The Forgotten Coast (2024) Movie Script
1
(wind whooshing)
(rain pattering)
(wind whooshing)
- That was a day.
We did a crossing that
like if DOOM wasn't there,
I would never have
done it in a million years.
(engine humming)
10 years ago,
I witnessed Iceland's
massive glacial rivers
from above for the first time.
I guess you could say that in that moment,
the seed was sown and I was obsessed.
(gentle music)
There's something so captivating
about looking down on these river systems
that I spent the next decade capturing
and documenting their beauty from the sky.
It wasn't until about two years ago,
that I was driving back
from Iceland's Eastfjords,
that the idea finally hit.
Would it be possible to cross
this remote stretch of coast
on my bike, unsupported,
in order to get up close
and personal with these rivers?
What would it be like
to experience them on the ground level?
I spent the next year pouring
over maps, talking to locals,
and most importantly, learning how to raft,
the key ingredient to
this crazy expedition.
The obstacles to do this were massive,
but like most things with me,
once the idea is planted in my head,
it's pretty hard to get rid of it.
(gentle music continues)
(waves crashing)
- [Person] What do you think?
- I mean, I'm excited.
I'm not less scared,
but I'm definitely, oh,
trying to release a
little bit of this stress.
I mean, we're standing at the very
eastern terminus of the route.
I think I'm gonna have
trouble sleeping tonight,
because I'm gonna be
thinking about it so much.
I just want to go right now.
This part of the world is fabled.
It's home to some of
the most remote stretches
of black sand beach in the world,
and the environment is extremely dangerous.
Atlantic storms have
claimed countless ships
and sailors' lives along the
southern coast of Iceland.
After hearing so much about
the shipwrecks and deaths here,
it was easily the most
daunting part of the trip.
On top of that, our route was intersected
by nearly 40 rivers.
We would need to cross them,
and those crossings
would be our biggest crux.
While I had done mini bike
expeditions in harsh conditions.
Doing something like this
seemed nearly impossible and terrifying.
So I reached out to the one
person who had the experience
to tackle something just like this.
Steve Fastbender, AKA Doom.
(upbeat music)
In some way,
riding with Doom was something
I've always dreamt of.
A rite of passage basically, you know,
that experience of being with somebody
who knows and has seen so much.
He's an absolute legend,
highly experienced in most bike packing
and rafting disciplines.
And the way he reads water,
it's unlike anything I've ever seen.
He'd been on countless
trips to Alaska, Pakistan,
Tajikistan, South America,
you name it, endless.
This guy has packed his
bike in every way possible,
even on the back of a llama.
(llama hums)
Cam, how we feeling, buddy?
- Good, you guys ready?
- [Chris] Yeah. (laughs)
Also joining us would be Cameron Lawson,
a legend in his own right,
an adventure photographer
and Alaskan Bush pilot
who had some bike
rafting under his belt too.
He bike rafted the lost coast of Alaska,
and also floated 200
miles of the Yukon River,
and it made sense that he
would round out the crew.
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
(seagulls squawking)
(waves crashing)
- We're about to leave,
which is like a long time coming.
- Ready for the first thing
to go wrong, I guess. (laughs)
Just waiting for it.
Start of a very big day.
As the plan came together,
I knew I wanted to capture this story,
but it would be a huge challenge.
(gentle music)
So I put out a few calls to
people I knew in the area
and enlisted my friend, Siggi.
Siggi grew up on the southern coast,
and knew the area like
the back of his hand,
which would be critical for the mission.
Also joining the production
crew were photographers
Ryan Hill and Jeremy Bishop,
as well as filmmaker, Brian Davis.
We established a series of
meeting places along the route.
At a few instances where our route
would meet up with roads or towns.
This would be Vestrahorn,
a super scenic mountain peak
on the ocean in the east.
Jkulsrln, on the glacial
lagoon where large chunks
of ice break from
Iceland's biggest glacier,
and flow into the ocean.
Vik, a quaint town along a long
stretch of black sand beach,
and ultimately culminating
in the crown jewel,
the Thjrs River.
Many of the rivers we'd
be crossing were gems
in their own right, cutting
and winding their way
through stunning landscapes
and showing off strands
and fans of glacial sediment.
But of all the rivers,
the Thjrs River stands
out without question.
It's Iceland's biggest river,
and it also happens to be glacial water.
The colors in this river
are the most vibrant and stunning of all.
This is the river that first
captured my attention.
The true reason why this project came
to life in the first place,
and it just so happened
to be at the very end,
of very long route.
