Waterproof Shoes

I left the south of Iceland behind and made my way to the eastern fjords. I don't typically enjoy driving but in Iceland the views are so breathtaking that I haven't minded too much. As I headed north, along the east coast of Iceland I found myself gazing at waterfall marked cliffs on the left, snow-capped mountains in the distance and the ocean or fjords on my right. I spent most of the day driving with occasional photo stops along the way. Eventually I had to drive inland before heading back to the coast over a sore covered pass to the town of Seydisfjordur.

After an evening spent watching the Germany vs Algeria world cup match with a German couple (needless to say, they were quite happy with the result). I enjoyed a great night sleep (first one without walking up in the middle of the night confused by the bright day outside). I read about a nice day home in the Lonely Planet and decided to check it out.

First, I swung by the information center to confirm the route, then by the grocery store for a sandwich, then I was on my way. It started off easy enough, following a dirty road along a river. But soon it became a little more difficult to navigate. every so often, the path was marked with yellow posts, so whenever i was unsure i looked around for the next one.  What i didn't realize, was that these posts were leading right into the middle of a very wet and muddy marshland.  It only took one wrong step before my foot sunk into the water and first one, then both shoes. It was at this point I really regretted not buying waterproof hiking shoes.  I considered turning around at this point, but didn't think it could get worse. I continued following the marked path through more mud, crossing small streams further up the trail. 

All of this was supposed to take me to a frozen lake where I planned to sit and eat lunch.  Instead, I must have taken a wrong turn and found myself heading in the direction that I came from. After searching for another yellow post marking the trail, i gave and decided that this was fate and so I headed back to a small footbridge that crossed the river devising that this world be a good place for lunch and to attempt to dry of my socks and shoes a bit. While sitting and eating, two other hikers passed me going in a different direction altogether. I considered following them to see if they found their way to the frozen lake, but once I put my wet shoes and socks back on, I decided that this was a bad idea. My feet were frozen and the wind was picking up, so I headed back to town to dry off and clean up.