Island Day 8
I woke up as rested as I could be, given the previous night's aborted party events. Once again the sky looked quite ominous, but the weather here changes every 5 minutes, so I was not worried. I had breakfast and sat in the lobby waiting to be picked up.
When the mountainguide.is guy walked in it was clear that he was from a different tour than all the other tour operators. Everyone else looks nice -- nice pants nice shoes and some sort of branded shirt/sweater/jacket. This guy looked ready to go hiking -- decked out in 66 North (the local cold weather gear company) gear and good hiking boots. He had no trouble picking me out of the crowd of people in the lobby -- we were the only two ready to brave the elements.
Then he starts telling me about the conditions of the ridge we'd be hiking along. His face gets long, he talks slow and you could see the honest disappointment on his face (and I'm sure on mine as well) as he tells me that my 70% rain proof coverage on my body was not enough. I would be soaked and miserable in 5 minutes time. He says that last time they decided to go in these conditions and their customer insistent on going, the encountered mud up to their waits and the guides and the customer hated every minute of it.
True to Islandic fashion, I would have to be the one to cancel the trip. He wasn't going to cancel it, but he was very clearly painting a dour picture in hopes that I would cave in. And if there is one thing I have learned in my travels, its to listen to the locals. Especially in an unpredictable and dangerous country like Island! So, it was clear this was going to be a wash. He apologized profusely in what may be the most earnest apology I have ever gotten from anyone what was not friend or family. He knew he was making me unhappy, and that was making him unhappy.
I returned to my room to regroup. This was the one hike I was most looking forward to. This hike was going to be the quintessential Island experience for someone who is based in Reykjavik. I was nearly in tears and quite frustrated with this set-back. I got back into my pajamas, hung out the do not disturb sign and went back to bed.
When I woke up, it stopped raining. I went for yet another walk around Reykjavik and signed up for a sissy-ass hike the next day. Seeing something, even if it was sissy, was better than staying in the hotel room. Then I kept walking and got bored, so I went back to the hotel and loaded up on the expensive net connection again. I proceeded to surf the net for a few hours and then went to bed.