The Breiðavík Loop
Borgarfjörður eystri is an interesting place to mountain bike right now. There are no official mountain biking trails (we’re trying to change that) so most of our riding experience here now is centered on riding access roads, old national trails and unsanctioned hiking trails. Now, we don’t directly support riding on busy hiking trails, but beggars can’t be choosers and the trails that we’ve found here that are at all rideable aren’t busy. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find another person that is even on the same mountain.
During a particularly cloudy day in July, my wife and I decided to explore the mountain road that leads into the deserted inlet of Breiðavík. Getting to Breiðavík on a bike was an interesting challenge, as I had only ever gone there by car. The way is a rarely used double track which is quite rough in places and is only bridged over the largest rivers, and the first leg of the journey requires climbing to about 500 meters from sea level in a short distance to get over Mt. Gagnheiði. Some of the track is a bit too steep for us to climb on our bikes so we got off and hiked for parts of it. When we got to the summit of Gagnheiði, the skies parted and we were greeted with amazing views of the Breiðavík valley and inlet, along with the shining sea beyond the shores, and back toward Borgarfjörður eystri and the amazing Mt. Dyrfjöll.
The descent down was quick, and the track is steep. Starting with some switchbacks down the steepest part of the mountain, and then gradually evening out as we got closer to the Breiðavík wilderness cabin. There it is possible to stay for the night and it is usually where the first night of the Víknaslóðir Wilderness Trek is spent. Not far from there is a black sand beach, where absolutely nothing can be heard except for crashing waves and the occasional squawking of seagulls. Dotted around the black sand are polished pebbles of rhyolite rock in vibrant colours of yellow, orange, red, green and blue.
Continuing on, we crossed the river and followed the trail due south, into the lush Breiðavík valley. We were surrounded by rhyolite mountains.The trail keeps to the side of Mt. Hvítafjall, an enormous mound of white and gray rhyolite shale. As we went further and further into the valley, we noticed more and more waterfalls around us. Before we knew it we had lost count of all of the little streams and falls that were coming down the valley sides. As we came into the valley bottom we crossed a creek that had swelled from rain that fell in the days prior. It was too big to ride through, so we had to take our shoes and socks off and wade through. This was the only major unbridged river crossing, so it wasn’t too bad.
As we climbed, the vegetation became more arid and our surroundings changed. The ground became bare and we started seeing more shale rock and scree fields. Above us loomed the peaks of Hvítserkur and Leirfjall, with steep cliff faces turned our way. A short while later we started seeing the twin lakes of Gæsavötn, alpine reservoirs for the flowing rivers below and behind us. As we ascended to the top of our route, we were greeted with a sweeping vista of the innermost areas of the Borgarfjörður eystri valleys. Views of the nearby lake Urðarvatn, rhyolite hills and curious looking rocks, The majestic Dyrfjöll massif, mountains and valleys to the south and the winding road down towards the Borgarfjörður eystri valley. It was mostly downhill from here.
As a side note, it is possible to climb further up to the top of Húsavíkurheiði mountain pass, where you’ll be greeted by amazing views of the south face of Mt. Hvítserkur and down into the deserted Húsavík inlet. Hvítserkur is one of the oldest mountains in Iceland, with some zirkonium minerals having been dated between 130 and 240 million years old! Considering that most of Iceland is less than 10 million years old, it’s a discrepancy that still leaves geologists scratching their heads.
As we descended down towards Borgarfjörður eystri valley we were greeted with the familiar sight of the Dyrfjöll massif towering over us. We passed by the Mr. Sandman trailhead and opted to not go up there, as we had biked about 25 kilometers at that point and were eager to get back to town and have a beer or two. The road back was easy, flat and wide but we still enjoyed the ride listening to bird calls and sheep baahs. Before we knew it we were back in town enjoying beers on the patio.