I enjoyed the morning sun at Lokken beach – having my breakfast there in the van. Left around 10am towards the ferry harbor in Hirtshals. I stopped on the way to fill up the tank a last time before sailing to Iceland. Also used the opportunity with Wifi to update the blog.
Finding the ferry terminal was really easy – Hirtshals has a small harbor and following the Smyriline signs took me to the checkin. I was there around 12pm with the ferry scheduled to leave at 3pm. In my queue, cars with height between 1.9m and 2.5m were other vans and some offroad vehicles. I got into chatting with some other drivers during the wait. Parking on the ferry with mirrors folded up was so tight that I had trouble to get our the van with my pack.
On the ferry, I met again some of the drivers – Herbert, a retired German guy traveling with his wife in a restored G class Mercedes with corresponding offroad trailer. He plans to leave the car on Iceland for a year or two and will fly in and out for his trips. He is a world traveler – and has another G class parked in Mongolia waiting for the next trips there in Asia.
James, a British guy traveling with a old Landrover. He is visiting for six weeks – as a professional sailor, he has this time now. He has been transferring sailing yachts all over the world – including a recent trip from Iceland to Norway by sailing boat.
And there is Luise, a German girl traveling with her restored VW T4 for two months in Iceland.
Had my pre booked dinner at 6pm – after realizing that the ship’s time is already on Iceland time, i.e. one timezone to the West. Went for the movie theatre at 8.30pm – finally a chance to see Bohemian Rhapsody. Great movie. The ship increased its rolling in the waves towards the evening – it was a kind of special effects for the movie.
Went to bed around 11pm – not easy to fall asleep since I was rolling back and forth in the bunkbed. Looking forward to tomorrow – a whole day at sea.
I headed out not too late and passed trough the rest of Northern Germany quickly. Stopped in Schleswig-Holstein, the most Northern state, in the little village Fleckeby where I grew up.
When they write plattdeutsch (local dialect) on the signs… you know you are really North 🙂
That was also an opportunity to give it a try with the drone – thank you Lars for borrowing this gadget!
This is the low resolution video that is captured directly on the phone during flight. Not too spectacular, but I am excited to try this in Iceland vastness.
I continued through Denmark to the town of Løkken at the sea.
Tomorrow is just about 1h drive left to the ferry terminal.
Since I returned from the trip through Spain and Portugal, I have been looking forward to the next journey. The idea has been growing to discover Iceland – right now, at the end of winter. I will be driving about 1200km to Hirtshals in Denmark and take the ferry from there to Iceland. I plan to drive the ring road around the Island. I expect wide and open landscapes, lots of snowy hills and mountains, glaciers, waterfalls… and of course hotpots to soak in!
I left around 2pm, made good progress driving North through Germany. I made about 500km until 7pm. Found a nice remote spot for the van next to a small lake for the night.
Checking the Iceland weather on their very useful Vegagerdin app, the road conditions have turned bad within the last hours.
Evening
Lunch
The red roads are closed for traffic due to weather conditions. While it is normal that the mountain roads in the middle of the island are closed in winter, the once marked with the yellow bubble are actually part of the popular ring road.
I am really excited to see how the weather turns out once I arrive in Iceland. The ferry going via Faroer Islands is nearly a 3 days trip.
My original plan was to get a motorbike in Portland and ride it all the way down to Los Angeles, following the resupply towns along the Pacific Crest Trail. With the expected rent for a Harley Davidson Sportster 900 for 10 days coming close to 2000USD from EagleRider, I decided against it and went for a road trip by car. Weather proved me right. And Tinkle decided to join spontaneously – her Canada road trip couldn’t happen without the driving license left at home. So part of the tramily (trail family) could spend ten more days on the PCT. 🙂
Oct 1st.
Picked up car at 3pm at Portland airport after doing some clothes shopping in the shopping center there. We drove up to Cascade Locks – crossing the famous Bridge of the Gods by car this time.
Oct 2nd.
Timberline Lodge
Go up early enough to make it to Timberline Lodge – to have the amazing breakfast buffet one more time. Driving up to the lodge at 6000 feet showed me that it was a good decision to go by car instead of motorbike. Very foggy and rain drizzling.
The drive to Bend, OR turned out to be very beautiful. Oregon’s flat fields was something I saw the first time. The trail had led us mainly through forests and the lava fields.
We stayed in Bend. Thai food for dinner and movies.
Oct 3rd.
Started in Bend after a late breakfast. Quite nice if you don’t have to do 20 miles hiking where getting up with first light is necessary. First stop was Elk Lake, taking a nice scenic road towards Shelter Cove, a resupply stop we had visited Aug 16. At that time, lots of hikers had been hanging out in front of the store. The PCT tent was full with hikers as were the hiker boxes there. Now, Shelter Cove was more or less deserted…
Next stop was Crater Lake. When we came here first Aug 13 hiking the PCT, we were worried about the smoke from the forest fires. This time, clouds and rain were changing the views…
We came into Ashland around 7pm. Dinner at Sauce, a vegetarian restaurant we had visited during our last stay in Ashland together with Crumbs.
