The 4x4 Rookie Trip
6th - 8th March 2004
The Rookie Trip was originally planned in February but had been rescheduled to take place this weekend.
As is typical of Icelandic weather we got a sampling of all sorts. Saturday was cool and clear, Sunday was cloudy and then windy and rainy and then still more rain through Monday.
As it turned out this would be a trip to remember!
It even made the local news :)
Saturday
The group gathers at daybreak at
the Hrauneyjar Icelandic High-land center. It looks like it is going to
be a beautiful day!
Thorsteinn Bjornsson uses the first
opportunity to air-down the 38 inch tires on his Nissan Patrol.
At this altitude the ground is covered with snow and the sun shines so the ice is glistening. When we get off the main road the track is fairly easy to travel with only an occasional small stream laid with thin ice causing a few of the 4x4's to get stuck.
Marteinn S. Sigurdsson owns this Toyota Hi-Lux Double Cab.
The kids use the opportunity to get
out and enjoy the snow!
For the more serious stuck a winch
comes in handy. The heavy Nissan Patrol needs help from Skuli's Land
Rover who has a winch and Hjalmar's large Land Cruiser functions as an
anchor.
4x4 off-roads!
At around noon we reach the Thjorsa river (Þjórsá) which is the longest river in Iceland. The ice is only about 10 cm (4 inches) thick and breaks from the weight of a few of the trucks. Among them was my F-150 and I needed a little help to get unstuck :)
The course is now made straight to
the clubs hut just south of Hofsjokull. We are now driving off road on
the snow. Since the conditions are good we increase the speed. Although
the snow looks level it is sometimes soft and sometimes hard causing the
trucks to take a few unplanned falls and jumps!
Thorgeir Egilsson and his wife
Helena Sigurbergsdottir own this obviously well equipped Nissan
Patrol. It has special DVD and Video Games screen for the kids in the rear!
Setur the clubs hut can only be reached by 4x4's. It is located just east of Kerlingarfjoll and south of Hofsjokull. We take a short stop there but since the visibility is good we soon head for Hofsjokull.
Hofsjokull
Hofsjokull is the third largest
ice-cap in Iceland. As we get higher on Hofsjokull the visibility gets
worse and we head back from an altitude of about 1400 m. Everybody uses the
opportunity to flex the muscles of their trucks.
Jon Thor Gudmundsson in his Range Rover
'86 modified for 38" tires and a Nissan 2.8 liter diesel engine.
Thrainn Aevarsson in his Suzuki
SideKick '91 on 35" tires.
Sverrir Jonsson in his Isuzu Double Cab on 36" tires.
A night at Setur
Some keep on playing (like David Einarsson on this Nissan
Terrano II) ...
... while some fix small problems with
their trucks ...
... and others go and prepare the grill
for the night's dinner, a traditional lamb steak. Einar controls it all!
After dinner the atmosphere get lighter and an evening singing has begun. Kristjan leads with his guitar playing.