But with so many dangerous river crossings
between here and there,
I wasn't actually sure we'd
make it to the Thjrs at all.
(gentle music)
(seagulls squawking)
(person speaks indistinctly)
- [Person] Oh! (laughs)
- So what is bike rafting?
(wind whooshing)
Essentially, it's the process
of packing an inflatable raft
on your bike to allow you
to cross bodies of water.
First, you break down your bike,
then you inflate your raft,
put your half assembled bike onto the raft,
basically on the nose,
balancing out the weight of the raft.
(person hums)
Then you ride the river,
send it over waterfalls, or
whatever you need to do.
We're about to attempt our first crossing.
In our case, we use the
pack raft as a tool to explore
and move to these massive river systems
and other bodies of water.
Some being 30 feet across,
some being thousands of feet across.
Some are rocky, some are fast,
some have different types of bottoms,
some have steep scary banks.
Easily, the scariest thing has
to do with wind on the water
because you have no keel or
fin or any kind of control.
You're getting pushed around everywhere,
sideways, even backwards at times,
and you don't know what you're gonna
encounter on the other side.
I'd say the most dangerous thing,
the biggest challenge really,
are trying to avoid the river mouths.
River mouths are kind
of like the death zone.
It's where there's surf, there's waves,
and everything speeds up
and surges into this chaotic system.
It's creating sleeper waves,
undertow, and all kinds of hidden dangers.
We tried to avoid that at all costs.
So bike rafting is pretty simple in theory,
but when you start to do it,
it becomes complicated fast.
When you're thinking
about crossing 41 rivers,
you're basically inflating
and deflating that raft
and breaking down your bike 82 times.
It eats up so much time and
you're just subjecting your bike
and all the pieces of it to salt water
and black volcanic sand.
It's brutal.
(gentle music)
(singer vocalizing)
We felt so good to be
finally off and riding,
but right off the bat, we
encountered our first problems.
I'm going
Way in
(wind whooshing)
- He just needs in a
pretty major adjustment.
Which isn't too bad to fix,
but like you gotta do it right.
It takes a little while.
All in the moment
- Yeah, so we got Doom
here, master mechanic.
Out into the open
(dramatic music)
(water trickling)
- This is crazy.
I can't believe we're here.
(dramatic music continues)
I'm going
Way in
Out in
To the open
- That's like the perfect spot over there.
- Am I dreaming?
I think maybe just a little bit. (laughs)
- Today was mega.
We did like the first
big chunk of our route,
a bunch of open water crossings,
a couple rivers, and the
weather has been incredible, so.
Out into the open
- Full of hot air. (laughs)
(dramatic music continues)
Out in the open
- Oh my gosh.
This is incredible.
Out in the open
Woo!
Wild wide open land
Wild wide open land
(wind whooshing)
(gentle music)
I really didn't know after the first day
when we'd see the production team again.
They had our GPS location
and were trying to track us from a distance
and find areas where
they can meet up with us.
But the problem is waves
and tides on these beaches
cause the sands to shift constantly.
Sometimes new islands are
formed in a matter of days.
Other areas of the coast
are separated from roads
by impassable, volcanic terrain.
The most promising areas for coastal access
are often private farmland
that's guarded by farmers
who are protective and wary of tourists.
- We just arrived to Hotel Smyrlabjorg.
They told us we could
grab a cup of coffee here
and we're also gonna ask them about roads
that lead down to the shore here.
- Yeah, well this road
will definitely get us
part of the way down.
(vehicle rumbling)
- [Person] Nice.
- [Person] I'm gonna
just see how far this goes
and flip around down here.
- Pretty nice weather.
- We're out here checking the road,
trying to get to the beach.
There's a shelter up
ahead that the guys have
taken refuge from the elements
and we're trying to get there to meet them,
but we're not sure if we can.
The roads are kind of underwater
and the sand could be soft.
(wind whooshing)
- Day three, pretty crappy weather.
Cold and drizzly.
About to be rainy and windy,
but we've only got 22 miles to do
a couple of crossings.
- Not ringing.
(Siggi speaks foreign language)
Yeah, next number. (laughs)
I've been in a total goose chase.
I've been calling like a million farmers
but hopefully we're able to
get a driver for tomorrow
that has a truck capable of
taking us down to the shore,
because it's, yeah, it's not
a good road down there.
(rain pattering)
(wind whooshing)
(water trickling)
(gentle music)
- [Chris] The film crew was on their own,
and our focus was on the ride.
Our heads had to be in the moment
because the upcoming section
was going to be the first
proper test of our approach.
