Iceland review - 2016, Page 104

SPECIAL PROMOTION
ADVENTURES
102 ICELAND REVIEW
The Hvítá—White River—originates in
a lake on the Langjökull glacier, where
melting ice and rainwater begin their jour-
ney seawards. As the Icelandic highlands
give way, the Hvítá plunges down the 30 m
(100 ft) drop of Gullfoss waterfall, the cli-
max of the Golden Circle, and then flows,
tumbles and meanders its way through the
low-lying farmland of South Iceland, before
finally reaching the North Atlantic. Along the
way, it passes Drumboddsstaðir, a family-run
farm north of the Ring Road, reachable by
one of those unpaved rural tracks I’ve always
envied people for having a good reason to
drive down. Today, I have a reason: a river
rafting trip with Arctic Adventures.
GETTING INTO GEAR
Base camp is a converted farm outbuilding,
the bar-cum-reception desk decorated with
Tibetan prayer flags, a kayak, cowboy hats,
a rubber ducky and a taxidermy raven. A
small dog darts around, seeking affection
from the river’s many guides, Icelandic and
international, based at ‘Drumbó’ over the
summer. They kit us out: neoprean suit, wa-
ter-wicking under layer and water-resistant
outer layer, neoprene booties, helmet and
life vest. Then it’s into an old school bus,
and we’re off, past pastures where newborn
lambs graze, along a pebbly road down to
the river.
Safety instructions are brief, and sneakily
profound: Everyone paddle together as a
team, and things will be much easier. Accept
that you’re going to get wet. So we’re off,
and immediately into the rapids. The white
water churns, and I see our prow rising up
the crest of a breaking wave. I feel like I’m
in one of those movies about shipwrecks,
where the camera pulls back to show a trawl-
er practically vertical, riding out the storm of
the century.
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE
If you could see us from shore, this is not the
image that would come to mind. This stretch
of Hvítá is Class One and Two rapids, our
guide tells us; at Arctic Adventures’ base in
North Iceland, they lead adrenaline-packed
tours down Class Three and Four rapids
(Arctic Adventures offers a wide variety of
tours on water, ice, and rock, from snorkel-
ing to glacial walks to highland hikes, as well
as multi-day tours for private groups.) Here
on Hvítá, the water does much of the work:
we shoot a narrow gap, and paddle through
churning and bubbling eddies, but condi-
tions are largely ideal for the school groups
on the other rafts to splash each other—and
for me to admire the scenery. Like a passen-
ger looking out the window on a road trip
through a place where there are no roads, I
crane my neck, watching the low riverbanks
rise into a canyon of humpbacked black
volcanic rock—it looks like we’re coasting
through a flood zone. “That’s where we go
cliff-jumping,” our guide says, pointing up,
“but today the river is too deep and the cur-
rent too strong.” So I content myself with
views of the rock pillars and arches emerg-
Rafting Down the Hvítá river with Arctic Adventures.
GO WITH THE FLOW
ing from the water, and the rock walls of
ancient basalt, its rigidly geometric for-
mations eroded into startlingly abstract
mosaics.
As we approach the headland just be-
hind the farm, our guide asks the ques-
tion that’s been on my mind the whole
trip: “Does anyone want to jump into the
water?” Well, as I’m wet already... The
glacial meltwater, filtered by lava rock,
has a stunning clarity, almost a sweetness.
It is also very cold—I know, right?!?—and
I feel I’ve earned the reward awaiting me
back at HQ: a lengthy sit in the sauna,
and a dinner of Icelandic lamb, hot off
the grill on the front porch.
adventures.is
BY MARK ASCH.