Ísafjörður, Iceland: Historic trails criss-cross the mountains and valleys of the Westfjords; but these once vital veins between fishing and farming communities nowadays rarely receive any footfall. Wilderness trip leaders Henry Fletcher and Jay Simpson aim to change this by encouraging tourists to walk the many trails of the Westfjords and thereby gain access to the incredible ecology and cultural history of Iceland. Based on a decade of experience, they are publishing a four-part creative guidebook series, Walking & Wayfinding in the Westfjords, which are the first dual-language guidebooks specific to the region, available in both English and Icelandic.

Wayfinding in the Westfjords and its companions—Notes on Ecology, Notes on Walking and the Westfjords Trails Map—document historic walking and herding routes between the region capital city of Ísafjörður and the puffin- inhabited cliffs of Látrabjarg. The collection also features information on local ecology, culture and history paired with creative practices that invite a deeper relationship to nature.

“The stories, trails and wayfinding practices featured were gathered over the last decade of travel while walking and facilitating conservation camps and artists’ residencies in the Westfjords,” says Henry Fletcher. “The guide is a culmination of sorts and offers a vision for responsible travel and sustainable trails redevelopment in the Westfjords.”

“Travelers looking to get outside for potentially the first time since the start of the pandemic will be well equipped to find new ways to connect to place, travel and nature,” says Jay Simpson, co-author. “The lockdowns helped us take the extra time to finish these books and maps. Now that people are looking to travel again, I hope they see wild landscapes through new eyes and appreciate how important our relationship to nature really is.”

A Kickstarter fundraising campaign for Walking & Wayfinding in the Westfjords has already raised its initial goal of £14,000. In exchange for supporting the project, donors gain access to preorder materials to be delivered before the end of 2021. The campaign runs until July 23rd.

Among other international collaborators, the publication features the biological illustrations of Jón Baldur Hlíðberg (Reykjavík, Iceland) and book design by Bonnie Briant (New York City, New York, USA).

“Wayfinding in the Westfjords is a diligent tangle of the practical and the magical,” shares Dr. Martin Shaw, author of Smoke Hole: Looking to the Wild in the time of the SpyGlass. “Visually sumptuous, it also has some hard yards of stomped wisdom secreted within it. There are clues here about what it means to be claimed by a place. It made me whistle through my teeth and start thinking about a journey north.”