Frag Out! Magazine

then i entered gravel spaces, wad- ing in sand dunes, then i went into volcanic labyrinths. every now and again i found wide sheep which fled from me in panic. my fear started to vanish, fatigue became my friend, and pain my company, since each day i felt pain somewhere else – feet, knees, tib- ias, calves, a toe. this day i walked more than 45km. my destination was an evacuation cottage (a small building for 6-8 persons) situated on the fringes of the odadahraun desert. then i felt something what is called one of the visiting cards of iceland – a distance to the des- tination which you see on the horizon, and you walk towards it all the day long. in my case it was a huge, powerful mountain. A slowly changing image of its vol- ume was horribly overwhelming. you walk and walk, and there is no end. suddenly, you must turn from the straight trail because you enter the areas of molten rock, a route becomes tortuous, a river appears on it, you must cross it, and so on. A fight with monotony, boredom, inconvenience and stomach rum- bles all the time. After this day i be- came richer in new experiences. i stepped in the odadahraun desert. i had known this picture before only from movies – large gravel and rock dunes, giant mag- ma forms once flowed from Askja. on my way appeared first signs of snow. i chose this route despite a caution against danger connect- ed with a large amount of snow around Askja volcano. As is turned out – the first contacts with this element were no so fearsome. between a cottage in botni and Askija volcano there was no way to found any river, and i had only 3 litres of water. the first hills to overcome. the dunes, on which i walked, resem- bled our hills, but had a different colour. An aura was also different: rain, light wind, getting wet for the first time. i overcame hills from 100 up to 300m, every now and again, up and down. monotonous and tiresome. weather also provided some contribution. not far away from Askija volcano there were another evacuation cottage, al- though smaller than those which i had seen in botni. in the vicinity, on my map was marked a river. A feeling of joy that i will find water was so enormous that i drank a lot more than i was supposed to. walking under Askija volcano, i had an impression, that a landscape re- sembled ominous mountains with a fortress situated within their bor- ders. in the site where a river was supposed to be i found a dried riv- erbed surrounded by large snow ridges. i counted for fresh water, but water means strengths, a life, a joy. it was a pleasure to drink half a litre at one time, and knew that it was in abundance. the next experience: you are not sure if you can find water. drink less, but do not deny yourself. water is your fuel. EXTREME

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