside the front of the local garden centre.
After an agitated sleep with the fear of being disturbed in the morning by an Icelandic customer coming in to inspect us, we were up and off. But this time into a swarm of midges flying their way into every orifice of your face, there was more arm swinging than cycling going down at this point.
Cycling is quite possibly the most gratifying way to experience a landscape, but it’s also testing for the mind and body. It’s the only possible way to understand the trance like euphoria of cycling head on into Arctic winds over gravel mountain passes and plateaus, to be attacked by territorial sea birds, infested by swarms of midges, drowned by endless rain. It’s also the only way to experience the euphoria of cruising down long roads surrounded by fjords on either side, a steady tailwind pushing you all the way.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
Inside Bombay Beach, California’s ‘Rotting Riviera’
Man-made decay — The Salton Sea was created by accident after a failed attempt to divert the Colorado River in the early 20th century. Jack Burke reports from its post-apocalyptic shores, where DIY art and ecological collapse meet.
Written by: Jack Burke
In Glasgow, a queer bike shop is reshaping cycle culture
Dynamo CIC — The sport and industry is often dominated by men, and particularly men with money. But through empowering their community to learn DIY repairs and share resources, Dynamo is creating an alternative vision for riding.
Written by: Alice Austin
The last days of St Agnes Place, London’s longest ever running squat
Off the grid — Photographer Janine Wiedel spent four years documenting the people of the Kennington squat, who for decades made a forgotten row of terraced houses a home.
Written by: Isaac Muk
As salmon farming booms, Icelanders size up an existential threat
Seyðisfjörður — The industry has seen huge growth in recent years, with millions of fish being farmed in the Atlantic Ocean. But who benefits from its commercial success, and what does it mean for the ocean? Phil Young ventures to the remote country to find out.
Written by: Phil Young
Activists hack London billboards to call out big tech harm
Tax Big Tech: With UK youth mental health services under strain, guerrilla billboards across the capital accuse social media companies of profiting from a growing crisis.
Written by: Ella Glossop
In photos: The boys of the Bibby Stockholm
Bibby Boys — A new exhibition by Theo McInnes and Thomas Ralph documents the men who lived on the three-story barge in Dorset, giving them the chance to control their own narrative.
Written by: Thomas Ralph
