Files

My bundle contains files for GPS and Kindle and can be downloaded from here.

I took these on my Kindle

• PDF
• Distances (km) per day based on Max Nemeth's route
• List of Max's campsites with co-ordinates
• MOBI
• Iceland Traverse (Max Nemeth)
• Iceland Notes (Andrew Skurka)
• Iceland Traverse (Jonathon Ley)
• Iceland Traverse Itinerary (Mountain Guides)
• Iceland Traverse (Yeti)

I have created this for Kindle

• Places I camped with co-ordinates (PDF)

I took these on my GPS

• GPX file of proposed route from wikiloc created by filiplaw
• GPX file with places where Max Nemeth camped
• The following I did not use
• GPX files of other routes (wikiloc)
• GPI files of Points of Interest
• GPX files of Points of Interest as Waypoints

I have created these for GPS

• Waypoints of Camps (GPX)
• 21 camps and the two end points
• Waypoints along my route (GPX)
• 229 waypoints and the two end points
• Trackpoints along my route (GPX)
• There are 3799 trackpoints split into 8 tracks (7x500 and 1x299)
• I did not have the GPS on all the time so there are jumps

Note: Maps can be downloaded from their respective sources found in Links

Links

Useful resources
The top three of these are the ones I actually used on the trail.

• Max Nemeth's Trail Journal
• Topo Map of Iceland for GPS
• Across Iceland by filiplaw (the only GPX track I actually used)
• Wikiloc in English
• You need an account to download the file
• Wikiloc routes in Iceland (French)
• If you create an account you can download GPX files
• It will even divide tracks up into no more that 500 points per track
• This is very handy for Garmin GPSs
• A Hike Across Iceland by Jonathan Ley
• About the Iceland Traverse by Andrew Skurka
• Yeti's Thru Hikes - Iceland
• OpenStreetMap for Garmin
• I didn't find "without baggage" until afterwards but it looks interesting
• Everytrail has some GPX files for download if you create an account
• For POIs GPS-Waypoints.net

And finally

You might enjoy doing one of these...
Dec 2013: My blog for the Pyrenees High Route
Dec 2014: My blog for the Scottish National Trail
Jan 2015: My blog for the Guerrilla Trek, Nepal
Jan 2016: My blog for The Israel National Trail

Hazards

Best to be aware of some risks

• There is a low risk of a Traffic hazard, but it is there. Cars can come up on you unexpectedly so it is probably best not to be dancing randomly in the middle of the road more than you can help.
• River crossings are the greatest potential threat and all should be taken seriously, except those that are empty or can be stepped over. The water is seriously cold. None were much above my knees at this particular moment. Things can change significantly and quickly depending on weather and time of day. Most of the water comes from snow melt rather than rainfall.
• Quite a lot of the ground is a bit uneven with small rocks, so a twisted ankle is a distinct possibility. Probably good to have a crepe bandage in the First Aid Kit - or whatever ankle support you prefer.
• There are some pools of boiling water and some steam jets. Good not to get burnt. If it looks like steam it is probably unnecessary, not to mention unwise, to test the temperature with your bare hand.
• There are no dangerous animals (other than humans) and no snakes. 
• If you catch a mink there is a 10,000ISK ($100) bounty on its tail. They are fierce little things though and you might lose a finger before it loses a tail.
• Probably the greatest hazard is the combination of wet, cold and wind leading to exposure and hypothermia. Keep well rugged up, as dry as possible and well fed and hydrated.
• In the south there are warning systems in place should a volcano start to erupt. This doesn't happen very often, but when it does it would be as well to pay attention to the advice given on various notice boards.
• I drank most water boiled as Tea or Cocoa but some I drank straight from the source untreated. Personally I prefer the clear stuff to the gritty stuff.

Navigation

General
Much of the time one is walking on 4WD tracks or trails which are generally easy to follow. When going cross country you are generally walking to a specific spot you have chosen (in other words you are walking on a bearing for a specific distance). So you'll have a compass of some sort. One of the beauties of making your own trail is... you can't lose it!

Tip of the day!
This caught me out. I am in Iceland in July. It is near midnight. There is a beautiful sunset. I am walking with the sun to my left. Which way am I heading? No, not North, I am heading East. Because the sun in summer sets (if sets at all) near enough in the North. And of course it rises there as well. So that is something to bear in mind. The sun is still in the South at midday of course.

GPS
My GPS was in use often, but much more to record and to check progress than to find out where I was. I recorded waypoints every so often and also had auto track recording turned on (a point every 20 seconds). This was to create, eventually, a trail map.
On the second last day in the clouds with no visible markers everyone else was obliged to follow me across the snowfields, as I was the only one who knew where we should be heading. 'nuff said.

