- 2 days ago
The Forgotten Coast
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:25How's the day?
00:30We did a crossing that if Dune wasn't there, I would never have done it in a million years.
00:55Ten years ago, I witnessed Iceland's massive glacial rivers from above for the first time.
01:02I guess you could say that in that moment, the seed was sown and I was obsessed.
01:12There's something so captivating about looking down on these river systems that I spent the
01:16next decade capturing and documenting their beauty from the sky.
01:25It wasn't until about two years ago that I was driving back from Iceland's east fjords
01:29that the idea finally hit.
01:32Would it be possible to cross this remote stretch of coast on my bike, unsupported, in order
01:38to get up close and personal with these rivers?
01:40What would it be like to experience them on the ground level?
01:47I spent the next year poring over maps, talking to locals, and most importantly, learning
01:52how to raft, the key ingredient to this crazy expedition.
01:56The obstacles to do this were massive.
01:58But like most things with me, once the idea is planted in my head, it's pretty hard to
02:03get rid of it.
02:28What do you think?
02:30I mean, I'm excited.
02:32I'm not less scared, but I'm definitely trying to release a little bit of this stress.
02:39I mean, we're standing at the very eastern terminus of the route.
02:44I think I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight because I'm going to be thinking about
02:46it so much.
02:47I just want to go right now.
02:51This part of the world is fabled.
02:55It's home to some of the most remote stretches of Black Sand Beach in the world.
02:59And the environment is extremely dangerous.
03:02Atlantic storms have claimed countless ships and sailors' lives along the southern coast
03:06of Iceland.
03:08After hearing so much about the shipwrecks and deaths here, it was easily the most daunting
03:12part of the trip.
03:13On top of that, our route was intersected by nearly 40 rivers.
03:17We would need to cross them, and those crossings would be our biggest crux.
03:22While I had done many bike expeditions in harsh conditions, doing something like this seemed
03:27nearly impossible and terrifying.
03:31So I reached out to the one person who had the experience to tackle something just like
03:35this, Steve Fassbender, aka Doom.
03:40In some way, riding with Doom was something I've always dreamt of.
03:43A rite of passage, basically.
03:44You know, that experience of being with somebody who knows and has seen so much.
03:49He's an absolute legend.
03:51Highly experienced in both bikepacking and rafting disciplines.
03:54And the way he reads water, it's unlike anything I've ever seen.
04:00We've been on countless trips to Alaska, Pakistan, Tajikistan, South America.
04:04You name it.
04:05Endless.
04:07This guy has packed his bike in every way possible.
04:10Even on the back of a llama.
04:13Cam, how we feeling, buddy?
04:14Good.
04:16You guys ready?
04:17Yeah.
04:19Also joining us would be Cameron Lawson.
04:21A legend in his own right.
04:23An adventure photographer and Alaskan bush pilot who had some bike grafting under his belt, too.
04:29He bike-rafted the Lost Coast of Alaska, and also floated 200 miles of the Yukon River.
04:34And it made sense that he would round out the crew.
04:46We're about to leave, which is like a long time coming.
04:49Ready for the first thing to go wrong, I guess.
04:52Just wait for it.
04:54Start of a very big day.
04:55As the plan came together, I knew I wanted to capture this story.
04:59But it would be a huge challenge.
05:04So I put out a few calls to people I knew in the area, and enlisted my friend, Siggy.
05:10Siggy grew up on the southern coast, and knew the area like the back of his hand, which would be
05:14critical for the mission.
05:17Also joining the production crew were photographers Ryan Hill and Jeremy Bishop, as well as filmmaker Brian Davis.
05:23We established a series of meeting places along the route.
05:27At a few instances where our route would meet up with roads or towns.
05:31This would be Vestrahorn, a super scenic mountain peak on the ocean in the east.
05:35Yukolsodon, the glacial lagoon where large chunks of ice break from Iceland's biggest glacier and flow into the ocean.
05:43Vik, a quaint town along a long stretch of black sand beach.
05:48And ultimately culminating in the crown jewel, the Thorsau River.
05:52Many of the rivers we'd be crossing were gems in their own right, cutting and winding their way through stunning
05:57landscapes and showing off strands and fans of glacial sediment.
06:01But of all the rivers, the Thorsau River stands out without question.
06:06It's Iceland's biggest river, and it also happens to be glacial water.
06:10The colors in this river are the most vibrant and stunning of all.
