To Raft or not to Raft?

So, we’re going to Iceland, in June for about 10 days… what to do?

At the very beginning of our planning process, various modes of transport were thrown around – sea kayaking, walking, road cycling, mountain biking, skiing…? All these potential ideas were promptly shutdown when Amiee suddenly appeared with her inspired idea: pack rafting! We were all almost immediately sold – what better way to explore the varied terrain and river filled interior of the Icelandic Highlands than by being able to walk when the walking is good and paddle when the paddling is good!

So what exactly is pack rafting, I hear you cry? Well, essentially, like some sort of semi-aquatic tortoise, not only will we carry our homes on our backs (tents) we will also carry our boats! Pack rafts are small, lightweight, inflatable crafts which fit into your pack and allow you to hop onto the water, run a river or cross a loch with (supposed) ease.

This Video by the Adventure Show gives you a pretty good snapshot of what pack rafting is all about:

Adventure Show, Packrafting Northwest Scotland from Backcountrybiking.co.uk

And below is a video by Alastair Humphreys of his own pack rafting trip across Iceland in 2011.

For more info and a sneak peak into what we might experience in June 2018 here’s a link to Alastair’s website! http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/transiceland/

Looking at videos and blogs like these only served to make us even more excited for the expedition and also gave us hope this could be possible. Of course we still had some way to go before we knew for sure if our expedition proposal would get the green light…

Jenny.