Compass
I had a compass which was not used much or very good. To be fair it was bought in NZ and balanced for that region. 
Note to self: Get a global needle compass! 
There is also an electronic compass on my watch. 
However I find it a good practice to walk to a bearing and estimate distances manually. It is a skill well worth developing and maintaining. Then check with a GPS to see how accurate you are.
Estimating distances here is quite hard. I often thought that a bus-sized rock was 2km away. 200m later I would pass a boulder the size of a TV set. This happened often. I am not sure why. Maybe it simply takes time to get accustomed to a new landscape. Maybe the mist made things seem further away.

Altimeter
I hardly ever checked the altimeter as it is a largely flat walk (especially when coming from Nepal!).

Map
For planning purposes I visited the best map shop in the world which is Stanfords in Long Acre (Covent Garden, London). I bought a German tear-proof, water-proof map of the whole of Iceland for 10 quid. And it is pretty.

GPS Map
A free topo map for the whole of Iceland is available here. Pretty much covers all you'd need.
I will cover other GPS related resources elsewhere.

Health

No major health issues apart from the usual cracking hands which can be painful and a bit debilitating. I used a lot of paper tape and iodine cream. I had a tiny tub of Vaseline, but maybe some hand cream would have been good.

After three days of wet feet and a long road section I had a couple of blisters on my heels. I used Betadine to keep them clean and dry them up a bit after draining and they soon healed.

Little bit of wind burn on my nose (can't have been sunburn as there wasn't enough sun!).

There is no Hygiene section here for a very good reason ;)

Food

In the cold conditions, and with the extra effort of pushing into the wind I ate a lot.

• Most of my food I bought in London which was much cheaper
• I only bought some basics at Bonus in Reykjavik. They had quite a good selection of most things except no powdered milk. So if you want that get it elsewhere.
• I bought a bit of "heavy" food to consume directly at Lake Myvatn and a couple of extra packs of bread. Just as well as I had more or less finished all my food (except absolute emergency stuff) by the next resupply.

If you get tired of having the same thing every day then these considerations might help:

• "Food is just fuel, so get over it" - my mantra for solving this problem in NZ
• Much of the world eats more or less the same thing every day, when they can.
• Be very very glad it is not "Penguin cooked in Seal Blubber". Try living on that for 3 months and see how you like it!
• Oh, so suddenly "Couscous à  l'Islande" doesn't seem so bad after all!

For what it is worth my daily menu is as follows:

• Breakfast
• Muesli, Powdered Milk
• Bread, Cheese, Vegemite (+)
• Biscuits
• Lunch
• Bread, Cheese, Vegemite, Basil Pesto
• Soup, Potato Flakes, Garlic, Vegetable Stock Cubes, Spices(^)
• Snacks
• Fruit and Grain Bars
• Nuts - Cashew, Almonds
• Dried Fruit - Prunes, Figs, Apricots, Raisins
• Drinks
• Chai - Tea bags, Chai spices (#), Fresh Ginger, Powdered Milk
• Cocoa, Powdered Milk
• Dinners 
• Pasta - Cheese Tortellini, Tomato concentrate, Spices, Garlic - 2 days only
• Cous cous, Soup, Garlic, Vegetable Stock Cubes, Spices(^), Tomato concentrate, Raisins
• Dessert - Apple and Custard (I was given this in the middle of nowhere)
• Condiments - Salt, Fresh Garlic, Fresh Ginger, Spices, Olive Oil in two 50ml bottles

+ If you don't already know what Vegemite is then it is probably wise to keep it that way!
^ I had a bag of Organic Vegetable Masala powder from Nepal
# I had a bag of Organic Chai Masala powder from Nepal

Fuel

I don't stint myself on hot drinks and meals in cold countries. 

Alcohol fuel consumption

• Stage 1: Just under 1 litre
• Stage 2: 2 litres, of which the second was bought at the supermarket at Lake Myvatn
• Stage 3: I picked up the fourth litre in the second resupply box. In fact I only needed one day's worth of this

Gas
If you are using gas then these canisters seemed very expensive but are available in Reykjavik. I did not see them in the supermarket in Lake Myvatn. I think they were available at Landlammalaugar, but it would be safest to include them in your resupply box.

One tip 
Fuel is expensive in Iceland ($12 for a litre of denatured alcohol). 
The best stuff was the Bio Ethanol I got in Reykjavik - try the main street hardware store. It was clear and burned cleanly. 
The pink stuff burned a bit too fast and was a bit smoky. However adding a little water to the fuel largely solves this problem. 
This is apparently a well-known trick, but I had to discover it for myself on this trip.