06:13This is the river that first captured my attention.
06:16The true reason why this project came to life in the first place.
06:20And it just so happened to be at the very end of our very long route.
06:25But with so many dangerous river crossings between here and there, I wasn't actually sure we'd make it to the
06:30Thorsau at all.
06:39So what is bike rafting?
06:44Essentially, it's the process of packing an inflatable raft on your bike to allow you to cross bodies of water.
06:52First, you break down your bike.
06:56Then you inflate your raft.
06:59Put your half-assembled bike onto the raft.
07:02Basically on the nose, balancing out the weight of the raft.
07:08Then you ride the river, send it over waterfalls, or whatever you need to do.
07:13We're about to attempt our first crossing.
07:18In our case, we use the pack raft as a tool to explore and move through these massive river systems
07:23and other bodies of water.
07:25Some being 30 feet across, some being thousands of feet across.
07:28Some are rocky, some are fast.
07:30Some have different types of bottoms.
07:32Some have steep, scary banks.
07:34Easily the scariest thing has to do with wind on the water.
07:37Because you have no keel or fin or any kind of control.
07:40You're getting pushed around everywhere, sideways, even backwards at times.
07:44And you don't know what you're going to encounter on the other side.
07:48I'd say the most dangerous thing, the biggest challenge really, are trying to avoid the river mouse.
07:52River mouse are kind of like the death zone.
07:54It's where there's surf, there's waves, and everything speeds up and surges into this chaotic system.
07:59It's creating sleeper waves, undertow, and all kinds of hidden dangers.
08:04We tried to avoid that at all costs.
08:08So bike rafting is pretty simple in theory, but when you start to do it, it becomes complicated fast.
08:14When you're thinking about crossing 41 rivers, you're basically inflating and deflating that raft and breaking down your bike 82
08:21times.
08:22It eats up so much time, and you're just subjecting your bike and all the pieces of it to salt
08:26water and black volcanic sand.
08:28It's brutal.
08:42It felt so good to be finally off and riding.
08:45But right off the bat, we encountered our first problems.
08:54This just needs a pretty major adjustment.
08:57Which isn't too bad to fix, but like, you gotta do it right.
09:01It takes a little while.
09:04Not too good.
09:05Yeah, so we got Doom here.
09:08Master mechanic.
09:20This is crazy.
09:22I can't believe we're here.
09:36That's like the perfect spot over there.
09:39Am I dreaming?
09:41Maybe just a little bit.
09:44Today was mega.
09:46We did like the first big chunk of our route.
09:50Bunch of open water crossings.
09:53A couple of rivers.
09:55And the weather has been incredible.
10:01Full of hot air.
10:03Full of hot air.
10:26Oh, my God.
10:29This is incredible.
10:34It's like the ahplinci illusion.
10:42The
10:43Ahoy.
10:43The
10:44Ayah.
10:44Stunden DIX.
10:50Oh, my God.
10:51You are going to shout, man.
10:52Andulk?
11:03I really didn't know after the first day when we'd see the production team again.
11:07They had our GPS location and were trying to track us from a distance and find areas
11:12where they can meet up with us.
11:13But the problem is waves and tides on these beaches cause the sands to shift constantly.
11:19Sometimes new islands are formed in a matter of days.
11:22Other areas of the coast are separated from roads by impassable volcanic terrain.
11:26The most promising areas for coastal access are often private farmland that's guarded by farmers
11:31who are protective and wary of tourists.
11:34We just arrived to Hotel Schmittlerberg.
11:36They told us we could grab a cup of coffee here and we're also going to ask them about
11:41roads that lead down to the shore here.
11:45Well, this road will definitely get us part of the way down.
11:49Maybe.
11:54I'm going to just see you off on the scale and flip around down here.
11:59It's pretty nice weather.
12:02We're out here checking the road, trying to get to the beach.
12:05There's a shelter up ahead that the guys have taken refuge from the elements and we're trying
12:11to get there to meet them.
12:12But we're not sure if we can.
12:13The roads are kind of under water and the sand could be soft.
12:38It's not raining.
12:39It's not raining.
12:40I feel like.
12:41Flash, flash.
12:43Yeah.
12:44Next number.
12:45I've been in a total goose chase. I've been calling like a million farmers, but hopefully we're able to get
12:53a driver for tomorrow that has a truck capable of taking us down to the shore because it's, yeah, it's
13:01not a good road down there.
