I had arrived too late in the night to see the vamp warden, and I did not see them in the morning as I packed up. It was only as I was pushing my bike up the steep 15% gravel road they appeared and shouted out to me. I didn’t want to be rude but they would have to pull a gun on me before I was going to roll back down just to heave the bike up again minutes later. I stopped and waited for them to realise I wasn’t coming down, at which point they hiked up the 500 metres of hill I had just conquered. I paid the panting ranger and after finishing the big push up the hill, made my way south to Detifoss. The gravel road wasn’t too bad, but there were sections of sand that on more than one occasion caused a wheel to slip out from underneath me. After a few close calls I made it back onto tarmac and then to Dertifoss. Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in Europe, a metric about as useful as declaring a mountain the densest or a river the slipperiest. Dettifoss then, is a big ugly waterfall that was set inside a big ugly rocky canyon. I looked at it for a bit and left feeling a tad disappointed.
The ride back was much more promising, as the sky had cleared up around Asbyrgi and was lining up for a very nice sunset. I made my way to the main camp and pulled my tent out to dry while waiting for the sun to set. While setting up I was approached by Andy, and Swiss man who had actually seen me before. He had been working as a mechanic on a farm near Godafoss, and would have seen my impromptu campsite. He was planning his own hike so we went our separate ways up to the canyon walls. My idea was to hike around to the very tip of the horseshoe, a good 5km walk. The hike was beautiful, with breathtaking views down the canyon peeking out through the lively forest carpeting the entire area.
As I made my way to the top I found that I was not the only one out here. Someone in the distance was frantically waving at me. As I got closer I realised they were trying to tell me to get out of their shot. I did so, and found a way up to them. It was a young man from Canada, and he did not appreciate my hi vis jacket.
We sat up there for an hour taking photos and trying to work out what the hell the sun was up to. Was it going to set? Was it sunset or sunrise yet? The sun decided to shuffle a bit over to the right and start rising again.
It was 1.30am at this point and the cold was starting to get go me, so we hiked on down and parted ways.
I felt like I could do with another nighttime ride, so I packed my mostly dry tent and yet again followed the sun north.
Lightning had struck twice and the riding was yet again amazing. Being so late I was soon riding into a blinding sunrise as I coasted by the serene coastline with a wide array of bird life to keep me company. I did eventually get tired, and set up camp next to a waterfall spewing crystal clear water out into the sea.
Shadow of the Colossus
Incredible! Looks amazing!