Iceland: The Land of Fire (Sorta) and Ice
Back at it again in the Land of Fire and Ice! Well, not really much to do with fire going on in Iceland besides the lava fields and geothermal areas as their volcanoes haven't erupted in a few years, but there was plenty of ice to be seen for us adventurers. I'll preface the entire blog by saying our Iceland experience was jaded by going to Norway and Iguazu Falls in Argentina already so some of my opinions would be much different had we hit Iceland first. Overall we thought Iceland was cool, but quite overrated. If anyone wants our itinerary I have it saved with comments and ratings of things we hit along the way and I'd be happy to pass it along. A quick list of some Icelandic suffixes for reference:
- "-foss" means falls or waterfall
- "-kirkja" means church
- "-vatn" means lake
- "-jökull " means glacier
Also, the Ring Road that I'll mention is the main highway that links the main cities and makes a loop around the country. It'll be easier to just give a day-by-day summary of our adventures below, but bear with me as some of the names of landmarks and cities are quite long, difficult to spell, and even worse to try your hand at pronouncing...
Day 1: We hopped on a red-eye flight into Reykjavik that saw us land around 6:30am Iceland time, picked up our rental car, and headed off to our hostel in Reykjavik. Jenna was riding the struggle bus due to wedding shenanigans, nine (9) hours of driving earlier in the day, and extreme lack of sleep so she crashed at the hostel for about a four (4) hour nap while I headed out into Reykjavik on foot to check out what it had to offer. First stop was Hallgrimskirkja, a modern 240-ft cathedral that provided 360-degree views of the surrounding area from the top. Inside the cathedral was an enormous 5,275-pipe organ that was quite impressive as well. After seeing a few outdoor artworks on my walk I landed at Harpa, or Reykjavik's fairly new concert hall and conference center. As with most performing arts centers the architecture was beautiful inside and out.
I tried to find a decent, free museum to explore next, but between phallogical, whale, viking, and national museums none fit the bill so I wandered around the city eventually finding Iceland's famous hot dog stand - Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur - which has been dishing out dogs for more than seventy (70) years now. Condiments included fried chopped onions, mustard, ketchup, and another sauce that I'm forgetting. Overall, decent, nothing to rave about, and definitely not worth the $4.50/dog price tag, but I can check it off the list now! With a full stomach I kept walking around closer to the hostel now, but found nothing much that interested me so I headed back and pulled out our Iceland map to put some more details into our plan to make sure everything would go as smoothly as possible. After Jenna returned from her city touring, we headed to the grocery store to stock up with essentials as eating at restaurants along the way can drain your budget quickly.
Day 2: The Golden Circle awaited us for Day 2 as we headed out after somewhat sleeping in. This is an area about ninety (90) minutes Northeast of Reykjavik with a few attractions along the way that can eventually loop you back to Reykjavik quite easily. Þingvellir National Park was first up with several walking trails around the park. The history behind this area was that it was used as a gathering point for influential people around Iceland to hold meetings on important matters due to its fairly central location and water/food availability. We walked around for a bit longer and then took off for the geothermal area named Haukadalur. If you've ever seen geysers erupt before then this probably wouldn't be of much interest for you. The famous geyser, Geysir, no longer erupts, but another one, named Strokkur, erupts every eight (8) to ten (10) minutes approximately and may spray water anywhere from fifteen (15) to thirty (30) feet. The sulfur smell was quite lovely so we got our pictures and moved on quickly. Gullfoss was the first standalone waterfall we came upon and it was fairly wide and beautiful.
Since we had flown through most of our Golden Circle agenda way quicker than we had thought, Jenna found an F-road on our map to explore that would lead us to a glacier tongue. Now, F-roads in Iceland are basically lightly maintained - or maybe not at all - gravel/dirt roads usually in, or leading up, to the highlands areas. Only certain vehicles are rated to be allowed on these roads for this reason and we rented an SUV specifically so we could handle these roads if need be. Well, it was definitely worth it! F335 led us out to Hagavatn, a triple waterfall (maybe Nyifoss?), and the tongue of Langjökull. The F-road took us about an hour to get through with some useful maneuvering along the way to find a broken trail and make sure we didn't bottom out in a few spots. The views at the end of the line were well worth the hour of bouncing around potholes and large rocks, especially with how isolated you'll feel the farther down the road you get. Quite the surreal experience!
