Icing on the Cake

The streams and rivers of Iceland explode with freshwater and sea-run salmon, char and trout. To the purist who’s an angler of the long rod in pursuit of the often-elusive Atlantic salmon, the magnificent rivers of Iceland hold an allure akin to, say, the shrine at Lourdes, both cherished by their respective acolytes for the healing properties of their waters.

Each season, with the same religious regularity that characterizes the salmon’s fabled return from the ocean to spawn in the crystalline rivers of their birth, anglers anxiously retrace their steps to the rock-strewn, gravel-lined banks to pursue them.

Although unable to visit these wondrous rivers on an annual basis, I’ve nonetheless been lucky enough to do so three times in the last 15 years, most recently this past summer. In each instance the Nordic experience worked wonders in helping me get ready for an ensuing New York winter.