13:22The film crew was on their own, and our focus was on the ride. Our heads had to be in
13:28the moment because the upcoming section was going to be the first proper test of our approach.
14:02What makes Iceland's glacier rivers so captivating is the unique process that creates them. Pieces of rock come loose, and
14:11the glacier pulls them along with it.
14:14Water flowing along the bottom of the glacier seeps down in the rock below. As the glacier flows down a
14:20mountain, it gets warmer and starts to melt.
14:24And as a glacier melts, the rocks fall to the ground, and the material becomes a tasty mixture of rocks,
14:31stones, sand, and clay known as glacial till.
14:36The melted ice turns into mild water, and flows downhill into a larger body of water, ultimately the ocean.
14:44And as this glacial tilled fans across the riverbeds, something magical happens. The colors, contrast, and textures seem to open
14:54a window into another world.
14:56There are no other things to seeps down.
15:03A creatures to cry from the sand in the-
15:10Death-
15:11Wow.
15:28We had just made our most challenging crossing, and so far everything was looking good.
15:32The weather had cooperated, and our equipment was tight.
15:39And now we were crossing a threshold into a very remote section of the route.
15:45This region was home to some of the biggest dangers of the journey.
15:49It was a place where some of the most raw elements of nature collide, and waves and wind
15:55create and destroy islands of sand.
15:58They actively change the shape of the coast from day to day.
16:02Here, the largest glaciers break off into the Atlantic Ocean.
16:07Visually, this place is full of beauty.
16:10But I knew we couldn't be naive how fast the conditions can change for the worse.
16:13MUSIC PLAYS
16:50MUSIC PLAYS
16:51because I know how rare it is to get this kind of weather my friend mummy who
17:08is a local Eisner joined us for a small section he said he'd been tracking our
17:12GPS as an experienced guide and cyclist I knew he was keen for an adventure it
17:20always blows my mind how tough Eisner's are and then he was eager to jump on a
17:24ride like this at a moment's notice
17:30I don't think I've ever seen a whale this intact washed up this muscle like just
17:38happened this is wild
17:45being able to bond and grow closer with people through adventure is easily my
17:49favorite thing in the world
17:51sister see this thing
17:57there are a number of emergency shelters along the route to be hunkered down it
18:00as I was planning the route I had learned their fabled history the remote
18:05emergency shelters are used as a sort of hot system that is designed to save you
18:09in case a shit hits the fan the emergency shelters and the hut system really was
18:15designed specifically along the south coast not for travelers or tourists but
18:19for sailors who over years and years of traveling here had lost their lives
18:23trying to get to the coastline specifically the south coast we're
18:26putting your boat through some of these waves was absolutely the most dangerous
18:30thing you could ever do knowing the purpose of these huts you understand
18:35clearly that you're submitting yourself to an area that human beings are just not
18:55meant to exist
18:56hi hi
18:57Sigi had found a local who was as crazy as the route itself
19:01he was eager to help them gain access to us and he's gonna drive us down here to
19:05the coast and you know he knows landscapes better than in the back of his
19:11hands so
19:15it's probably good to get as close as we can to them just so we don't have to use
19:20the drones as much and it's about here the shipwreck there they are just on the
19:25bikes now so we better get moving if we want to cut them up there yeah yeah
19:50ok across the river but as soon as I'm up there it's really like a quicksand to get out of
19:56the river
19:57and with these wheels I might get stuck there
20:03ok
20:04love it
20:04let's give it a try
20:05alright
20:06yeah
20:11fantastic
20:12nothing to it
20:12but not really a place where you want to get stuck
20:15dang
20:17easy for you
20:20against all odds
20:21Sigi and the crew were making it happen
20:23I honestly couldn't believe it
20:28yeah that was deep huh
20:31but their time with us was short-lived
20:33just a few hours
20:35we were on our own for the next section
20:36a series of seven big river crossings
20:39and we didn't know it was going to be one of the scariest parts of the trip for us
20:43this was the point that Moomy decided to part ways
20:51when you're out here in such an exposed place where the elements are so raw
20:55things can get serious really quick
21:05I really hope this lighthouse is so good because we have a really good shelter
21:13I'm kind of running low on energy
21:21after hours of riding and being beaten down by the elements we finally made it to the lighthouse
21:28but the shelter was gone
21:33we soon realized it had been buried in eight feet of sand
21:36we were standing right on top of it
21:38I knew there was another shelter
21:40but it would require three more huge river crossings
21:43ok
21:56i
22:11and
22:20That's pretty fucked up, yeah, we did a crossing that like if your doom wasn't there, I wouldn't
22:27have looked up in three years.
