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So, our first ride of the day is going to be about 4 hours straight up into the mountains of Thorsmork to see the backcountry. This ride is being led by none other than Mummi himself. His real name is Goodmunder or something like that. Since we had trouble with the real name and some of us thought it sounded more like Goodmother, we figured Mummi works just fine. Mummi is the owner of the farm, Skalakot, we are staying at and very knowledgeable of the area since he grew up here. I can't say enough about how awesome the views are as we climb up the mountain. About an hour and a half into the ride, Geri makes the wise decision to turn back and save her aching hip for another ride. No sense in getting so worn out that you miss the rest of the day. One of our guides headed back to the cabins with her. The climbs here are steep and the horses have their work cut out for them. The down slopes are also pretty treacherous but our horses handle it all darn well. They are pretty sure footed and made for this terrain.
Mummi did a great job telling stories of the area and even told us a funny story that had us laughing. The story is about a criminal on the run who hid out in some caves Mummi showed us. I guess his pursuers thought they would outlast him instead of going into the caves after him. They figured he would run out of food soon. After three days, the criminal threw out a leg of lamb (which he had stolen) and yelled at his pursuers that he didn’t want them to go hungry since he had plenty. The pursuers believed he really had plenty of food and left. Turns out the piece of lamb he threw out was his last piece and once the pursuers left, he escaped and was never caught.
We saw land where there was nothing but dirt and other places that were being reclaimed. Mummi told us that he was part owner of thirty thousand hectares here and that he and the other owners come up with tons of fertilizer and spread it in hopes of getting grass or something else to grow. Eventually, they will be able to feed their sheep here. Our walking encyclopedia, Monica was quick when we asked what a hectare was and told us it is equal to two and a half acres. She reads a lot so she answered a lot of other questions from memory so hence, the walking encyclopedia! All in good nature, I really enjoyed getting the facts when she had them! We made our way back, slowly downhill, to Thorsmork for lunch and enjoyed some awesome food at the restaurant.
Since I am talking about what grows here, I should take this opportunity for a little education here. It seems they figured out you can grow great tomatoes in greenhouses here in Iceland and then decided to grow other things. Every food item grown here is grown in a greenhouse! After experiencing the weather and terrain here, I can understand why. Also, the only trees growing in Iceland have been planted by the people here. Back in the early days of whaling, they used firewood to render the fat from whales for oil for lamps and such. They had such a need for firewood, they ended up deforesting the entire country. They now have programs where students go out and plant trees and people do on their property as well. I thought the trees growing in neat rows were kind of weird till I learned this bit of trivia!
Right after lunch we walked around a bit and saw this cute little girl with a bucket feeding the horses. Someone said she was the cook’s daughter. She had picked grass and filled a small bucket which she then brought to the horses to eat. I think she was afraid to hand feed them so she would let the horses take turns pulling a little bit of grass out of her bucket at a time. She was having a great time doing this.
Ride two of the day is to see a secluded canyon that promises to be great. This ride should be about two to three hours long and mostly flat. To get to the canyon, we have to cross a deep river, the deepest we have had to deal with yet but we are going! My horse stumbled a bit going across and I thought I was going in the water. Luckily, I grabbed hold of his mane and the front of the saddle to stay on. We made it into the canyon and man was it worth the ride. We took a few pictures at the end of the canyon and drank some water right off the waterfall. The water was delicious! One of the ladies said she would not drink, as even though they have no beavers, she did not want to risk getting sick. That’s when we found out that the water we are getting back at the farm is straight out of a stream that goes right by there. No filtering or anything! They are really confident in the cleanliness of their water.
A little more sightseeing in the beautiful canyon and back to a deep river crossing to get back to Thorsmork. On our way out of the canyon, Nancy and her horse went up an embankment and along the hill to get over a ways. I chose to follow but when we got on the embankment, the back end of the embankment started to collapse. I could feel my horse’s back feet stepping quickly for a foothold. Luckily, he got enough of a foothold to move us to a sturdier position. In the process he made me look like I knew what I was doing! Survived that little scare and off to the river crossing. Well, half our group made the crossing when our second guide decided there must be a better place to cross. We worked our way down river and found a spot she thought might be shallower. She was wrong and we got wet anyway. No worse than we would have gotten at the first crossing but it was worth a try. I don’t care at this point because I am really enjoying the ride.
Another great dinner and drinks for us. At this point, we find out that the hairy massage guy has offered our pretty young female guides a free half hour massage. We later learned from Mummi that the massage guy had approached him a while back asking that he refer his guests for massages. Mummi told him that if he gave the guides a free massage, they would probably talk it up to us. Well, these are young girls and one in particular, Karolina, is pretty shy and easy to blush. Siri, the definitive leader convinced Karolina to be first for the massage, which the guy did at a big tent he has out front. This of course provided ammo for the rest of us to tease them about why they got invited back to his tent while everybody else got their massage out in the open.
