Hvita i Borgarfirthi
Grade: IV
Time: 2 hours
Level: 100cumecs first time - just flowing over Barnafoss
blockage, 70cumecs second.
Rocked drops, sharp rocks, lots of swirlies. Very scenic,
right through the middle of a lava field. You can get in about
2km upstream of the bridge mentioned in the guide just above
another slot rapid typical of those further down. Clive ran
everything except for the rapid where an old bridge has collapsed
into the river, no idea what rebar might be in this one. He
reports no rocks hit but several drops looked horrid from
the bank.
Hvita i Arnessyslu (lower rafted section)
Grade: III(IV)
Time: 2 hours
Level: 400 cumecs
We ran the 6km stretch used by the rafters which starts where
the Icelandic guide suggests you take out. The playwave mentioned
here was completely washed out due to the high level of the
river, so we'd say the guidebook description was written for
a much lower level (i.e. not "high"). The rapid approaching
the bridge was the worst, forming a large whirlpool which
could deal out quite a trashing if gotten wrong. A very scenic
canyon that made a good warm-up.
Tunguflot
Grade: III(IV)
Time: 30 minutes
Level: 30 cumecs (running blue)
Distance: 3km
Access: Turn up the track running river right off the route
35, 4km outside Geysir. Drive 3km upstream until the track
turns away from the river.
Egress: Route 35 road bridge.
One fall of note right after the start which you can see as
you drive up, we ran it down the right. Quite playful and
a little cold.
Hvita i Arnessyslu (Upper section)
Grade: IV+(V)
Time: 5.5hours
Level: 350cumecs (high, see lower section above).
Fantastic drive just to get to the put-in. The Dangleberry
drop is the V, a 5m drop near the start. Isolated and very,
very scenic, lots of big bouncy waves and boils. Beware of
the 2m drop mentioned, this is at the end of a cliffed canyon
section and was unportageble (and difficult to inspect) at
this level. Lots of downtime in the hole at the bottom, although
there was a line on the right. We also ran the lower volume
alternate at the end, the two drops didn't look at all nice
at high levels although the first most likely went.
Jokulsarlon Ice Lake:
Do this. Incredibly pretty and lots of fun paddling around
icebergs. Around 4km to the ice-face, further than it looks
from the road.
Jokulsa a Bru
Grade: IV
Time: 75 minutes
Level: 400 cumecs (but higher than the level for which the
guide is written)
Distance: First 8km (to petrol station)
All big and bouncy, down the middle stuff. Waves big enough
to backloop you. Inspected a couple of bits, one of which
had a great window line at this level. Felt higher than the
level the guide appears to be written for, perhaps washing
out some of the more difficult features ?
Jokulsa a Fjollum
Grade: IV
Time: 3.5hours
Level: 500 cumecs (but again, felt like more than that for
which the guide was written)
Awesome canyon, quite relaxing and very, very scenic. Some
massive waves but line was generally down the middle, with
large boils forming the only real obstacle as there were few
bad holes.
Austari Jokulsa
Grade: IV
Time: 3 hours
Distance: 18km (24km ferry)
Level: 40cumecs (medium)
Not the hardest river in Iceland but perhaps the hardest rafted.
Mainly III with a few harder drops, the hardest a rocky IV+
half of us portaged on the left. Deep, scenic canyon with
lots of playwaves, one great one at the end.
Access: Put on at Skatastathir, where the 758 ends above Bakkaflot.
Take out where the rafters do at Villinganes. Both are on
the left hand bank. |