(gentle music continues)
(water trickling)
- [Elli] What makes
Iceland's glacial rivers
so captivating is the unique
process that creates them.
Pieces of rock come loose,
and the glacier pulls them along with it.
Water flowing along the bottom
of the glacier seeps
down in the rock below.
As the glacier flows down among them,
it gets warmer and starts to melt,
and as a glacier melts,
the rocks fall to the ground
and the material becomes a pasty mixture
of rocks, stones, sand,
and clay known as glacial till.
The melted ice turns into melt water,
and flows downhill into
a larger body of water,
ultimately the ocean.
And as this glacial till
fans across the river beds,
something magical happens.
The colors contrast and
textures seem to open a window
into another world.
(gentle music)
(water trickling)
- We had just made our
most challenging crossing
and so far everything was looking good.
The weather had cooperated
and our equipment was tight.
(seagulls squawking)
And now we were crossing a threshold
into a very remote section of the route.
This region was home to some
of the biggest dangers of the journey.
It was a place where some
of the most raw elements
of nature collide,
and waves and wind create
and destroy islands of sand.
They actively change the shape
of the coast from day to day.
Here, the largest glaciers break off
into the Atlantic ocean.
Visually, this place is full of beauty
but I knew we couldn't be naive
to how fast the conditions
can change for the worse.
(gentle music continues)
(water trickling)
(gentle music continues)
(gravel crunching)
Just pinching myself,
'cause I know how rare it is
to get this kind of weather.
(gentle music continues)
My friend Mumi, who is a local Icelander
joined us for a small section.
He said he'd been tracking our GPS.
As an experienced guide and cyclist,
I knew he was keen for an adventure.
It always blows my mind
how tough Icelanders are,
and then he was eager
to jump on a ride like this,
at a moment's notice.
(gentle music continues)
I don't think I've ever seen a whale
this intact washed up.
This must have like just happened.
This is wild.
(gentle music continues)
Being able to bond and
grow closer with people
through adventure is
easily my thing in the world.
(person laughs)
So stoked to see this thing.
There are a number of emergency shelters
along the route that we hunkered down in.
As I was planning the route,
I had learned their fabled history.
The remote emergency shelters are used
as a sort of hut system
that is designed to save you
in case the shit hits the fan.
The emergency shelters and the hut system
really was designed specifically
along the south coast,
not for travelers or
tourists, but for sailors,
who over years and years of traveling here,
had lost their lives trying
to get to the coastline,
specifically the south coast,
where putting your boat
through some of these waves
was absolutely the most dangerous
thing you could ever do.
Knowing the purpose of these
huts, you understand clearly
that you're submitting yourself to an area
that human beings are
just not meant to exist.
(gentle music continues)
(wind whooshing)
(engine humming)
(Siggi speaks foreign language)
Siggi had found a local
who was as crazy as the route itself.
He was eager to help
them gain access to us.
- He's gonna drive us
down here to the coast,
and he knows landscapes
better than it the back
of his hand, so. (laughs)
(both speaking indistinctly)
It's probably good to get
as close as we can to them
just so we don't have to
use the drones as much.
- And it's about here, the shipwreck.
Then they are just on the bikes now,
so we better make it moving
if we want to catch them up there.
- [Siggi] Yeah, yeah.
(water trickling)
(gentle music)
(waves crashing)
- Problem.
(people speaking indistinctly)
(waves crashing)
Okay, across the river,
but as soon as (indistinct) there,
it's really like a quick
sand, to get out of the river,
and with these wheels
I might get stuck there.
(air hissing)
Okay, love it, let's give it a try.
- [Siggi] All right.
(person speaks indistinctly)
(waves crashing)
(person laughing)
- [Person] Fantastic.
- Nothing to it,
but not really a place where
you want to get stuck. (laughs)
- [Person] Easy for you.
(waves crashing)
- [Chris] Against all odds,
Siggi and the crew were making it happen.
I honestly couldn't believe it.
(people laughing)
- Yeah, that was deep, huh?
- But their time with us was short lived,
just a few hours.
We were on our own for the next section,
a series of seven big river crossings
and we didn't know it was gonna be
one of the scariest
parts of the trip for us.
This was the point that
Mumi decided to part ways.
(wind whooshing)
When you're out here
in such an exposed place
where the elements are so raw,
things can get serious really quick.
(tense music)
I really hope this lighthouse is open
because we really need shelter.
Kind of running low on energy.
After hours of riding being
beaten down by the elements,
we finally made it to the lighthouse,
but the shelter was gone.