Eventually we turned around and headed off to find Kerið Crater Lake. Upon arriving we found out it was a $4.00 entrance fee to walk around some craters that are maybe 1/10th the size of Crater Lake in Oregon (which we've been to) so we decided against it and punched our hostel address into the GPS. Being that Iceland is so expensive - for example, a foot-long sub at Subway was $15 - aside from the hotdogs on the first day, we didn't eat out once. It was a diet of peanut butter/honey/nutella sandwiches, power bars, nuts from home, fruit, and yogurt the whole week.
Day 3: Nothing quite like an early morning two (2) hour drive in the dark to get your day going! We checked out of our hostel, loaded up, and off we went to catch the sunrise at Seljalandsfoss which was a fairly unique waterfall as there's a walking trail behind the falls that lets you get 360-degree views. This would be a great place to catch a sunset, but the sunrise wasn't too bad either. What we didn't expect was for the less-hyped waterfall just a short walk away to be just as interesting. Gljúfrabui Waterfall was almost as tall, didn't contain as much water as Seljalandsfoss, but provided a narrow canyon to see the fall area through and had a large rock area in front that was climbable to get better views looking down into the fall area. Anytime we're able to climb to get a better vantage point, the attraction gets major points from us. Skógafoss was next up and it was larger in every way than Seljalandsfoss. If you didn't mind the mist you could get right up next to the fall area to take pictures so of course we had to get an I-L-L picture in.
At this point the day took a turn for the worst as rain started and winds kicked up somewhere in the constant thirty (30) mph range with gusts having to be around sixty (60) mph I'd guess. It was crazy! Being able to stand at a 70-degree angle and not fall over isn't something that happens everyday so needless to say our walks to attractions got a whole lot more interesting. We took a short walk over to another glacier (Solheimajökull) tongue viewpoint and then parked our car just off the Ring Road and began a five (5) mile round trip journey to see a wrecked 1973 U.S. Navy DC-3 plane on a black sand beach. Now this beach/rocky area was basically as flat as you can get so the winds that whipped through there were sending us off the path or completely stopping us in our tracks several times. Thinking back on the whole experience, I would say in those conditions the journey wasn't worth it. Yeah, a wrecked plane on a (basically) deserted beach is cool, but only the front half of the plane body was there and several people were hiding inside the body for protection from the elements which made pictures and video less interesting. On a normal day I'd say it would be worth it, but battling the wind and rain just flat out sucked.
Anywhooooo...possibly the most stupid thing I did all trip was to think heading up another few hundred feet in gale-force winds would be pleasant. The views - great! But when a 60 mph gust rips your car door out of your hand bending it past its extension point and denting the door, it's not ideal. Shit happens! Despite the elements, Dyrholæy provided some great views of the black sand beaches, rock formations in the nearby ocean, and cliffs. Our plan was to catch the sunset at a black sand beach near a rock formation called Reynisdrangar, but with the conditions and fog setting in we decided to continue on the Ring Road to the next town in hopes that heading inland a little more would reduce the wind.
Day 4: Just as we thought, the weather eventually calmed down overnight and we were actually treated to a beautiful sunrise from our first waterfall in the morning. Getting to Systrafoss took two (2) minutes as we slept in the car in a parking lot right down the road from it. We hiked up a path paralleling the falls that lead to a cliffside overlooking the lava fields which led back to the coastline and made for some great pictures.
Next up was Fjaðrárgljúfur (I have no idea how to pronounce that) Canyon which was carved out during an ice age period by glacier movement. Unfortunately, many of what would be the best picture-taking points were roped off due to the weather conditions, but we still got a few good ones.
Perhaps the best overall area we spent time in was Skaftafell National Park as we were able to see two (2) glacier tongues (Skatafellsjökull and Svinafellsjökull) and three (3) decent-sized waterfalls (Magnusarfoss, Hundafoss, and Svartifoss). Magnusarfoss and Hundafoss were on the hiking path up to see Svartifoss which made them very convenient. They were not as good as Svartifoss, but definitely worth stopping to take a few pictures, especially with the nice weather we were having that afternoon. Svartifoss is unique as it is nearly surrounded by basalt columns which are hexagonal in shape due to some scientific reason of how lava cools at 90- and 120-degrees to a surface.
Svinafellsjökull was the better of the two (2) glacier tongues as it was a shorter walk, you could get up closer to the glacier, and there were more ice chunks in the lake right by it. Definitely worth enduring the over-the-top pothole-filled dirt road that leads up to it from the Ring Road.