22:38Oh my gosh.
22:42We were all processing what we'd just gone through in our own ways.
22:45It was fucked, yeah.
22:47None of the crossings have been dangerous in any way at all, but that one had danger that
22:52I didn't like.
22:53Cam was pretty beat down.
22:55It was a long day.
22:57I'm feeling totally beat, and he is a little jacked.
23:02We were destroyed that day, and that last crossing, it was a little too close for comfort.
23:07The wind and the water was just total chaos, and it could have been really bad.
23:12But on top of all that, Cam's knee was pretty messed up.
23:19He was laboring over his decision whether to stay or drop out, because this was one of
23:24the only places that he could exit the trip safely.
23:28things that he could do.
23:28It was a bummer to see such a strong person and a friend leave the expedition.
23:31But we all knew it was the right decision.
23:47The hope of us all finishing together was lost.
23:50We did still have the Thorsau River in our sights, though.
23:53Doom and I pushed on.
23:54Doom and I pushed on it in the sea.
24:14Just right now, a lot of black sand and some waves, there's a little shipwreck.
24:20we're scouting with the first drone, almost put up like one scout drone but
24:24they should be on their way
24:41we're so beat, we're losing it
24:52oh, that is so cool
25:00Reynir drove us out here, he's a friend who has a super jeep and he's gonna help us to access
25:07these more, I guess, remote places the last few days of the trip
25:42my good friend and pilot Arnar surprised me on the last day with a flyover in his Piper Cub
25:47it was an inspiring gesture because it was with him just a few weeks earlier that I had scouted many
25:52of these rivers from his plane
25:54oh yeah
25:56so awesome
25:57it's moments like this that make you realize why these kinds of expeditions are meaningful
26:02here we were with nearly 300 miles of the hardest sand riding in my life
26:06we live in close to 40 river crossings behind us
26:09with our final approach to the Thorsau River
26:11and a friend comes to wave you on
26:35it's just kind of cool to like remind yourself at the end like why it's significant, why it's important, why
26:41it's so beautiful
26:42and I'm trying to like take it in
26:46I think the coolest thing is that
26:48a lot of these rivers
26:50to me were once like so scary
26:52and they still really are, maybe more now
26:55but
26:56I understand them better
26:58and to navigate them is to know them
27:00to like love them I guess
27:02and that's really cool
27:03and you know I've flown over every single one of these for like the last 10 years
27:08and photographed them and now to be in them is like really significant
27:24Like abstract paintings, Iceland's glacial rivers meet something profound in the human soul
27:30and experiencing them firsthand has changed my perspective of the world around me
27:33it's hard to describe or even sum it up in words
27:37so I won't even try
27:40My love for these rivers has only continued to grow deeper with time
27:44and my hope is to share that beauty with others
27:47so that hopefully they will want to advocate for these wild places just as much as I do
27:52You easy rider
27:55You easy rider
27:56You daughter of my green
27:58But tell me what you see
28:00Tell me what you see
28:03Tell me what you see
28:21You easy rider
28:25You easy rider
28:26You children of the sand
28:27Your homes and all the lines
28:29Your homes and all the blinds
28:34Just go and find it
28:37You easy rider
28:41Just point exactly
28:42All you have to do
28:43Here they are
28:46Final
28:48Couple feet
28:49Of sand
28:51Of sand
28:52On our route
28:58The end給
28:59you to shave and a shower
29:00Yeah, yeah.
29:01Yeah.
29:02Come and see me again.
29:07Come and see me again.
29:15Come and see me again.
29:17Come and see me again.
29:19Come and see me again.
29:22It was the company that made it sick, you know?
29:25Like, you would never want to do that alone.
29:26It's just so lame.
29:27That's why you do these things.
29:30Yeah.
29:31Absolutely.
29:31It's done.
29:33Work is done.
29:34It's over.
30:00Come on.
30:03You easy rider.
30:08You misbegot the sand.
30:10Take me what you learned.
30:13Take me what you learn.
30:17Then go on
30:20You easy rider
30:23All you got to do is start
30:27But that's the hardest part
30:29That's the hardest part
30:44All you got to do is start
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