(wind whistling)
We soon realized it had been
buried in eight feet of sand.
We were standing right on top of it.
I knew there was another shelter,
but it would require three
more huge river crossings.
(tense music continues)
(rain pattering)
(Chris laughs)
That was pretty fucked up.
- [Cam] Yeah.
- We did a crossing that
like if Doom wasn't there,
I would never have
done it in a million years.
(Chris laughs)
(wind whooshing)
- Oh, my god.
- [Chris] We were all processing
what we'd just gone
through in our own ways.
- [Doom] It was not fun.
- It was fucked, yeah.
None of the crossings have been
dangerous in any way at all.
But that one had danger that I didn't like.
- [Chris] Cam was pretty beat down.
- It's a long day, I'm
feeling totally beat.
Knee is a little jacked.
- [Chris] We were destroyed that day,
and that last crossing,
it was a little too close for comfort.
The wind and the water was just total chaos
and it could have been really bad.
On top of all that, Cam's
knee was pretty messed up.
He was laboring over his
decision whether to stay
or drop out because this
was one of the only places
that he could exit the trip safely.
It was a bummer to see such a strong person
and a friend leave the expedition.
But we all knew it was the right decision.
(wind whooshing)
(gate squeals)
(wind whooshing)
(upbeat music)
The hope of us all
finishing together was lost.
We did still have the Thjrs
River in our sights though.
Doom and I pushed on.
(upbeat music continues)
I went walking
- Just right now a lot of
black sand and some waves.
There's a little shipwreck.
- We're scouting with the first drone.
We always put up like one scout drone,
but they should be on their way.
The great unknown
Now I'm running home to you
Through the icy dawn
(Chris laughs)
- We're so beat, (laughs)
we're just losing it.
Oh.
(wind whooshing)
(singer vocalizing)
Whoa, that is so cool.
(both speaking in foreign language)
- Reynair drove us out here,
he's a friend who has a super Jeep,
and he's gonna help us to
access these more I guess,
remote places, last few days of the trip.
And a gypsy queen
Laid down in a shallow grave
That she dug for me
Now I'm running home to you
In the rising sun
Til my feet go black and blue
Oh, I will run
- [Chris] My good friend
and pilot Arnar surprised me
on the last day with a
flyover in his Piper Cub.
It was an inspiring gesture,
because it was with him
just a few weeks earlier
that I had scouted many of
these rivers from his plane.
Arnar.
- Oh, yes.
(both laughing)
- So awesome.
It's moments like this
that make you realize
why these kinds of
expeditions are meaningful.
Here we were with nearly 300 miles
of the hardest sand riding in my life,
and close to 40 river crossings behind us
with our final approach
to the Thjrs River,
and a friend comes to wave you on.
(upbeat music continues)
(singer vocalizing)
It's just kind of cool to like
remind yourself at the end
like why it's significant,
why it's important,
why it's so beautiful.
And I'm trying to like take it in.
I think the coolest thing is that
a lot of these rivers to
me were once like so scary,
and they still really are, maybe more now,
but I understand them better.
And to navigate them is to know them,
to like love them I guess.
And that's really cool.
And you know, I've flown over
every single one of these
for like the last 10 years
and photographed them
and now to be in them
is like really significant.
(upbeat music)
Come on
You easy rider
- [Chris] Like abstract paintings,
Iceland's glacial rivers
meet something profound in the human soul,
and experiencing them firsthand
has changed my perspective
of the world around me.
It's hard to describe or
even sum it up in words,
so I won't even try.
My love for these rivers has only continued
to grow deeper with time,
and my hope is to share
that beauty with others,
so that hopefully they
will want to advocate
for these wild places just as much as I do.
You easy rider
You daughter of Magritte
Tell me what you see
Tell me what you see
But it's no use, there's no excuse
Your lover can lend
Say you'll try
To come and see me again
Come on, you easy rider
You children of the sand
Your home's in northern lands
Your home's in northern lands
Just go and find it, you easy rider
All you've got to do is start
- Here we are.
Final couple feet
of sand on our route.
The end.
- Well, I need a shave and a shower.
- [Chris] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Come and see me again
Come and see me again
Come and see me again
You come and see me again
Come and see me again
- It was the company
that made it sick, you know,
like you would never want to do that alone.
It'd just be so lame.
- That's like, that's
why you do these things.
- Yeah, absolutely.
It's done. (laughs)
Work is done, it's over.
(upbeat music continues)
Come on, you easy rider
You misbegotten son
Tell me what you've done
Tell me what you've done
Go on, you easy rider
All you got to do is start
But that's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
(logo dings)
(wind whooshing)
(rain pattering)
(wind whooshing)
- That was a day.
