Jökull - 31.12.2001, Page 67

Iceland 1956; from South to North over the Vatnajökull ice cap
E. Lyn Lewis
3904, Bedford Road, Victoria, B. C., Canada V8N 4K5; LewisL@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
In late July 1956, at the age of25, I set out to walk across Iceland from south to north over the Vatnajökull ice
cap, then over the lava deserts to Lake Mývatn. My companions were Byron Davies and Michael Hotchkiss.
Davies and 1 are still in contact, our joint recollections are the basis of the following report. I have not seen
Hotchkiss for over forty years. My wife, Kládía Róbertsdóttir, for many years a member of the lcelandic
Guides Association, has helped to interpret my photographs in order to identify our route, but there is still some
uncertainty left. Thus while the overall pattern of events is correctly given, it could be, for example, that our
route over the ice may not have been exactly as described. Why did we go? Sufftce it to say that we were young
men, in tune with the tenor ofour times, outfor an adventure using what experience we had.
We left Hull, England, on July 17 aboard the M.V.
Brúarfoss, a vessel of about 1000 tons. The captain
and crew had their families with them and we all ate
together; the community had a patriarchal air. When
small children walked the deck in stormy weather I
felt responsible for their safety, but slowly my concern
about “child overboard” lessened, as I realised that
their balance was better than mine. I think we spent
two days in Reykjavík where we introduced ourselves
to the glaciologist, Jón Eyþórsson, at the airport and
to skyr in the town. As we did not have a radio, which
in those days used vacuum tubes and needed heavy
batteries, we told Jón that, as a safety precaution, we
would phone him when we arrived at Mývaln.
The intention was to get as close to the southern
edge of the Vatnajökull as possible using the main
road which, at that time, did not cross the Skeiðar-
ársandur. A route up Djúpárdalur seemed feasible; I
think that we discussed the options with people in
Reykjavík. We took the bus as far as we could (Kirkju-
bæjarklaustur?) and then relied on hitch hiking to
get to our starting point. I remember that the “good
samaritan” who gave us a lift was a violinist and the
name “Jón Sen” appeared in my address list. It was
no small service! We had a considerable amount of
equipment and supplies and I think he made two jour-
neys to get everything, including three men, moved
up to the bridge crossing the river Djúpá. We were
then about 25 km from the point where we eventually
climbed onto the ice and each of us had two loads
to carry. We started up the eastern bank of the ri-
ver and as tent, sleeping bags, stove, etc. would be
needed every night, it made common sense to pitch
camp about half way to the ice. This was done on the
afternoon of the day Sen left us (day one, July 29).
On day two we returned to the road and moved the
second load up to the camp. Day three was spent in
moving this second load up to the ice and returning to
camp; on the fourth day all the remaining gear and the
camp were moved up to the ice edge and we explored
the area to determine the route of easiest access to the
glacier.
Fortunately, the customs authorities had allowed
all our equipment and supplies to enter Iceland with-
out payment. Included was food for three men for
something over five weeks. At that time the freeze
drying process for foods was being developed at the
British Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food in
Aberdeen, Scotland. We were carrying tins containing
their freeze dried meat, vegetable and fruit products,
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