Jökull - 01.01.2004, Page 92

Richard S. Williams, Jr. and Magnús Már Magnússon
the hut was opened, the outer door was blocked by a
snow drift. We had to shovel to reach the new level
of the snow surface. We were confined to the hut for
another day, and played various card games, including
tíu, Olsen-Olsen, and poker.
1 June:
Gunnar Guðmundsson decided that it was worth the
attempt to start back for Jökulheimar, even though it
was still windy, snowing, and snow was still drift-
ing. We packed our gear and supplies by 1600 hr to
start the 40-km trip. All expedition members signed
the guestbook of Grímsfjall before departure. With
the blizzard still continuing, Magnús Már Magnússon
was roped to the lead vehicle during the first 4–5 km to
probe for newly snow-covered, crevasses. After that,
the track was deemed safe from crevasses - as long as
we stayed on course! Navigation was the responsi-
bility of Carl Eiríksson, who used dead reckoning.
The snow finally stopped falling, but was replaced by
a dense fog. Progress was very slow, only about 5 km
h!1. One of the drive belts broke on the snowcat, but
it was repaired by 2215 hr. We finally got underway
again at 2300 hr, under a light snowfall.
2 June:
We finally broke out of the fog to see Hamarinn.
Clouds were low and dark, and snow-surface conditi-
ons became more difficult. We stopped for Carl Ei-
ríksson to take a bearing. The Bombardier became
stuck in wet snow at 0230 hr and had to be towed out
by the U.S. Navy snowcat. The weather became partly
cloudy by 0600 hr, and a beautiful rainbow appeared.
Finally, we reached the terminus of Tungnárjökull at
0800 hr, after 16 hr in transit. We reached the hut at
Jökulheimar at 0915 hr, having had very little sleep
for 24 hr. We then waited for the transport truck from
Gunnar Guðmundsson hf. to arrive, so that the Bomb-
ardier, sledge, and U.S. Navy snowcat could be loa-
ded. We stayed at the hut at Jökulheimar all day and
overnight.
3 June:
We departed from Jökulheimar at 1300 hr. We stopp-
ed at several waterfalls and at the excavated and
partially restored Viking age farmstead at Stöng.
Stöng had been abandoned in A.D. 1104 after a heavy
tephra fall from Hekla. We reached the headquarters
of Gunnar Guðmundsson hf. at 1930 hr.
Members of the Expedition
Name Occupation Expedition Duties
Gunnar Guðmundsson President, Gunnar Guðmundsson Expedition Co-leader
hf.(Trucking Company) and Bombardier driver
Carl Eiríksson Electrical Engineer Expedition Co-leader and
Navigator
Björn Indriðason Mechanic Mechanic and
Snowcat driver
Jón Ísdal Shipwright Mechanic
Erla Engilbertsdóttir Housewife (Jón Ísdal) Miscellaneous chores
and Seamstress
Bára Guðmundsdóttir Bank Teller Food preparation
Soffía Vernharðsdóttir Accountant Food preparation
Hildigunnur Þorsteinsdóttir Secretary Food preparation
Bergþóra Sigurðardóttir M.D. (General Practice) Physician
Magnús Már Magnússon Student Miscellaneous chores
Haukur Ólafsson Graduate Student Miscellaneous chores
(Political Science)
Richard S. Williams, Jr. Geologist (Ph.D.) Scientist
Karl Grönvold Geochemist (Ph.D.) Scientist
Heinrich Wettstein Professional Photographer Photographer
92 JÖKULL No. 54, 2004