We did a crossing that
like if DOOM wasn't there,
I would never have
done it in a million years.
(engine humming)
10 years ago,
I witnessed Iceland's
massive glacial rivers
from above for the first time.
I guess you could say that in that moment,
the seed was sown and I was obsessed.
(gentle music)
There's something so captivating
about looking down on these river systems
that I spent the next decade capturing
and documenting their beauty from the sky.
It wasn't until about two years ago,
that I was driving back
from Iceland's Eastfjords,
that the idea finally hit.
Would it be possible to cross
this remote stretch of coast
on my bike, unsupported,
in order to get up close
and personal with these rivers?
What would it be like
to experience them on the ground level?
I spent the next year pouring
over maps, talking to locals,
and most importantly, learning how to raft,
the key ingredient to
this crazy expedition.
The obstacles to do this were massive,
but like most things with me,
once the idea is planted in my head,
it's pretty hard to get rid of it.
(gentle music continues)
(waves crashing)
- [Person] What do you think?
- I mean, I'm excited.
I'm not less scared,
but I'm definitely, oh,
trying to release a
little bit of this stress.
I mean, we're standing at the very
eastern terminus of the route.
I think I'm gonna have
trouble sleeping tonight,
because I'm gonna be
thinking about it so much.
I just want to go right now.
This part of the world is fabled.
It's home to some of
the most remote stretches
of black sand beach in the world,
and the environment is extremely dangerous.
Atlantic storms have
claimed countless ships
and sailors' lives along the
southern coast of Iceland.
After hearing so much about
the shipwrecks and deaths here,
it was easily the most
daunting part of the trip.
On top of that, our route was intersected
by nearly 40 rivers.
We would need to cross them,
and those crossings
would be our biggest crux.
While I had done mini bike
expeditions in harsh conditions.
Doing something like this
seemed nearly impossible and terrifying.
So I reached out to the one
person who had the experience
to tackle something just like this.
Steve Fastbender, AKA Doom.
(upbeat music)
In some way,
riding with Doom was something
I've always dreamt of.
A rite of passage basically, you know,
that experience of being with somebody
who knows and has seen so much.
He's an absolute legend,
highly experienced in most bike packing
and rafting disciplines.
And the way he reads water,
it's unlike anything I've ever seen.
He'd been on countless
trips to Alaska, Pakistan,
Tajikistan, South America,
you name it, endless.
This guy has packed his
bike in every way possible,
even on the back of a llama.
(llama hums)
Cam, how we feeling, buddy?
- Good, you guys ready?
- [Chris] Yeah. (laughs)
Also joining us would be Cameron Lawson,
a legend in his own right,
an adventure photographer
and Alaskan Bush pilot
who had some bike
rafting under his belt too.
He bike rafted the lost coast of Alaska,
and also floated 200
miles of the Yukon River,
and it made sense that he
would round out the crew.
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
(seagulls squawking)
(waves crashing)
- We're about to leave,
which is like a long time coming.
- Ready for the first thing
to go wrong, I guess. (laughs)
Just waiting for it.
Start of a very big day.
As the plan came together,
I knew I wanted to capture this story,
but it would be a huge challenge.
(gentle music)
So I put out a few calls to
people I knew in the area
and enlisted my friend, Siggi.
Siggi grew up on the southern coast,
and knew the area like
the back of his hand,
which would be critical for the mission.
Also joining the production
crew were photographers
Ryan Hill and Jeremy Bishop,
as well as filmmaker, Brian Davis.
We established a series of
meeting places along the route.
At a few instances where our route
would meet up with roads or towns.
This would be Vestrahorn,
a super scenic mountain peak
on the ocean in the east.
Jkulsrln, on the glacial
lagoon where large chunks
of ice break from
Iceland's biggest glacier,
and flow into the ocean.
Vik, a quaint town along a long
stretch of black sand beach,
and ultimately culminating
in the crown jewel,
the Thjrs River.
Many of the rivers we'd
be crossing were gems
in their own right, cutting
and winding their way
through stunning landscapes
and showing off strands
and fans of glacial sediment.
But of all the rivers,
the Thjrs River stands
out without question.
It's Iceland's biggest river,
and it also happens to be glacial water.
The colors in this river
are the most vibrant and stunning of all.
This is the river that first
captured my attention.
The true reason why this project came
to life in the first place,
and it just so happened
to be at the very end,
of very long route.
