Across Iceland by Packraft

[Robb Kenny]

Looks great. Pack raft now on list.

[Warren Greer]

I finally got the chance to take a look at this. And boy I'm glad I did. You soft Englishmen! Ha. Regardless of the name of this site, you guys are awesome. Thanks for wanting to share it with us. Thirty days unsupported is no mean feat. And you guys did in style and safety.

Very cool report. So, what trip are you planning next?

[Steven McAllister]

Very kool.

[Patrick Starich]

Good story and spectacular photos! Thanks for the great write-up and insights. One more for my bucket list.

[Tjaard Breeuwer]

Indeed you can hardly be called soft with that trip.
If you want more comfort than a closed cell pad, try a Neo air instead of a self-inflating pad. You didn't say which Thermarest you had, but any of the Neo airs is lighter than even the thinnest of self inflatables. So you can save weight and increase comfort as well.
Clothing is another option, you didn't specify what clothing you brought but there is a huge difference in weight for garments with equal insualting of waterproofing function, you will have to check that item by item.

[alastair humphreys]

We didn't try to fish but we should have done (although it was illegal)

[alastair humphreys]

I think that is a good rule for everyone making videos: the more you leave out the better your video is!

[alastair humphreys]

That rocket tent does seem perfect.

[alastair humphreys]

Thanks Douglas – that is really helpful. I have a lot to learn! (And a lot to buy!)

[alastair humphreys]

I know this is really against the point of a practical site like BPL, but I deliberately don't include good maps about my trips: I'm more into encouraging people vaguely to just go DO stuff rather than actual solid guidance.
I don't think one approach is better than the other, just different…

[Derek Goffin]

Hi alastair,
I did say this when you asked first time on this forum, but watching your video I repeat, you need front pockets like http://www.aarnpacks.com. We are going to the High Andes with unsupported trips of only 15 days maximum. I have spliced Aarn expedition pockets onto my preferred pack. Which is a Golite pinnacle but much modified. If you look at your photos you are leaning forward markedly under the weight of your pack. 18 litres of water, cameras and food infront of you will balance you and pay for the weight of the pockets in increased ergonomic efficiency many times over. You complain about sore shoulders, you could carry nearly all the weight on your hips and vary the amount, if you had more front to back balance.
Having cameras and other things accesible without taking off the pack is another significant advantage.
Anyway an impressive video and an even more impressive trip

Derek Goffin
another soft but rather older Englishman

[alastair humphreys]

Thanks Derek. You are right – having a front pouch is great – I wore this one in India that I removed from my original Marathon des Sables pack: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alastairhumphreys/3522223247/

I took it to Iceland but my pack was so big that adding this to the front just felt too constricting. I think I need an Aarn pack…!

[Marcel Bak]

Hey

I would like to say hello to everyone as I registered just recently, but for more than 2 years I've been reading the BPL forum a lot ;)

Alastair:

Great photos indeed!

However, in my opinion you guys simply took too much gear for your trip and did not plan it properly. Here are some points:

Background:

1. In 2009 I made solo East-West traverse based on A. Skurka's and Olivier "Rando léger"s descriptions. My route was: 980 road/Geldingafellskali/Karahnjukar/Alftadalur/F910/Askja/Nyidalur/F26/Versalir/Hald/Klettur/Helgaskali/Hloduvellir/Botnsvogur.

2. The trip took 16 days during which I covered ~460 km by foot. The weight of the pack was around 20 kg (though I had non-UL equipment/food – I was simply too poor to buy high-tech gear/dehydrated food etc.).

3. My friend Piotr (first UL person I got to know) have seen you and Chris when you were on your way from Akureyri to Nyidalur (and also in the camp) so I also know his first-hand impressions;)

4. Last month (July/August 2011) together with Piotr and my girlfriend Luiza we went on 16 day trip on Hardangervidda, Noway – hiking and packrafting UL style. The weight of both packs – Piotr's and mine – was around 20 kg each (with whole camping/packrafting gear, clothing and mine with DSLR – Canon EOS 7D with two lenses Sigma EX 10-20 and Canon 50mm). Luiza's pack was around 13 kg (with clothing, packraft, food etc.)

