Suðurá River July 9

From Laugar we decided against backtracking and instead opted to invest the day in checking out the Suðurá River. This was one of the random discoveries I made scouring aerial images before the trip. I do not think it has been on any kayakers' radar and I do not think there is any other river quite like it in Iceland. The river starts from six discrete springs exiting the toe of a young lava flow deep in the highlands that soon merge to form a river. This river then flows over a different young lava flow for over 20km with an initial gradient of 12 ft/mi, eventually building up to 55ft/mi. Because it is spring-fed and flows over the lava it essentially has zero catchment area. The river's base flow likely does not really change (no floods) and the river seems unfit to be able to erode its basaltic bed. Taken together, this river water carries next to zero sediment and is probably the very clearest water I have ever paddled. Of course what most attracted me was the whitewater. The river flows mazelike over the lava as surprisingly shallow flatwater pools linked by short abrupt rapids over lava ledges. Assuming from appearance that virtually all the river's drop was from these rapids, the density suggested that each rapid was on average a 1-2m drop, fun but not scary. In many places the river broke into two or more channels, each with their own rapids, which increased novelty. Everything appeared easy to portage and a 4WD track provided good access along much of the length. Heather was most excited by the river because of the easy scouting and low consequence to the generally short rapids. All this and a good weather forecast prompted us to satisfy our curiosity. 

We drove right past the roaring torrent of Goðafoss and continued on a dirt farm a solid 40km. It was windy but I drone scouted anyway, getting a sense of the more rapid-fire Class IVish lower section- it looked neat! At the farm we discovered that the 4WD track continued as a public road, which certainly improved access. Heather was more interested in the Class IIIish section as so we drove the 4WD road which veered close to the river for several kilometers. At the first sight of a roadside rapid we parked and had a look. The water was so incredibly clear like I had never seen before. The river also surprised me for how shallow it was, uneroded lava outcrops inches beneath the surface on some of the rapids. My enthusiasm waned slightly but in the end it turned out to be not too bad overall. We stopped a couple times to scout the river. Every time we got out of the car we were bombarded by the thickest cloud of flies in all of Iceland. They dive bombed ears, noses, and particularly mouths. We scouted up to the farm bridges about 7km up from the farm gate at Svartárvatn where the road got pretty rutted. I did a dozen point turn and backed down to the top of a long pool section and carefully pulled off the road. We got our gear together and walked a short 2km up the road to sample a stretch of river we were able to more or less scout from the road. 

We inflated and suited as the flies swarmed. The water was cold but clear. Once we got on the water the flies were a little more manageable. I ended up looping around to run the first fun rapid on the left channel twice then we portaged up to run a clean drop on the right channel. After this we had a pretty good feel for the river (not much bite to most of the rapids, shallow rocks to avoid in the pool sections, mostly read-and-run). In the first 2 km we found 10 very runnable rapids to end at the long pool where our car was. 

Heather enjoyed this 2km stretch but was wanted a slower pace scouting many of the rapids I would otherwise read and run. After some deliberation I convinced her to join for some more river since we were here. Yes it had been slow going but we had invested a day into this trip and I wanted to make sure we both ran more than 2km. I creatively strapped the boats to our roof tent using a throw rope and drove 2.5km back down the road, downstream, so that we did not have to paddle a long flat section. We resupplied our snack stock and carried our boats 250m across the low shrubs back to the water. At the first rapid we stopped to scout with the drone, doing my best to remember all the best lines in the upcoming rapids. This section of river had a couple longer multi-part rapids that looked to be fun.

A couple rapids required careful positioning to avoid scrape-y thin portions of rapids, but overall this section was even more enjoyable than the last. The crystal-clear water continued to amaze me. So too did the flies every time we stopped for a brief moment. Looking upriver at the horizon lines was always a neat sight too. We worked our way down: left, left, left, middle, left, then main channel the rest of the way.

The flies!!!

We paddled through about 20 fun rapids over about 3 km, taking out just above a Class IV double drop I would have loved to try with more kayakers in tow. We deflated and desuited as the flies attacked us. On the hike across the lava back to the car the flies were so obnoxious I tied a bandana over my face and struggled to see through the fabric.

I hoped the river would have had a little more bite and that we would have been able to paddle a longer section given the full day investment but at least we were cautious about scouting an unknown river and were deliberate with the sections that we would try out. Once again it was probably a first descent run and we left more to do. I still remain amazed at the water's clarity and uniqueness.

To save time we took our stove and freeze-dried meals to Goðafoss on the way out, prepping dinner as we watched the falls. We drove on to Akureyri, the city in the north where we would camp for the night so that we could get a COVID test in the morning within our final 72 hours in Iceland. Akureyri seemed a pleasant enough city as we drove to the southern outskirts to Hamrar Campground. This one was like no other as we pulled up to the gate to find a lengthy slow line of cars jockeying for entry. Once I got up to the desk and was handed a map I saw why. There were sixteen different camping fields, three lakes, paddle boats, obstacle courses, playgrounds, hiking trails, disc golf course, and so on! It was basically an all-inclusive family escape (and it was a Friday). We found the first small spot we could squeeze our car and took it, leaving the kids to play past midnight.