Well I have recently learned that I do like to write once I'm closing in on the Cmax with my medicine.
Should I write about nightmares I've had?
They are very scary and all bear a similar theme to say.
I would like to write about the true story of a journey around Iceland Route 1 year 2020. Just before going homeless, my grandparents bought new/used and offered to loan me their old car until I was settled down, to return or buy the car from their ownership.
So I agreed to borrow their old car, a Skoda Octavia Station model 2008. The first day I had supervision for the car I looked up the weather forcast and the readings for the entire island were pretty great, low wind and calm with little snowfall here and there.
So I thought to myself It would do me good to take a long drive around Iceland on route 1 which is measly Km 1.322. And out I jumped, exiting the town at exactly 00:00 and drove east.
Driving for the next eight hours was great and the weather forecast was spot on. I saw some reindeers in the eastern part and stopped to try out photographing the car in a nice place which is something that I had never done due to my lack of interest in cars.
Then I picked up the pace and drove through Eigilstaðir being bold on my knowledge how far it was to Mývatn which is where I planned to refill on diesel fuel.
In my memory the hills weren't so steep and i became anxious if I wouldn't make it to the next fueling station, the range meter indicated KM range zero on straight ground so I lowered the speed and used high gear with timing on the throttle aimed at how the landscape laid, low throttle when road was up and a slight throttle when down, this way I managed to reach refueling and filled 55 Liters of Diesel.
I decided to take a short rest on a lookout over Mývatn, my mind was racing unusually high after fearing going out of fuel.
Taking a little rest was necessary and I regained my calm. I took the weather from the spot, wind was picking up and unexpected snowfall from the previous forecast, I read the forecast and looked at the road map with current conditions.
The weather forecast on my phone was nothing like the weather I was experiencing so I believed the weather must have been affected by the location, this was Mývatn after all.
The route I picked was 87 Grímstaðarheiði, conditions described as "Torfært" which I misunderstood as conditions that the car would handle.
Onward I drove, excited for the journey. It didn't take long until I experienced how dangerous a snowblind can be, it wasn't the stunningly bright snow light that you may experience on a bright snowy day but rather more tricky than that as everything vanished into white without any discomfort to the eyes.
I felt a bump from beneath the car and experienced dimming before everything became bright again with visible black asphalt road, I questioned myself ,,what the heck was that?" And drove on and the same happened again.
I began questioning if I was myself or going ill, not in conditions to drive at the time, and became attentive to my current state thinking if I could notice something off.
A short drive just before everything became blinding white I made a sudden stop to see what was going on. It was a 50 meter long dune of white snow with a depth of 40 cm. I thought to myself that I could get over the dune with a little sprint and a good aim, so I made it over, over to find another dune and tried the same trick only to get stuck in the middle of the dune.
I had a snow shovel and the snow was powdery yet firm and a bit deeper than I expected, i cleared a runway backed out and used all the power from the engine to gain speed and clear the dune.
The next dune however was a tough dune that I didn't couldn't pass and became stuck in a dune that was quite a bit deeper and longer than the previous dunes made the decision to go through. Outside I was shoveling the car down to the asphalt where the car was resting on its belly with tires hanging.
Wind was picking and I started to haist my shoveling. I was already feeling warm from the previous dune I had to dig myself out of and did not have winter clothes on except for the jacket that I zipped all the way down due to how warm I was feeling.
I thought I was feeling warm from the activity.
As I was shoveling from under the engine I suddenly noticed my shovel wasn't acting right, my experience at that moment was-
"The shovel must be broken, it won't lift it won't move and it doesn't want to be released from my hands".
I had become disoriented.
Thinking "What is going on? Where do I go inside the car? Where is the car?"
Me, standing centimeters from the bonnet.
Rather confused and grumpy by the shovel I used my knee to force my frozen gloveless palms free of the grip my fingers held and wander around the car as I tried to figure how to enter the car.
I thought to myself “the driver door is where I need to go” I stood outside the door with both arms completely numb from shoulders down and both arms I couldn't move either of due to hypothermia numbing my entire body.
