How many cars/day pass over route F35 Kjölur in September?

In the second half of September, I am travelling from Kerlingarfjöll (Iceland) back to civilisation. Two taxi companies have quoted a price of ISK 125000 (€1052) by road and €1650 by air respectively, so I have decided it's cheaper to hitch-hike even if it means missing my flight and having to book a new last-minute flight to the UK (I have also considered the costs of car rental or of bringing a bike, which all (far) exceed the likely cost of missing a flight).

How many cars pass per day over Kjölur Route F35? I'd be hitch-hiking from here.

Walking to the nearest bus-stop is around 90 km so should be 3 days.

iceland hitchhiking

Best Answer

I checked the website Tor-Einar linked frequently throughout summer and autumn, and (from memory) found:

July-mid August: 100–150 per day
Late August, early September: 60–120 per day
mid-late September: 30–60 per day
October: 10–40 per day
Early November: 1–10 per day (either the road is still open, or those are all superjeeps who travel whether the road is open or not)
13 November onward: 0, road closed

This is in both directions.

In the event, the very first car that passed me offered me a ride, even without me raising my thumb.