And here what comes:

1. "However, it was backpacking as light as was possible."

Check – sendspace.com/file/9azzfc – here you can find my gearlist for 2011 – hiking/packrafting (glacier equipment would add no more than 2/2,5 kg).

(i) actually I took a bit less
(ii) it could have been a bit lighter.

I bet a lot of people on BPL would prepare even better (read: lighter/more effective) gearlist.

Most of the things you took could have been much lighter, but still enough for hiking through Iceland – starting with shelter, sleeping bags, clothing, stove, trainers instead of boots and ending with compass and other small stuff.

2. You do not need to plan the 250k trip for 25 days with 40 kg of gear (compare this to Andrew's or Oliver's trips or even my 460 km/16 days (with 5 days of rest)/20 kg).

This is true especially when you are walking through a flat/rolling surface like Iceland. There are only two problems there – rivers (which mostly can be crossed/packrafted) and weather (you simply need to get used to it).

Right now I think that you can plan trip like the one you had for no more than 8-10 days of really easy walking. And if you are at least bit fit and the conditions are quite ok – less than 5 days.

3. Having read your articles, seen photos, watched movies and heard what Piotr told me – I can tell that you were not prepared both:

(i) physically (carrying 40 kg around twice as slow as he and his companion – Valdek – and they are not some hardcore ultramarathoners), and

(ii) in terms of logistics (not enough food/calories; too much gear/bad gear choices – taking a TOO MUCH of very light gear instead of taking ENOUGH of very light gear).

4. I also met people who made wrong choices in 2009 – two guys from France who read Oliver's article and decided to traverse Iceland. They had no previous experience, they were not fit and bought light packs (Golite Pinnacle) but took traditional gear – tent, boots etc. They finished their trip in Askja because of leg injuries.

5. I guess that you trapped yourself also with food: long trip –> more food –> heavier pack –> slower pace –> more days needed to cover the distance –> need more food.

6. "We had a map, the best I could find anywhere. It was from the 1930s."

I'm not sure but you can buy the map of every place on Iceland in 1:50 000 scale (dating 1988-1990 http://www.ferdakort.is/images/stories/yfirlitskort/50-000.gif) + CD Maps from Ferdakort + download very good, free GPS map from Dieter Graser's website isafold.de.

7. "We didn't try to fish but we should have done (although it was illegal)"

Fishing on Iceland is not illegal you just need to buy proper permit.

8. It's hard to call it expedition. There are a few companies offering different traverses – north-south, east-west etc. Prices starting from £2000/€3500 and a lot of independent people who completed various routes through Iceland – solo and unsupported.

PS. Oliver utilized front pouch during his trip and as his report indicates – it worked very well.

Douglas:

"Another idea would be to burn wood. It looks like you spent quite a bit of time in areas where there wasn't any fuel though. If you did spend time in places where natural fuel was plentiful than planning to build a fire might be a good fuel-saving strategy. Perhaps even carrying a small wood-burning stove as well as the other stove."

There is almost no wood on Iceland – mostly volcanic ash, sand and lots of Reindeer lichen etc. Generally speaking – very little vegetation (and it is protected). Alcohol/gas cartridge/kerosene – these work better on Iceland.

Cheers!

[alastair humphreys]

Wow – that's quite the debrief!

[Rog Tallbloke]

Awesome stuff Alistair, well done. I doubt Marcel factored the boat into his ultralight estimate? Five days. Lol.

[Marcel Bak]

Taking Alpacka Denali Llama (2011 version + seat + spraydeck) and sufficient gear (foam vests + paddles + 3/5 mm neoprene gloves/socks etc.) = ~4,5 kg (depending on your gear). In case of the gearlist (for Hardangervidda 2011) from the beginning of my post it is included within those ~20 kg.

