Veghammar

It was dull but dry in the morning, so I worked, since it was forecast to get increasingly sunny though the rest of the day. I left at 13:30 and, after walking round to the west side of Klaksvík, I took the marked path up to a col at 430m. Last year I went up Myrkjanoyrarfjall from there, but this time I traversed below the rocky cliffs of Snæfelli, to gain the stony plateau (c.700m) in the middle of (the island of) Borðoy. From there I went out on a sensationally steep-sided spur called Veghammar (see extra), which ends at a precipice. Some scrambling was required to get up and down a few of the typical 20m rock bands, but nothing too sketchy. The spur is one of the prominent peaks seen from Klaksvík, and one that I swore I'd try to reach when I saw it across the fijord from Suður á Nakki last year.

Having achieved my main objective, and with the weather continuing to improve, I spotted a summit called Lokki (754m) which required a detour of 2-3km across the plateau and back, but it was well worth it for the views to the north. There was a white bird on the summit rocks, and when it flew off, I realised that it was a snowy owl, still in winter plumage.

Although I was getting tired, the walk back was still a great pleasure, as I could look out over the ever-changing views of islands, mountains and sea under blue skies. See extras.