Wired Icelanders seek to keep remote peninsula digital-free

In this Thursday Aug. 9, 2018 photo, hikers during an early morning trek on the southern part of the Hornstrandir peninsula, in Iceland. Residents and outdoor enthusiasts in northwestern Iceland are communicating their desire to keep internet access out of the country’s Hornstrandir peninsula. (AP Photo/Egill Bjarnason)

HORNSTRANDIR, Iceland: The passenger boat arrives at the bottom of Veidileysufjordur, a short inlet with a long name, to drop off backpackers for a multi-day trek. A weather-beaten group that’s completed the trip waits to board, eager to get back to a part of Iceland where they can reconnect with the world via WiFi. 

By boat, that will take about a half-hour. No roads lead to the Nordic country’s northernmost peninsula, a rugged glacial horn that reaches for the Arctic Circle. Making a phone call requires walking up a mountain for a cell signal so weak, clouds seem capable of blocking it.