But with so many dangerous river crossings
between here and there,
I wasn't actually sure we'd
make it to the Thjrs at all.
(gentle music)
(seagulls squawking)
(person speaks indistinctly)
- [Person] Oh! (laughs)
- So what is bike rafting?
(wind whooshing)
Essentially, it's the process
of packing an inflatable raft
on your bike to allow you
to cross bodies of water.
First, you break down your bike,
then you inflate your raft,
put your half assembled bike onto the raft,
basically on the nose,
balancing out the weight of the raft.
(person hums)
Then you ride the river,
send it over waterfalls, or
whatever you need to do.
We're about to attempt our first crossing.
In our case, we use the
pack raft as a tool to explore
and move to these massive river systems
and other bodies of water.
Some being 30 feet across,
some being thousands of feet across.
Some are rocky, some are fast,
some have different types of bottoms,
some have steep scary banks.
Easily, the scariest thing has
to do with wind on the water
because you have no keel or
fin or any kind of control.
You're getting pushed around everywhere,
sideways, even backwards at times,
and you don't know what you're gonna
encounter on the other side.
I'd say the most dangerous thing,
the biggest challenge really,
are trying to avoid the river mouths.
River mouths are kind
of like the death zone.
It's where there's surf, there's waves,
and everything speeds up
and surges into this chaotic system.
It's creating sleeper waves,
undertow, and all kinds of hidden dangers.
We tried to avoid that at all costs.
So bike rafting is pretty simple in theory,
but when you start to do it,
it becomes complicated fast.
When you're thinking
about crossing 41 rivers,
you're basically inflating
and deflating that raft
and breaking down your bike 82 times.
It eats up so much time and
you're just subjecting your bike
and all the pieces of it to salt water
and black volcanic sand.
It's brutal.
(gentle music)
(singer vocalizing)
We felt so good to be
finally off and riding,
but right off the bat, we
encountered our first problems.
I'm going
Way in
(wind whooshing)
- He just needs in a
pretty major adjustment.
Which isn't too bad to fix,
but like you gotta do it right.
It takes a little while.
All in the moment
- Yeah, so we got Doom
here, master mechanic.
Out into the open
(dramatic music)
(water trickling)
- This is crazy.
I can't believe we're here.
(dramatic music continues)
I'm going
Way in
Out in
To the open
- That's like the perfect spot over there.
- Am I dreaming?
I think maybe just a little bit. (laughs)
- Today was mega.
We did like the first
big chunk of our route,
a bunch of open water crossings,
a couple rivers, and the
weather has been incredible, so.
Out into the open
- Full of hot air. (laughs)
(dramatic music continues)
Out in the open
- Oh my gosh.
This is incredible.
Out in the open
Woo!
Wild wide open land
Wild wide open land
(wind whooshing)
(gentle music)
I really didn't know after the first day
when we'd see the production team again.
They had our GPS location
and were trying to track us from a distance
and find areas where
they can meet up with us.
But the problem is waves
and tides on these beaches
cause the sands to shift constantly.
Sometimes new islands are
formed in a matter of days.
Other areas of the coast
are separated from roads
by impassable, volcanic terrain.
The most promising areas for coastal access
are often private farmland
that's guarded by farmers
who are protective and wary of tourists.
- We just arrived to Hotel Smyrlabjorg.
They told us we could
grab a cup of coffee here
and we're also gonna ask them about roads
that lead down to the shore here.
- Yeah, well this road
will definitely get us
part of the way down.
(vehicle rumbling)
- [Person] Nice.
- [Person] I'm gonna
just see how far this goes
and flip around down here.
- Pretty nice weather.
- We're out here checking the road,
trying to get to the beach.
There's a shelter up
ahead that the guys have
taken refuge from the elements
and we're trying to get there to meet them,
but we're not sure if we can.
The roads are kind of underwater
and the sand could be soft.
(wind whooshing)
- Day three, pretty crappy weather.
Cold and drizzly.
About to be rainy and windy,
but we've only got 22 miles to do
a couple of crossings.
- Not ringing.
(Siggi speaks foreign language)
Yeah, next number. (laughs)
I've been in a total goose chase.
I've been calling like a million farmers
but hopefully we're able to
get a driver for tomorrow
that has a truck capable of
taking us down to the shore,
because it's, yeah, it's not
a good road down there.
(rain pattering)
(wind whooshing)
(water trickling)
(gentle music)
- [Chris] The film crew was on their own,
and our focus was on the ride.
Our heads had to be in the moment
because the upcoming section
was going to be the first
proper test of our approach.
