At the put in on the Eystri Jokulsa, with the Hofsjökull in the background

Inspection of the upper Eystri Jökulsá

This is more like Iceland, woke up freezing cold, 5ºC outside and a heavy mist. Glad of  a warm Rab sleeping bag on mornings like this. There is a bit of nervousness about running a canyon blind after some problems we had on the Jokulsá á Brü in 1989, so today we are going to walk over to the steeped looking part of the Eystri Jökulsá to check for horrors.

Set off across a very bleak looking landscape towards the river. The road is not really that close, and we have to trek for miles. This is not a great place to be in the mist, there are not too many features. We get to the river and walk for a few miles, but there is nothing much to worry us. The river is continuous, but there are not foss and we are happy that it is safe enough to run. Find a group of swans by the river and I collect a swan’s feather which is now adorning my pen.

Long slog back to the Landrover and we drove to the top near Hofsjökull. There is a long shuttle ~45 miles, and we plan for this to take all day tomorrow, and kayak down the river on the following two days, with a stop over in the middle.