Exercise Vulcan EMU was a two week hiking expedition in September 2013 to Iceland run for members of the East Midlands University Officer Training Corps. Our team of eight, led by Officer Cadet Charlie Byrd with Major Larkham as our instructor, was to be the first unsupported expedition run by the unit. Our aim was to travel in this challenging environment, enjoying the physical challenge and the breath taking scenery.

We began in Nottingham organising the vast amount of quality kit loaned from army stores, before flying from London to Reykjavik, to be greeted by rain and strong winds. After a day of final preparations and ruthlessly reducing weight, we took a coach to Lannmanalauger. Much of the route was a rough track; we drove around the impressive volcano Hekla, with the impact of the most recent eruption clearly visible on the landscape.

From Lannmanalauger we took a day hike over an old lava field up a small peak to take in the views and fix any issues with our packs. We came across a number of large and impressive sulphur pits before retreating back to the thermal pool by the camp site.

The first day of the trek saw us climbing above the snowline to 1000m, with a dramatic change in scenery. Initially the landscape was green with moss and in places resembled the Scottish Highlands with added volcanic features. As we got higher, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the scenery became more dramatic. After a cold and windy night, we continued along the trail. We came across a number of small glaciers that had remained through the summer. We found one particular glacier where the melt river had carved a channel under the ice, into which we managed to fit the entire team. Towards the end of the day we came to the end of the higher ground and descended down below the snow line, enjoying the spectacular view. That night we wild camped on the moss.

We had factored a rest day into our trek, but the decision was made to have two half days. The next day we were at our next campsite by early afternoon, having had no time restraints, the hike had been relaxed and enjoyable, despite experiencing our first river crossing. The scenery had changed again to a desert-like landscape of black rock. That afternoon some of the team climbed a peak by the campsite to enjoy the view, and the scree run back down of course. After the windiest night we experienced, the next day was much the same. We passed close to the Mýrdalsjökull glacier and enjoyed the precarious path and bridge over a melt river that had carved deep into the rock. After an early finish we wild camped.

Our final day on the trail was a gradual descent down to Porsmork. As ever the landscape was incredible, we passed a tectonic fault line and had our largest river crossing. This went fine and everyone enjoyed it, sadly the same can’t be said for the hikers following us. The final kilometres of the trek were through birch forest; woodland of any kind had been unseen throughout our time in Iceland, making for a surreal end to our hike. The team were all too happy to enjoy free showers at the campsite and even managed to blag a free fish supper from the restaurant.

The mountain bus to Reykavik the next day was impressive. We drove through numerous rivers coming down from the glacier; this time the bus had clearly been modified and for good reason!

Our final days of R&R consisted of souvenir shopping, eating decent food and upsetting locals in the Karaoke bar. Not forgetting a trip to the Blue Lagoon on our final day. The Blue Lagoon is the largest thermal spring in Iceland and is one of the country’s main tourist attractions, complete with hotel, spa and restaurant. The lagoon is huge; we spent many hours relaxing in the warm, cloudy blue water.

The expedition had exposed us all to breath-taking scenery, unlike anything we had experienced and whetted our appetites for expeditions of this sort in the future.