Ódáðahraun VIII

The expectations were different... For the last two weeks of February we wanted to experience again the winter conditions of the icelandic highlands. We expected heavy winds, snowdrift and icy conditions. But the warmth is never far away in Iceland. And this time we exactly hit the worst time. The polar vortex split up and Iceland got its share of warmth and stormy weather while mainland Europe got frozen solid...

We left the bus north of Búrfellshraun in nice snow conditions, skied to the first camp and the nightmare slowly started: Plus degrees and strong wind from the southeast almost every day. We could watch the snow melt away. Already after two days, when reaching the Fjallaborg hut, we decided not to ski further into the highlands. The forecast got worse, two storms with 25m/s and plus degrees were following close on each other. Instead we were zigzagging as direct as possible towards our final destination Reykjahlíð, Mývatn. Always in search of residual patches of snow to pull our heavy pulksleds. Temporarily it felt like early summer. Only the Aurora tried her best to compensate...