We needed to kick it into high-gear to reach the Jökulsárlón Iceberg Lagoon before sunset and luckily we made it with perfect timing. Smartly, we made a quick pit stop just before the typical parking lot for the lagoon which gave us more angles for pictures and only a quarter of the people in the area. Eventually, we made our way to the crowded lot to get our pictures and videos closer to the point where the lagoon flow meets the incoming ocean flow. Iceberg chunks constantly swirl in this area bumping into each other creating cracks and groans beneath the water level - it was another quite surreal place to be, especially with the sun setting and lighting up the sky. Also, and as a bonus for Jenna, there was a cool bridge at the scene!
Day 5: This day was jam-packed with driving, driving, and more driving - woohooo! We started out by getting into the Highlands via the four (4) mile long Fáskrúðsfjarðargöng tunnel. Snaking our way along some pretty awful, pothole-filled roads we explored the area of Seydisfjordur, as well as Klifbrekkufossar, Gufufoss, Vestdalsfossar, and Arnasfossar. Initially arriving at Vestdalsfossar, we just thought we were in for a quick hike up and down and back out of the fjord. When we kept exploring a little more, we discovered almost a hidden waterfall - Arnasfossar - that was probably more beautiful than Vestdalsfossar. Towards the end of the day, fog started settling fairly low so we were essentially racing the clock to get to our last waterfall of the day, Hengifoss. Unfortunately, by the time we finished the hike and arrived at the falls, the fog was too thick to be able to see the waterfall. On the way up the trail though, we were able to see a smaller falls - Litlanesfoss - which I mistook for Hengifoss since it was still quite big and spectacular. Can't win 'em all. After that we took a miserable drive out to a coast town that was highly rated in one of our Iceland insight (books. Seventy (70) kilometers of pitch black, constant rain, and endless potholes later we arrived in the very small town of Borganfjordur and parked the car in a campsite parking lot for the third night in a row of sleeping in the car.
Day 6: After taking a few steps into the Arctic Ocean from a beach in the town we spent the night in just to be able to check it off the bucket list - shocking, it was brutally cold - we toured Selfoss and Dettifoss (largest waterfall in Iceland by water volume), Hverir geothermal area, the Myvatn Nature Baths, and Myvatn. Hverir was a nice change from waterfalls, glaciers, and fjords actually. The area was nestled at the base of a hill and contained several different colors due to the geothermal activity. Bubbles from puddles and steam from other mounds couldn't make up for the sulfur stench coming from all of these areas, however. Onwards we went for some relaxation at the nature baths just on the other side of the hill from Hverir!
The Myvatn Nature Baths were half the price of the Blue Lagoon and provided essentially the same experience minus being able to rub mud all over your body basically. I'll take the trade-off. The sun even came out while we submerged ourselves in 30 - 40 degree Celsius water as our heads felt the contrast of windy, eight (8) degree Celsius air. Again, if the sulfur stench could've been toned down a tad I could've stayed rotating throughout the different temperature lagoons for another hour.
After the nature baths we headed around the South side of Myvatn stopping to catch some view of the lake area on one side and inactive volcanoes on the other. What stood out from Myvatn - besides the baths obviously - was that in the few kilometers of driving after leaving the baths, the weather went from bright sun to fog and barely being able to see the road in front of you in some areas. It almost reminded me of some of the Jurassic Park scenery with water weaved in among mounds of green patches and shrubs. Pictures wouldn't have done the situation justice. Just at sunset that night we arrived at Goðafoss which made Jenna extremely happy as there were two (2) bridges right by the waterfall. That night ended with us arriving at our hostel in Akureyri, finally getting to sleep in a bed!
Goðafoss
Day 7: Akureyri is known as one of the best whale-watching areas in the world so of course we took advantage of this and booked a tour for the next morning. We headed out into the nearby fjord on a twelve (12) passenger dinghy or rib boat for what turned out to be a private tour since no one else had signed up for it. I have to admit that it worked out quite in our favor as we interacted with the tour guide the entire time and had all of our questions answered while we were following two (2) different humpback whales that we managed to find in the fjord. I had never been whale watching before, but I just assumed we would keep a decent distance once we spotted the whale coming up to the surface. Well, as soon as someone in the boat spotted where the whales were at we zoomed over and came within 20 - 30 feet of their activity most times. Getting that close allows you to almost comprehend how big a humpback whale really is.