(gentle music continues)
(water trickling)
- [Elli] What makes
Iceland's glacial rivers
so captivating is the unique
process that creates them.
Pieces of rock come loose,
and the glacier pulls them along with it.
Water flowing along the bottom
of the glacier seeps
down in the rock below.
As the glacier flows down among them,
it gets warmer and starts to melt,
and as a glacier melts,
the rocks fall to the ground
and the material becomes a pasty mixture
of rocks, stones, sand,
and clay known as glacial till.
The melted ice turns into melt water,
and flows downhill into
a larger body of water,
ultimately the ocean.
And as this glacial till
fans across the river beds,
something magical happens.
The colors contrast and
textures seem to open a window
into another world.
(gentle music)
(water trickling)
- We had just made our
most challenging crossing
and so far everything was looking good.
The weather had cooperated
and our equipment was tight.
(seagulls squawking)
And now we were crossing a threshold
into a very remote section of the route.
This region was home to some
of the biggest dangers of the journey.
It was a place where some
of the most raw elements
of nature collide,
and waves and wind create
and destroy islands of sand.
They actively change the shape
of the coast from day to day.
Here, the largest glaciers break off
into the Atlantic ocean.
Visually, this place is full of beauty
but I knew we couldn't be naive
to how fast the conditions
can change for the worse.
(gentle music continues)
(water trickling)
(gentle music continues)
(gravel crunching)
Just pinching myself,
'cause I know how rare it is
to get this kind of weather.
(gentle music continues)
My friend Mumi, who is a local Icelander
joined us for a small section.
He said he'd been tracking our GPS.
As an experienced guide and cyclist,
I knew he was keen for an adventure.
It always blows my mind
how tough Icelanders are,
and then he was eager
to jump on a ride like this,
at a moment's notice.
(gentle music continues)
I don't think I've ever seen a whale
this intact washed up.
This must have like just happened.
This is wild.
(gentle music continues)
Being able to bond and
grow closer with people
through adventure is
easily my thing in the world.
(person laughs)
So stoked to see this thing.
There are a number of emergency shelters
along the route that we hunkered down in.
As I was planning the route,
I had learned their fabled history.
The remote emergency shelters are used
as a sort of hut system
that is designed to save you
in case the shit hits the fan.
The emergency shelters and the hut system
really was designed specifically
along the south coast,
not for travelers or
tourists, but for sailors,
who over years and years of traveling here,
had lost their lives trying
to get to the coastline,
specifically the south coast,
where putting your boat
through some of these waves
was absolutely the most dangerous
thing you could ever do.
Knowing the purpose of these
huts, you understand clearly
that you're submitting yourself to an area
that human beings are
just not meant to exist.
(gentle music continues)
(wind whooshing)
(engine humming)
(Siggi speaks foreign language)
Siggi had found a local
who was as crazy as the route itself.
He was eager to help
them gain access to us.
- He's gonna drive us
down here to the coast,
and he knows landscapes
better than it the back
of his hand, so. (laughs)
(both speaking indistinctly)
It's probably good to get
as close as we can to them
just so we don't have to
use the drones as much.
- And it's about here, the shipwreck.
Then they are just on the bikes now,
so we better make it moving
if we want to catch them up there.
- [Siggi] Yeah, yeah.
(water trickling)
(gentle music)
(waves crashing)
- Problem.
(people speaking indistinctly)
(waves crashing)
Okay, across the river,
but as soon as (indistinct) there,
it's really like a quick
sand, to get out of the river,
and with these wheels
I might get stuck there.
(air hissing)
Okay, love it, let's give it a try.
- [Siggi] All right.
(person speaks indistinctly)
(waves crashing)
(person laughing)
- [Person] Fantastic.
- Nothing to it,
but not really a place where
you want to get stuck. (laughs)
- [Person] Easy for you.
(waves crashing)
- [Chris] Against all odds,
Siggi and the crew were making it happen.
I honestly couldn't believe it.
(people laughing)
- Yeah, that was deep, huh?
- But their time with us was short lived,
just a few hours.
We were on our own for the next section,
a series of seven big river crossings
and we didn't know it was gonna be
one of the scariest
parts of the trip for us.
This was the point that
Mumi decided to part ways.
(wind whooshing)
When you're out here
in such an exposed place
where the elements are so raw,
things can get serious really quick.
(tense music)
I really hope this lighthouse is open
because we really need shelter.
Kind of running low on energy.
After hours of riding being
beaten down by the elements,
we finally made it to the lighthouse,
but the shelter was gone.
(wind whistling)
We soon realized it had been
buried in eight feet of sand.
