Ignorant Fench-speaking fuck on basalt columns at Reynisfiara
Evening sun on Route 208, Myrdalsjökull in background
Travelers’ cairns at Laufskálavarda
Arched rocks at Dyrhólaey
Lighthouse at Dyrhólaey
Wow! Blue sky this morning, with just a few powder puffs drifting aimlessly around. I could see what I guess must be Myrdalsjökull through the trees, and once I put binoculars on it I saw fresh snow high up on the hills. Not that I haven’t seen some beautiful views already but it’s absolutely lovely here when a bit of sunlight is added!
I went to Vik today, a village about 55 km from my little cabin in the woods. It’s small, tucked into a relatively narrow strip of flat(ish) land between Myrdalsjökull and the ocean. There are a couple of cliffs nearby and at the base of one is yet another example of columnar basalt. I didn’t expect to be following square rocks from one end of Iceland to another but that is in fact what I’ve done! I climbed the cliffs of Reynisfjall first and had a grand view of Myrdalsjökull and Sólheimajökull inland; Vik on the shore to one side and a long beach leading to Dyrhólaey lighthouse on the other.
I followed that with a visit to Reynisfjara, where the basalt columns rise from the black sand beach to form a cave of sorts. There weren’t too many people there when I arrived and most of them were polite, staying out of other people’s pictures and taking turns moving in close. And then there were the two French-speaking men who jjumped in front of several of us and took turns climbing up the rocks and posing on them. This annoyed me enough that I decided I’d needed to be in their photos and so I moved right on in, standing just next to or below the fat bearded slob on the rocks so there was no way his friend could get a picture without me in it. Rarely have I felt so satisfied. Shades of my mother, I’ll admit…
After a visit to the lighthouse at Dyrhólaey, I had a very late lunch of cured lamb, fresh bread and ice cream, all from local producers, at Halldórskaffi. The lamb here is good. Yeaterday I had some smoked lamb; today was cured… Maybe I’ll find some lamb soup tomorrow. Anyaay, I headed “home” as late afternoon sun hit Myrdalsjökull. About five minutes after I got my gear inside… You guessed it… It began raining. The rain only lasted about 15 minutes and it looks like it might be a nice night to see the Northern Lights again!
Kirkjubæjarklauster and Systrafoss, from Systravatn
Dverghamrar or Dwarf Rocks – more columnar basalt
Sheep corral near Foss farmstead
Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, on the Fjaðrá river
Ahhhh, I’m sick of rain. In two weeks I don’t think I’ve had a single day without rain. Not thatbi haven’t had some hours of sunshine but they have been far, far, far out-numbered by hours and days and nights of rain.
Spent today alternating between short hikes and huddling, dripping, in my car waiting for the most recent down pour to pass. This area really is quite interesting, and beautiful when one can actually see it. An enormous lava flow, now overgrown with moss so the lanscsape looks like a lumpy green carpet, covers much of the land from the mountains about halfway to the sea. On one side of the lava flow it’s flat and marshy to the oceans’ edge, and on the other softly eroded cliffs leading up into the mountains. Here and there glacial “snouts” can be seen, each of them with their very own glacial lagoon. Sign after sign mentions farms and churches that were covered by lava in one eruption or another, and the inhabitants of this land were described on one roadside sign as being very serious and always waiting for the next disaster to strike. This was the last part of Iceland to be connected to the road system, because of the difficulty bridging so many enormous glacial rivers with their ever-changing beds and flows.
The nearest town, Kirkjubæjuklauster, has a small fish farming operation for Arctic Char, using a glacial stream that runs right through the village as the water source. I was sorely disappointed to find they don’t sell retail to the general public but was pleased to later find some of their fish at the local farmers market. The market also had local lamb (both fresh and smoked – tasty!), carrots and ice cream from a nearby dairy farm. Rutabagas, like the carrots, are also grown outside here but aren’t in season. I stocked up on a few things, knowing I wouldn’t be able to get more than food for the next two days as after that I have a long day of driving with no means to keep food cool.
I had a visit this morning from a mink. It came up two of three steps, looked about the porch and then headed toward the side of the cabin with that peculiar, humped gait all Mustelids have.
The sky was stunning last night. The Northern Lights were visible but were low in the horizon, muted and diffuse. The stars, on the other hand, were brilliant! I could see the Milky Way stretching across a crystalline void, innumerable constellations I’ve seen (and can’t name) and even more that I haven’t. What a treat to be in a place with so little light pollution and so little moisture in the air!
Night sky at Giljalandi, Big Dipper at far left
This morning, on the other hand, dawned like almost every other: foggy, cloudy, windy, rainy. I had hoped to drive up into the Highlands today and so I did – or at least I headed that direction until my way was barred by a stream, swollen by at least two weeks of rain, that I was simply unwilling to ford in my crappy little rental car.
Ford at Eldgjá
I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and a nap a better way to spend the afternoon… And thus I did!
