Iceland was supposed to be another tick on the list of adventures, another challenge conquered. And yet, like so many of my endurance challenges, it reminded me that the mountains, and the weather, always get the final say.
You can’t argue with weather!
No matter how much planning, preparation, or determination you bring, sometimes nature has other ideas. Our turn-back wasn’t a decision made lightly. Throughout the day we had been following a number of forecasts, joking that we would go with the best one! However, it soon became clear that they were all beginning to say the same thing; by 2000hrs, we would be hit with rain, snow and sub freezing temperatures (as proven by my solidified toothpaste the next morning!)
We decided to end the day short of the distance we had planned. This really wasn’t good given the distances we had to achieve in the time we had available.
We camped overnight in a valley, which afforded us a little shelter, knowing that had we continued onto the exposed plateau, conditions would have been far worse.
I sat in my tent with scrutinizing the latest forecast we could now only receive via satellite as comms were non-existent. In the days that followed, there would be more of the same. Incoming strong winds, low temperatures (with a biting wind chill), and the high risk of hypothermia meant continuing was genuinely dangerous. Rainfall would be causing rivers to rise to levels we couldn’t safely cross, and the plateau we had hoped to venture into was inaccessible due to deep, fast-flowing river crossings. Once conditions reached that point, we would have been committed with no safe way out. Respecting the limits of the environment isn’t weakness. It’s survival.
I’m better at route planning than I thought.
Despite the challenges, I discovered that my skills in mapping and anticipating terrain are stronger than I’d given myself credit for. Planning this expedition had taken me ages… I was unable to source maps with the detail I needed and spent hours scrutinizing satellite images and images of various areas, planning where we would be able to source water etc. There were a couple of moments when I doubted my planning, but it was spot on. That’s a confidence boost I’ll carry forward into every adventure.
Moving fast with a heavy pack is no joke
Carrying 17kg while trying to maintain pace is brutally hard. This became another contributing factor in making the decision to turn back.
Yes the pack was heavy, but I was able to carry it. Hours and hours of strength training had done what it needed to. I had trained multiple times with the full weight beforehand, but until you’re out there for 12 hours in bad weather and challenging terrain, you have no idea how this will impact you physically.
While it didn’t stop me, I had underestimated how much muscle fatigue I would experience. Every step taught me something new about pacing, energy management, and persistence. I also learnt that my kit wasn’t up to the job! My the shoulder strap on my pack had started to detach halfway through day one. This really messed up my headspace. I was worried about moving in a way that would cause further damage.
That night, I struggled with frozen fingers to stitch the strap back on. Having a seamstress for a mother must have rubbed off – although I seriously lacked her patience!
Personal admin is manageable – even in a coffin-sized tent!
Since my surgery, my organisational skills aren’t the best. The mere thought of packing up in the morning initially gave me a meltdown when I looked at everything that needed moving, most of which I was literally sitting on!
It was another case of just stopping, taking a breath and breaking it down. But step by step, I discovered that I could manage everything in that tiny space. By the end of the trip, my personal admin skills were much sharper than I’d anticipated. As for all that training back home, pitching my tent in bad weather, well I went out there knowing that I could do it if I had needed to.
Kit-wise, overall I was happy with it (apart from that strap!) Waterproof socks, which have worked well in the past, didn’t do such a great job here. They created something of a sauna, which left my feet as wet as they would have done if I’d have just gone straight through a river! Another learning point!
Icelandic people are amazing.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really disappointed in our decision to turn back, and there’s still that part of me wondering, “What if…?” In my head I had gone through every scenario I could have encountered had I decided to go it alone. In all honesty, I’d have been stuffed at the first river crossing! That’s when it pays off to have a team around you. Others with experience who can keep things in perspective. And I know I wasn’t the only one feeling deflated and disappointed.
We started our retreat out of the valley… in good weather, which added to our misery, but we all knew what lay ahead of us had we continued.
Friendly, generous, and endlessly helpful, the locals reminded me how much human kindness can shape an experience. Their local knowledge, support, advice, and encouragement made some of the toughest moments feel manageable. They all reassured us that we had made the right decision – reinforced by the fact that the local shepherds were bringing their back down off the mountains to the safety of the farms.
So, where does that leave us? Back to the drawing board. The expedition didn’t finish as planned, which is frustrating, but previous mishaps have taught me one thing: replanning almost always leads to successful outcomes. We’ll adjust, refine, and come back stronger. Our time out there might have been shorter than planned, but we learnt so much in that time.
Iceland wasn’t a full stop. It was a lesson in resilience, humility, and the importance of adaptability. And that’s exactly what I’ll take into the next challenge.