For once, we actually didn't see a new waterfall around the Ring Road this day. We stopped to check out a few churches - Grundarkirkja and Víðimyrakirkja - which both date back before the early 1900s and the Hvitserkur Arch. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go inside any of the churches we came across along the Ring Road, but their exteriors were quite unique. They ranged from black to white, regular to turf roofs, and a variety of steeples. Driving by the end of this day, we were able to reach the Snæfellsnes Peninsula ("Little Iceland") on the West coast and slept a few kilometers away from Kirkjufell which is one of the most widely-photographed areas of Iceland. On this night again I was able to see four (4) more shooting stars, and Jenna even saw her first, which happened to be the weirdest shooting star I've seen as it snaked its way quickly across the atmosphere, leaving a quite visible streak in its path.
Day 8: We woke up hoping for a clear morning to be able to pull off the ideal Kirkjufellsfoss/Kirkjufell postcard picture with mountain and sunset in the background, only to be disappointed by a thick layer of fog covering about half the mountain and zero sun. After waiting around for a little while, we decided to just get our pictures and head onwards toward Hellnar. There is a few kilometer walk between the towns of Hellnar and Arnarstapi through age old lava fields along cliffs. Just into the water are the Hellnar and Getklettur Arches which made for fairly good pictures with the mostly sunny weather we had that day.
As we continued back towards Reykjavik, we stopped at Búðakirkja, another black church, Hraunfossar and Barnafossar which were a waste of time compared to other waterfalls we had seen, Víðgelmir Cave which we passed on due to the tour price and length of time, and ended with a hike in the Glymur Waterfall area. Unfortunately, the Glymur hike would've taken two (2) hours or so and we only had forty (40) minutes of sunlight left to work with. This sounded like it would've been the best hike we had on the trip if we would've had the time as the trail encompassed river crossings, caves, waterfall viewpoints, and steep climbs and descents. We did snag some cool sunset pictures looking back down the valley towards the shoreline though.
Hoping to still catch a little brighter glimpse of the Northern Lights, we ended up driving almost all the way back to the airport to the darkest area we could find. On the morning of our flight out and at 4:00am as we packed everything up, we finally were able to witness the Northern Lights dancing around the sky! It was more white than green unlike everyone's "professional" pictures seem to suggest, but there was no mistaking that it was the Lights. Patience pays off eventually!
And off to Scotland we go!
- "-foss" means falls or waterfall
- "-kirkja" means church
- "-vatn" means lake
- "-jökull " means glacier
Day 1: We hopped on a red-eye flight into Reykjavik that saw us land around 6:30am Iceland time, picked up our rental car, and headed off to our hostel in Reykjavik. Jenna was riding the struggle bus due to wedding shenanigans, nine (9) hours of driving earlier in the day, and extreme lack of sleep so she crashed at the hostel for about a four (4) hour nap while I headed out into Reykjavik on foot to check out what it had to offer. First stop was Hallgrimskirkja, a modern 240-ft cathedral that provided 360-degree views of the surrounding area from the top. Inside the cathedral was an enormous 5,275-pipe organ that was quite impressive as well. After seeing a few outdoor artworks on my walk I landed at Harpa, or Reykjavik's fairly new concert hall and conference center. As with most performing arts centers the architecture was beautiful inside and out.
Hallgrimskirkja
Massive Organ Inside Hallgrimskirkja
View Over Reykjavik from Top of Hallgrimskirkja
Harpa Concert Hall
Sunset Voyager Along Coastline
Overrated Hot Dogs
Day 2: The Golden Circle awaited us for Day 2 as we headed out after somewhat sleeping in. This is an area about ninety (90) minutes Northeast of Reykjavik with a few attractions along the way that can eventually loop you back to Reykjavik quite easily. Þingvellir National Park was first up with several walking trails around the park. The history behind this area was that it was used as a gathering point for influential people around Iceland to hold meetings on important matters due to its fairly central location and water/food availability. We walked around for a bit longer and then took off for the geothermal area named Haukadalur. If you've ever seen geysers erupt before then this probably wouldn't be of much interest for you. The famous geyser, Geysir, no longer erupts, but another one, named Strokkur, erupts every eight (8) to ten (10) minutes approximately and may spray water anywhere from fifteen (15) to thirty (30) feet. The sulfur smell was quite lovely so we got our pictures and moved on quickly. Gullfoss was the first standalone waterfall we came upon and it was fairly wide and beautiful.
