I woke up kinda late. I blame the jetlag mixed in with laziness. Also, the 22 hours of sunlight a day messes up the sleeping schedule.
The buses to Mt. Esjan Hiking Centre run infrequently on the weekend and I had to wait ~1 hour at the transfer station. The surrounding scenery kept me entertained though, and it sure as hell beat waiting at Highway7/Leslie (which I did for 16 months). The picture below doesn’t really do it justice.
The hike started off feeling like something in New Hampshire or Vermont, with small brooks running down and trees on either side.
Soon after though, the terrain got very other-planet-like. At one point, it really didn’t look like any other terrain I have seen before. Volcanic rocks everywhere, with ashy sand mixed with grass and mud (this is probably geologically incorrect).
Apparently, the water running down the mountain is the purest water you can get. I found these locals taking a break drinking from the stream… they asked me to take a sip too but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.
I made it to the summit, which was in the clouds. Kinda eerie, since I couldn’t really see the path too well or anyone else. I figured if I just stuck on the path, I should make to the top.
The walk back down took about an hour. I should get hiking poles.
I met a local boy studying at university at the bus-stop. We both had an hour wait and he filled me in on life in Iceland. Seemed kinda bleak, to be honest. He said he wants to move to America soon… he wants to start a space company. I didn’t bother to ask him for details.
Tomorrow I pick up my car for 3 weeks and head to Gullfoss. Mt.Esjan was gorgeous, I am super excited for things to come.
My stuff 