Ninety Year 10 students and nine members of staff undertook their geographical pilgrimage to south-west Iceland this year. Although the weather was mixed as usual, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the group for the amazing landscapes they encountered. Activities included visiting variety of astonishingly powerful and beautiful waterfalls, walking on glaciers, snorkeling through the icy cold and clear Silfra gorge, clambering to the top of a 40-year-old volcano, taking a boat trip to see puffins, and crossing huge glacial rivers in super-jeeps. This year, 24 of the students stayed on at the end of the main trip to undertake the famous but challenging Laugavegurinn trek in the Icelandic highlands. Things were made more difficult as the area experienced a very cold spring this year resulting in exceptionally deep snow cover for July. This made one of the campsites inaccessible to support vehicles and resulted in the trek needing to be completed in 3 rather than the planned 4 days. Nonetheless, the group coped admirably with rough terrain, long distances, waist-deep glacial river fordings and relentless rain on the penultimate day. They were rewarded with some terrific views on the final day in particular, followed by a dip in a naturally hot river. The pupils were impeccable on both parts of the trip and a real pleasure to be with.
