Forgotten Coast, The (2024)

[bunniefuu]

(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 sh*t 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 f*cked 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 f*cked, 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)