All three girls got a massage but we about died laughing hearing about it. Every time we brought it up, Karolina would blush! We asked her how it was and she said it was weird and uncomfortable being touched by a strange man. I guess all the girls had a similar experience and said that at one point, the guy reached down and pulled their pants down a bit with a jerk and without warning to massage the upper part of the glutes. Not having experience with massages, they got a little weirded out and this made for even more laughter from us. I told them I get massages and that they should enjoy it and not be so self-conscious because it feels great. The next morning at breakfast, we asked Karolina again about her massage and she instantly blushed and said "I think I’m pregnant!"
More great company and conversation then off to bed. Tomorrow we take the herd back to the farm!
Details on the photos:
Pic 1 - Breakfast
Let's keep it simple and nutritious! I should point out that the gelatinous stuff in back is eggs and cheese. Odd texture but real good!
Pic 2 - Volcano Huts
Our accommodations for the next couple of days.
Pic 3 - Mummi
That's Mummi in front telling us about the ride we are about to go on.
Pic 4 - Mountains Views
I think that's Nancy.
Pic 5 - Mountains Views
I think that's Tatiana on he left.
Pic 6 - Mountains Views
From Left: Tatianna, Siri, Mummie, hand raised, Tammy, and Dar.
Pic 7 - Mountains Views
From left: Geri, Elaine, Monica, Tim, and Arnold.
Pic 8 - Mountains Views
Geri trying to get out of frame!
Pic 9 - Mountains Views
Wow!
Pic 10 - Mountains Views
Working our way through the mountains.
Pic 11 - Story Time
Mummi telling us a story about a criminal on the run.
Pic 12 - Time for a Break
This is hard work after all!
Pic 13 - Mountains Views
Pic 14 - Mountains Views
Pic 15 - On the Trail
Geri, Tammy, and I think Dar in the tree.
Pic 16 - Mountains Views
Pic 17 - Mountains Views
Pic 18 - Mountains Views
Pic 19 - Mountains Views
Pic 20 - Mountains Views
Pic 21 - Riding On
Arnold, Mummi, Tim, and Lee with his back to us.
Pic 22 - River
No shortage of rivers here.
Pic 23 - River
Pic 24 - River
Pic 25 - The Walk of Shame
This is what it looks like when you have to run for a bush!
Pic 26 - Smart Man
Lee was the only one to think ahead and bring a flask of rum. Luckily he is generous and shared. Good stuff!
Pic 27 - My Boy
Keflavik, the best horse n the world!
Pic 28 - Hiding from the Wind
Just me and Keflavik trying to stay out of the wind.
Pic 29 - Keep on Trudging
Pic 30 - More Views
Pic 31 - More Views
Pic 32 - More Views
Pic 33 - More Views
Pic 34 - Story Time Again
Mummi telling us more stories about the area and legends.
Pic 35 - Happy Rider
That's Tammy and her happy look!
Pic 36 - Little Girl
Oops, that is a bowl and not a bucket like I thought. She had a great time feeding the horses grass she gathered.
Pic 37 - Open Grazing
The horses wander freely on the lodge grounds between the tens and anywhere they want to go.
Pic 38 - Open Grazing
Pic 39 - Open Grazing
Pic 40 - Open Grazing
Pic 41 - Open Grazing
Pic 42 - Open Grazing
Pic 43 - Bikes Galore
After riding some of this country, I know these guys are crazy riding bikes here. Super wide tires on them though.
Pic 44 - Lunch
Delicious bowl of meat soup and salad. In other words, it's lamb soup!
Pic 45 - Helicopter Rides
Coming and going with tourists too lazy to ride!
Pic 46 - Helicopter Rides
Pic 47 - Horses on rest till the Next Ride!
Pic 48 - Riding into the Canyon
Tammy shot this video as we entered a canyon on our second ride of the day.
Pic 49 - In the Canyon
Pic 50 - In the Canyon
Pic 51 - In the Canyon
Reached the waterfall at the end of the canyon.
Pic 52 - Waterfall
Crystal clear, clean water at he waterfall. All you can drink!
Pic 53 - Exploring
Here we are all going to explore the waterfall. Some people tried to stay dry. I walked into the stream. Heck, I'm already wet anyway from crossing the river!
Pic 54 - In the Canyon
Pic 55 - In the Canyon
Still snow here!
Pic 56 - In the Canyon
Not enough sun in the canyon to melt all the snow!
Pic 57 - Water
That's Tammy having some of that awesome clean water!
Pic 58 - In the Canyon
Tammy and I in a quick pose!
Pic 59 - Heading Back
Gotta go back sooner or later, I guess.
Pic 60 - Heading Back
Nancy, Lee, Siri, and not sure who that is on the right.
Pic 61 - Flag
This is what the Icelandic flag looks like.
Pic 62 - Volcano Hut
Back at our Volcano hut with Tammy and Dar who couldn't wait to get her boots off! This place is tiny and four of us will be in here for a couple of nights!
Pic 63 - Volcano Hut
Smallest kitchen ever!
Pic 64 - Volcano Hut
This is actually supposed to hold five people? No room to maneuver much in here!
Pic 65 - Little Girl
She feeds and pets the horses every chance she gets!
Pic 66 - Viking Beer
When in Viking Land, do as the Vikings and enjoy the local grog!
Pic 67 - Dinner
What a spread! Lamb, fish, and potatoes. Yes, I forgot the veggies on purpose!
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