Oct 4th.
Shopping in the morning in Medford near Ashland. It is so nice to browse outdoor shops – this time REI. Finally got myself a PCT T-shirt. Had an In-n-Out burger. Left around 2pm towards Seiad Valley. Driving small roads, looking for a campground, following the beautiful Scott River road. Just before campground, we saw a small black bear crossing the street. Bear sighting number 4 after three sightings during the hike. It made the camping at night time exciting again.
Oct 5th.
Started from Campground. Picked up coffee at Starbucks in Yreka. My favorite Dunsmuir Cornerstone Cafe for late breakfast/lunch. Visited Burney Falls. Old Station to take gas. Hat Creek Rim Scenic View point. Passed through Chester – I had spent here several days during my thruhike recovering from a flu. Stayed in Quincy.
Oct 6th.
Heading on towards South Lake Tahoe. Quick stop at Donner Pass. Remembering the long day that we had hiking into Donner Pass. Driven by a liter free beer, we walked until late. And the marketing worked. When we had finished the beer, it was dark and the legs were heavy – so we stayed in the hostel next door which is conveniently owned by the bar owner.
Came to South Lake Tahoe at 14h. Made it to the post office just before closing time to picked up my replaced Darntough socks. A few words about socks: Many people hiked with toe socks from Injinji. As popular for normal socks are Darntough socks with their lifelong replacement warranty. I had to replace my two pairs three times during hike due to wear / holes in them. So I am not too impressed about their durability.
Oct 7th.
Some more browsing in outdoor shops in South Lake Tahoe. The city was so full that it turned out difficult to find a place for breakfast – finally accepted a waiting time of 30min. Our next stop just outside town was Echo Lake – Tinkle wanted to get a hat for Mermaid. The general store there was already closed for the season. Continued on to Sonora Pass. Getting back into the Sierra, the views were amazing. We had a picnic stop in the afternoon before we drove on to Mammoth Lakes.
Oct 8th.
We checked out the Mammoth Mountaineering Supply shop – so nice to browse in outdoor shops. Enjoyed coffee and Wifi at the Looney bean coffee shop. Then up into the mountains towards Red’s Meadow. Went for a walk around Devil’s Postpile – that section had been full of smoke when we were hiking.
Drove on into Bishop. Getting into Bishop while hiking the PCT had been more strenuous – we had to go over Kearsage pass to Onion Valley campground and hitchhike from there. Extra 7.5 miles each way for the necessary resupply.
Oct 9th.
Checked Eastside sports shop in Bishop – did I mention that it is nice to hang out in outdoor shops? Went to Schat’s bakery, got some cinnamon rolls.|
We picked up a hitchhiker, Alex from France on the way to Onion Valley Campground, above Independence. The views on the Sierra got nicer and nicer – difficult not to miss hiking in the mountains. Next stop was Kennedy Meadows – the gateway into the Sierra. Continued on to Lake Isabella. Dinner at Nelda’s. Stayed in Paradise Cove Lodge outside Lake Isabella – after checking the Hobo campground :-p – unfortunately closed.
Oct 10th.
Near Cajon Pass
Did some food shopping in Vons in Lake Isabella plus coffee from Starbucks. Took a small canyon road towards Tehachapi. Drove on to Cajon pass to visit the McDonalds there. A popular stop for thruhikers. I had probably never used the free refill that much before. But right after Cajon pass was a possible 20 miles stretch without water – who says you should not hydrate on soft drinks? This time – diet soda only.
Oct 11th.
Driving to LA. We returned the rental. I decided to hang out in Venice at the Samesun hostel for a couple of days. Enough time to decide what to do with my remaining time in the US. Tinkle took the Amtrak to Seattle.
Venice Beach
The road trip was good. It was nice to see some of the places again that we had hiked through during the last 5 months. I had mostly happy moments on the road trip. Coming back into the Sierra was maybe the most touching moment for me. It is clearly my favorite section. So many good memories in this remote part of the Pacific Crest Trail / John Muir Trail.
On the road trip I lost some tears here – during my through hike, I surely lost my heart.
Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere.
And sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.
Hiking the PCT meant freedom and new encounters every day. I got used to beautiful sunsets, landscapes that take your breath away. It was a pleasure to meet all these amazing people on trail – especially Cactass, Tinkle and Spirit Kick.
Thanks to my family, friends and former colleagues for their support and encouragement during the last months.
The last two weeks in Washington were the biggest challenge during the hike. We got soaked in heavy rain several times (where also my phone died), had snow several times. We were at a point to turn back and leave the trail due to the weather and limited food. But the weather changed and the sun dried our gear and motivated us to push on.
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin”
PS: I will be updating the blog for the missing weeks in Washington with amazing photos during the next days…
The world is big 