Strokkur Eruption
Jenna at Gullfoss
Since we had flown through most of our Golden Circle agenda way quicker than we had thought, Jenna found an F-road on our map to explore that would lead us to a glacier tongue. Now, F-roads in Iceland are basically lightly maintained - or maybe not at all - gravel/dirt roads usually in, or leading up, to the highlands areas. Only certain vehicles are rated to be allowed on these roads for this reason and we rented an SUV specifically so we could handle these roads if need be. Well, it was definitely worth it! F335 led us out to Hagavatn, a triple waterfall (maybe Nyifoss?), and the tongue of Langjökull. The F-road took us about an hour to get through with some useful maneuvering along the way to find a broken trail and make sure we didn't bottom out in a few spots. The views at the end of the line were well worth the hour of bouncing around potholes and large rocks, especially with how isolated you'll feel the farther down the road you get. Quite the surreal experience!
Top of Waterfall with Langjökull in Background
Day 3: Nothing quite like an early morning two (2) hour drive in the dark to get your day going! We checked out of our hostel, loaded up, and off we went to catch the sunrise at Seljalandsfoss which was a fairly unique waterfall as there's a walking trail behind the falls that lets you get 360-degree views. This would be a great place to catch a sunset, but the sunrise wasn't too bad either. What we didn't expect was for the less-hyped waterfall just a short walk away to be just as interesting. Gljúfrabui Waterfall was almost as tall, didn't contain as much water as Seljalandsfoss, but provided a narrow canyon to see the fall area through and had a large rock area in front that was climbable to get better views looking down into the fall area. Anytime we're able to climb to get a better vantage point, the attraction gets major points from us. Skógafoss was next up and it was larger in every way than Seljalandsfoss. If you didn't mind the mist you could get right up next to the fall area to take pictures so of course we had to get an I-L-L picture in.
Majestic Looking Puffin
Seljalandsfoss
Gljúfrabui Waterfall
I-L-L at Skógafoss
At this point the day took a turn for the worst as rain started and winds kicked up somewhere in the constant thirty (30) mph range with gusts having to be around sixty (60) mph I'd guess. It was crazy! Being able to stand at a 70-degree angle and not fall over isn't something that happens everyday so needless to say our walks to attractions got a whole lot more interesting. We took a short walk over to another glacier (Solheimajökull) tongue viewpoint and then parked our car just off the Ring Road and began a five (5) mile round trip journey to see a wrecked 1973 U.S. Navy DC-3 plane on a black sand beach. Now this beach/rocky area was basically as flat as you can get so the winds that whipped through there were sending us off the path or completely stopping us in our tracks several times. Thinking back on the whole experience, I would say in those conditions the journey wasn't worth it. Yeah, a wrecked plane on a (basically) deserted beach is cool, but only the front half of the plane body was there and several people were hiding inside the body for protection from the elements which made pictures and video less interesting. On a normal day I'd say it would be worth it, but battling the wind and rain just flat out sucked.
1973 U.S. Navy DC-3 Wreck (called Solheimasandur)
Anywhooooo...possibly the most stupid thing I did all trip was to think heading up another few hundred feet in gale-force winds would be pleasant. The views - great! But when a 60 mph gust rips your car door out of your hand bending it past its extension point and denting the door, it's not ideal. Shit happens! Despite the elements, Dyrholæy provided some great views of the black sand beaches, rock formations in the nearby ocean, and cliffs. Our plan was to catch the sunset at a black sand beach near a rock formation called Reynisdrangar, but with the conditions and fog setting in we decided to continue on the Ring Road to the next town in hopes that heading inland a little more would reduce the wind.
Day 4: Just as we thought, the weather eventually calmed down overnight and we were actually treated to a beautiful sunrise from our first waterfall in the morning. Getting to Systrafoss took two (2) minutes as we slept in the car in a parking lot right down the road from it. We hiked up a path paralleling the falls that lead to a cliffside overlooking the lava fields which led back to the coastline and made for some great pictures.
Systrafoss and Views
Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
Hundafoss
I-L-L from Svartifoss
Svinafellsjökull was the better of the two (2) glacier tongues as it was a shorter walk, you could get up closer to the glacier, and there were more ice chunks in the lake right by it. Definitely worth enduring the over-the-top pothole-filled dirt road that leads up to it from the Ring Road.
