The search and rescue team in the Þingeyjarsýsla region, east of Akureyri, North Iceland, was called out at midnight last night to search for a tourist who had planned to spend the day photographing the waterfall Dettifoss but had not returned to his hotel in Akureyri.
Shortly after search and rescue set off, the man arrived back at his hotel in Akureyri—without his rental car, visir.is reports.
Instead of traveling east along Ring Road 1 towards Dettifoss he turned west, in the direction of Reykjavík, and after only 50 km (30 miles) he got stuck in a snowstorm on Öxnadalsheiði mountain pass. He left the car and hitchhiked back to Akureyri via the road to Siglufjörður, adding an extra 200 km (120 miles) to his journey.