On easy, flat stretches near Askja (Ódáðahraun desert) you can normally walk 50-60 km a day. If you pack food for five days (or you can even send it to posts at Askja and Nyidalur) you don't carry much more than base gear + packrafting gear, which gives ~10-12 kg. If you are fit with such load you move quite fast (check Ray Zahab on Atacama desert for example).

[alastair humphreys]

Hmmm… I get a feeling that mentioning the topic of 'unsupported' might open a whole can of worms which I can't really be bothered with ;-) but I wanted to do the whole thing carrying everything we needed for the whole trip rather than depoting food along the way.
There's pros and cons of each I know!
Cheers!

[Piotr Antkowiak]

I can assure you that Marcel has included the weight of all packrafting gear into the base weight. On our last trip (Norway, Hardangervidda) I had 4 kgs of trekking/camping gear + 4,6 kgs of packrafting gear + food. And I think I could easly cut 0,3-0,5 kgs if I would need to (ex. using buoyancy aids instead of primaloft jacket in cold weather). I had little less weight than Marcel because I was not hauling all these cameras and lenses as it is sufficient for me to use smaller camera. My skin-out weight was 18 kgs (with water) for 13 days. Pack weight was 16 kgs.
I think that taking 40 kgs pack for 20 days even with all this photographic gear is crazy but as I understand and as it is written in Alastair's article he was not an expert in ultralight equipment and from my point of view he was not counting every gram of his gear before this trip. He had a different approach than we have.

I remember when we met Alastair and Chris in the highest point of fiord on the way from Akureyri to the nearest shelter. Guys were taking a break and doing some photographs. We met, exchanged few words with Chris and continued our hike in South direction. We have reached the nearest shelter the same day. These guys reached the same place next day. We though that something happened to them on the plateau beause the weather was terrible (wind up to 100km/h). But the reason was their huge packs. In the shelter we exchanged the info about the gear. They were impressed with the low weight of our gear (especially the Cumulus x-lite 200 bag) and we (with my coleague Valdek) were amazed that they were still alive under the weight of their packs, boots, cameras etc. Maybe this is the answer for a question why it is an expedition for some and the hike for others.

But to be honest if we are not counting the weight and discussing the preparedness issues these guys made a very nice walk on the glacier and paddlig Pjorsa and the effect of their effort in form of photos and video is amazing.

[Jim Colten]

Hmmm… I get a feeling that mentioning the topic of 'unsupported' might open a whole can of worms which I can't really be bothered with ;-)

Me thinks that Alastair is a savvy as that Iceland trip indicates he is tough:-)

[Marcel Bak]

Alastair – I do not question the style of your trip. As you mentioned "unsupported" nowadays can mean a variety of styles.

I just wanted to share my comments regarding equipment/logistics – to show that it is not that difficult to carry a lot less/make the trip like yours much more comfortable and enjoyable.

[alastair humphreys]

Hi Marcel,
Don't worry – I'm not angry or upset at all!
There is so much that I can learn from this forum and from people who know much more than me and have much cooler kit than me.
I think the number one rule of using forums like this is to do so with an open mind to learn and to help other people. And I learned a lot from your long post. No worries whatsoever!
Let me know if you're ever in London – we can have a beer.
And I can ask you about my plans to cross the Bialowieza forest…
Thank you for all your information
Cheers
Al

[Marcel Bak]

Hey Alastair

Thats great! PM me about Bialowieza, because I grew up in Bialystok (60 km from the national park) – my family still lives there. It is also great to visit nearby Biebrza National Park swamps.

Feel welcome to visit me / my parents!

Hope to hear from you soon.

[William Ashley Hold]

Thanks for a superb video, want to see more. An amazing, ambitious trip.

[Author]

Posts