Skaftafellsjökull
Svinafellsjökull
We needed to kick it into high-gear to reach the Jökulsárlón Iceberg Lagoon before sunset and luckily we made it with perfect timing. Smartly, we made a quick pit stop just before the typical parking lot for the lagoon which gave us more angles for pictures and only a quarter of the people in the area. Eventually, we made our way to the crowded lot to get our pictures and videos closer to the point where the lagoon flow meets the incoming ocean flow. Iceberg chunks constantly swirl in this area bumping into each other creating cracks and groans beneath the water level - it was another quite surreal place to be, especially with the sun setting and lighting up the sky. Also, and as a bonus for Jenna, there was a cool bridge at the scene!
Jökulsárlón Iceberg Lagoon
Speaking of lighting up the sky, we drove for a little bit after the iceberg lagoon before settling on a highway pull off area to sleep for the night. With a fairly clear sky we were hoping to see the Northern Lights, but only ended up seeing very weak flares from behind the mountain tops of what we assume were the Lights. HOWEVER, I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep easily that night with a majority clear sky and already catching a small glimpse of the Lights so I stayed awake, staring at the sky and just happened to catch four (4) shooting stars. I think I caught a glimpse of a what I can only imagine were a few satellites as well, but the whole experience was incredible. I had never seen that many stars before. We may have even caught a very weak Milky Way view because there was a certain area in the sky that was densely filled with faint stars.Day 5: This day was jam-packed with driving, driving, and more driving - woohooo! We started out by getting into the Highlands via the four (4) mile long Fáskrúðsfjarðargöng tunnel. Snaking our way along some pretty awful, pothole-filled roads we explored the area of Seydisfjordur, as well as Klifbrekkufossar, Gufufoss, Vestdalsfossar, and Arnasfossar. Initially arriving at Vestdalsfossar, we just thought we were in for a quick hike up and down and back out of the fjord. When we kept exploring a little more, we discovered almost a hidden waterfall - Arnasfossar - that was probably more beautiful than Vestdalsfossar. Towards the end of the day, fog started settling fairly low so we were essentially racing the clock to get to our last waterfall of the day, Hengifoss. Unfortunately, by the time we finished the hike and arrived at the falls, the fog was too thick to be able to see the waterfall. On the way up the trail though, we were able to see a smaller falls - Litlanesfoss - which I mistook for Hengifoss since it was still quite big and spectacular. Can't win 'em all. After that we took a miserable drive out to a coast town that was highly rated in one of our Iceland insight (books. Seventy (70) kilometers of pitch black, constant rain, and endless potholes later we arrived in the very small town of Borganfjordur and parked the car in a campsite parking lot for the third night in a row of sleeping in the car.
Icelandic Horses Along the Way
Klifbrekkufossar
Church and Town in Seydisfjordur
Gufufoss
Litlanesfoss
Day 6: After taking a few steps into the Arctic Ocean from a beach in the town we spent the night in just to be able to check it off the bucket list - shocking, it was brutally cold - we toured Selfoss and Dettifoss (largest waterfall in Iceland by water volume), Hverir geothermal area, the Myvatn Nature Baths, and Myvatn. Hverir was a nice change from waterfalls, glaciers, and fjords actually. The area was nestled at the base of a hill and contained several different colors due to the geothermal activity. Bubbles from puddles and steam from other mounds couldn't make up for the sulfur stench coming from all of these areas, however. Onwards we went for some relaxation at the nature baths just on the other side of the hill from Hverir!
Checked Arctic Ocean Off the List!
Selfoss
Dettifoss
Myvatn Nature Baths
Goðafoss
Whale Watching in Akureyri
Hvitserkur Arch
Day 8: We woke up hoping for a clear morning to be able to pull off the ideal Kirkjufellsfoss/Kirkjufell postcard picture with mountain and sunset in the background, only to be disappointed by a thick layer of fog covering about half the mountain and zero sun. After waiting around for a little while, we decided to just get our pictures and head onwards toward Hellnar. There is a few kilometer walk between the towns of Hellnar and Arnarstapi through age old lava fields along cliffs. Just into the water are the Hellnar and Getklettur Arches which made for fairly good pictures with the mostly sunny weather we had that day.
What Should've Been the Postcard Shot at Kirkjufell
Getklettur Arch
Hellnar Arch
Búðakirkja
Sunset Near Glymur
Hoping to still catch a little brighter glimpse of the Northern Lights, we ended up driving almost all the way back to the airport to the darkest area we could find. On the morning of our flight out and at 4:00am as we packed everything up, we finally were able to witness the Northern Lights dancing around the sky! It was more white than green unlike everyone's "professional" pictures seem to suggest, but there was no mistaking that it was the Lights. Patience pays off eventually!
And off to Scotland we go!
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