We were standing right on top of it.
I knew there was another shelter,
but it would require three
more huge river crossings.
(tense music continues)
(rain pattering)
(Chris laughs)
That was pretty fucked up.
- [Cam] Yeah.
- We did a crossing that
like if Doom wasn't there,
I would never have
done it in a million years.
(Chris laughs)
(wind whooshing)
- Oh, my god.
- [Chris] We were all processing
what we'd just gone
through in our own ways.
- [Doom] It was not fun.
- It was fucked, yeah.
None of the crossings have been
dangerous in any way at all.
But that one had danger that I didn't like.
- [Chris] Cam was pretty beat down.
- It's a long day, I'm
feeling totally beat.
Knee is a little jacked.
- [Chris] We were destroyed that day,
and that last crossing,
it was a little too close for comfort.
The wind and the water was just total chaos
and it could have been really bad.
On top of all that, Cam's
knee was pretty messed up.
He was laboring over his
decision whether to stay
or drop out because this
was one of the only places
that he could exit the trip safely.
It was a bummer to see such a strong person
and a friend leave the expedition.
But we all knew it was the right decision.
(wind whooshing)
(gate squeals)
(wind whooshing)
(upbeat music)
The hope of us all
finishing together was lost.
We did still have the Thjrs
River in our sights though.
Doom and I pushed on.
(upbeat music continues)
I went walking
- Just right now a lot of
black sand and some waves.
There's a little shipwreck.
- We're scouting with the first drone.
We always put up like one scout drone,
but they should be on their way.
The great unknown
Now I'm running home to you
Through the icy dawn
(Chris laughs)
- We're so beat, (laughs)
we're just losing it.
Oh.
(wind whooshing)
(singer vocalizing)
Whoa, that is so cool.
(both speaking in foreign language)
- Reynair drove us out here,
he's a friend who has a super Jeep,
and he's gonna help us to
access these more I guess,
remote places, last few days of the trip.
And a gypsy queen
Laid down in a shallow grave
That she dug for me
Now I'm running home to you
In the rising sun
Til my feet go black and blue
Oh, I will run
- [Chris] My good friend
and pilot Arnar surprised me
on the last day with a
flyover in his Piper Cub.
It was an inspiring gesture,
because it was with him
just a few weeks earlier
that I had scouted many of
these rivers from his plane.
Arnar.
- Oh, yes.
(both laughing)
- So awesome.
It's moments like this
that make you realize
why these kinds of
expeditions are meaningful.
Here we were with nearly 300 miles
of the hardest sand riding in my life,
and close to 40 river crossings behind us
with our final approach
to the Thjrs River,
and a friend comes to wave you on.
(upbeat music continues)
(singer vocalizing)
It's just kind of cool to like
remind yourself at the end
like why it's significant,
why it's important,
why it's so beautiful.
And I'm trying to like take it in.
I think the coolest thing is that
a lot of these rivers to
me were once like so scary,
and they still really are, maybe more now,
but I understand them better.
And to navigate them is to know them,
to like love them I guess.
And that's really cool.
And you know, I've flown over
every single one of these
for like the last 10 years
and photographed them
and now to be in them
is like really significant.
(upbeat music)
Come on
You easy rider
- [Chris] Like abstract paintings,
Iceland's glacial rivers
meet something profound in the human soul,
and experiencing them firsthand
has changed my perspective
of the world around me.
It's hard to describe or
even sum it up in words,
so I won't even try.
My love for these rivers has only continued
to grow deeper with time,
and my hope is to share
that beauty with others,
so that hopefully they
will want to advocate
for these wild places just as much as I do.
You easy rider
You daughter of Magritte
Tell me what you see
Tell me what you see
But it's no use, there's no excuse
Your lover can lend
Say you'll try
To come and see me again
Come on, you easy rider
You children of the sand
Your home's in northern lands
Your home's in northern lands
Just go and find it, you easy rider
All you've got to do is start
- Here we are.
Final couple feet
of sand on our route.
The end.
- Well, I need a shave and a shower.
- [Chris] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Come and see me again
Come and see me again
Come and see me again
You come and see me again
Come and see me again
- It was the company
that made it sick, you know,
like you would never want to do that alone.
It'd just be so lame.
- That's like, that's
why you do these things.
- Yeah, absolutely.
It's done. (laughs)
Work is done, it's over.
(upbeat music continues)
Come on, you easy rider
You misbegotten son
Tell me what you've done
Tell me what you've done
Go on, you easy rider
All you got to do is start
But that's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
(logo dings)