Adrenaline picked up and my mind became clear as I understood the greife danger I was experiencing, if I were to fall down I wouldn't be able to stand up without assistance, being the last of me.
I had to get too warm and time was ticking. I figured if I leaned to the side my other arm would be higher up and I could thrust my frozen palm into the door handle and twist my torso to force the door handle open.
It worked! But the wind was pushing the door closed making it very hard to enter the vehicle, with a bit of struggle leaning on the car for stability i managed to pry open the door with my shoe, and fell down onto the driver's seat, I used my legs to thrust myself completely in the car and kicked the door into the wind making the door shut close.
My cellphone was laying on the passenger seat and the only thing I could think of was “To make aware of my situation”,I was able to use my nose to press the screen and dial 1 1 2 from the locked screen.
Emergency service answered and I told them my conditions and situation.
As I remember it my consciousness was hard to keep and vision became dark at point during the conversation with 1 1 2 emergency service everything became dark and brightening again, I heard emergency service repeating my name a few times asking if I was there with them.
I confirmed I was hearing and the heater was on, at that moment I felt the sharp pain in my limbs unthawing and gaining sensation from the warm air conditioner at high heat. I regained my directions and asked for assistance to confirm my location and where to go.
Emergency service assisted flawlessly and gave me directions and advice to stop In Mývatn or take route 1 to Akureyri to get rest while waiting out the incoming weather.
I said my thanks and would consider my next move before I bid farewell.
Turning around and on the next snow dune there was a family of three stuck in a little car. In the middle of the dune, I stopped to offer assistance and ask, “On what way” they were planning to go? The answer was, “Scenic route”. I informed them of the information and recommendations I had received from the emergency service before assisting and showel them free.
Driving ahead of the smaller car to deepen the track, they followed me to Akureyri.
I refueled and had a gander at the weather forecast and road conditions once again, the forecast was fair, a few meters per second with little snowing, road conditions were icy but nothing of a concern, why were everyone warning me of the weather ?
So I drove onward route 1 to the south, up a mountain road named Öxnadalsheiði in drifting snow, over the top and back down into a Nordic blizzard I have never experienced before, “Fucks Sake” I thought to my self.
The conditions were such, icy road, drifting snow and sudden extreme blizzard with zero visibility cycling to drifting snow and blizzard. Then with visibility and drifting snow car lights were directly in front of me about 20 meters, I swayed hard right to avoid the head on collision, the driver of the opposing car swayed hard HIS Left, (a good decision I later learned by instigating the landscape and the dangerous mountain road,).
By the mercy of deep snow and physics, both of us were now stuck outside the road on to the same shoulder, safely a car length apart.
I exited my car to question if the people in the opposing car were uninjured, no one was harmed thankfully, which is the only thing that matters for cars.
We made a status check to see if we could assist each other to free the cars, suddenly a car appeared stopped and a person asked our conditions, then if we could assist to free a pile-up down hill on the road.
Both of our cars were completely off the road so they were no danger to trafik, and we decided to help and we could use the opportunity and get help back after assisting the group down hill.
Standing out in the blizzard was an experience, black gloves on my hands I held in front of me with straight arms but could not see due to the cycling heavy blizzard, but holding my shovel out I could see a reflection of the metal and took note of that.
A group of people were downhill we meet actively working to free the cars, i showered for what seemed a short moment before I heard incoming traffic from higher up the mountain, I did my best to warn the people about incoming traffic, there was nowhere safe to go beside inside cars for shelter, (Driver educators teach “Do Not Exit Your Vehicle In This Condition”.)
(Being suicidal with little self regard) I was afraid of the people's safety so I decided to hastily jog up against oncoming traffic to do my best to signal that there were troubles and people on the road ahead.
The blizzard switched to drifting snow at a very convenient time a few meters or so from the car series, I managed to be seen by the leading car, signaling my warning to the driver in the leading car of the series and made my way hastily back down to assist again.
The pileup was free and I had a couple of people take a look at my situation, a couple more arrived and we knew I was stuck too deep for us to do anything.
One man told me a snow plow was expected in some time and he could possibly assist me out, I was also given a spare tug rope (Ty my dude.) Thanks and farewell were shared before I was left alone to wait for the plow.
I felt as if an hour had passed and possibly because I was pumped with adrenaline from the action.
Finally the plow arrived, I waved and the driver told If I was quick he would try and pull me up onto the road and if the car was not in driving conditions he would have to push it back to clear the road, I agreed and shared the saying, “Cars are expandable to safety”.
Car was fine and I shared my thanks and bid farewell.
At the next vista park I stopped to do a self check, take a breather and wonder why my weather forcast online was nothing compared to the chaotic weather I was experiencing.
Oh well, onward I drove and arrived on top mountain road named Holtavörðuheiði, there was a large bus, R. front wheels stuck on the shoulder to the right and wind had pushed the back end blocking a lane as well creating a snowdrift piling the left lane, which was to much for my car to pass over.
I exited my car, in winds up to 30 with ghusts in the 50 meters. I walked to the bus and found an the busdriver, half buried under the bus and digging the bus free, due to high wind speech was impossible so I signaled the busdriver to enter the bus with me, My intentions were to make a situation check and help as best as I could.
The busdriver was rather confused and signaled to me the door to the bus wouldn't open for us, me having a little experience but learned a trick or two from working as a bus driver, and the same company as the stranger I just met.
I knew where a button was to open the door, inside communicating with the stranger, I noticed he was already suffering from hypothermia similar to what I experienced earlier that day. The busdriver showed signs he was feeling very warm, disoriented and limbs were thawing painfully from the warmth. A few minutes pass and the busdriver seemed calmer and ready to tackle the current problem,
I asked the bus driver if he didn't have glows on him, he had none so I offered to give him the spare pair I had in the car.
After we made a situation check, he reported to the company the status and our plan to solve this problem.
Plan was to shovel a clear path for wheels on driving axles and pour bags of sand in the tracks. We dug and I carried the bags of sands to set points to make process faster, made a retreat from cold storm into the warmth from the bus, and out again, then at the next recovery, a driver on a truck prepared for glacier trekking stopped by us and signaled to speak, exited the bus to speak to the person, he was offering to tug on the bus to lighten the load.
I relayd to the busdriver and got approval, I was told where the heavy tug was stored before relaying approval to the truck driver and connecting the tug.
Situation solved, and I waved farewell.
Back to my car, I saw Situation was hopeless, and then I was signaled by a driver on the other side of the snow dune, a woman that had been watching and decided to wait and see how situations came to an end, she offered me a ride to Reykjavík, (Ty my dud).
When I arrived in Reykjavík I informed my grandparents of the situation and I was informed by grandpa that emergency service had found the car empty and were making sure that anyone onboard the car were safe, hazard lights indicated to grandpa that I must have left the car on purpose as is, he was rather relaxed when I made contact and reported my situation, located in Reykjavík.
Next I heard the real weather report from grandpa, a nationwide blizzard with all roads closed and snowdrifts scaling two and three meters.
I was stuck in Reykjavík and found myself a hotel to sleep in. The next day I contacted my sister. We decided to go for lunch, and she contacted her friend who ran a towing company. He offered to make the crazy journey to try and recover my car down from the mountain (Ty my dude), a crazy adventure to speak as liked the conditions.
Well equipped, the three of us managed to get up the mountain on all roads closed, we found the car but to our surprise the key to the ignition was not the same key to the door.
So we traveled back down to Borgarnes, a blizzard going stronger we decided to rent cabins and wait the weather off.
Due to leaving the car on Route 1, the road service was informed and requested to drop the car at a car mechanics shop when possible.
The next day a car mechanic had prepared my car for the drive back home, weather was fair and roads were open.
Fuck the annoynce of weatherforcasts was real, but to my best knowledge then everyone I meat and I made it safe.
- VK. 24.
(I could retire and live the calmer life, and still I want the thrill, such is the therapeutic effect of writing the days)
