Aðaldalur-Húsavík-Ásbyrgi-Aðaldalur

Foggy, cloudy, windy, rainy. Again. Apparently the north of Iceland has had day after day after day of this weather, all summer. It kept me mostly inside today, not because it was particularly awful but because it was raining enough that I couldn’t walk outside for more than five minutes before my glasses were so coated with water droplets that I couldn’t see.

When I first headed out this morning, I saw off in the dim, misty distance what looked like a bunch of warehouses on fire. As I got closer I dis covered the buildings were the Hveravellir Farm greenhouses, the glow was all the lights and the ‘smoke’ just the steam for the geothermal heating.

I spent about half the day in Husvik, a small fishing town and probably one of the earliest settlements in Iceland. I did a bit of shopping and wandered about the harbor, which had a large wooden sailing ship at dock, but spent most of my time in the Húsavík Whale Museum. Fascinating place… They had whole skeletons for 10-12 different species, almost all recovered from stranded whales that had died.  And I learned that Sperm Whales can dive to at least 3000 meters and can hold their breath up to 120minutes – the ultimate free-divers!

The rest of the day was spent in Jokulsargljufur National Park, primarily at Ásbyrgi Canyon. I saw a total of four other people during the hour I spent in the canyon – presumably the rain was keeping them away – and even though I had no great panoramic views of the horseshoe-shaped canyon, I had the distinct privilege of walking through one of Iceland’s few forests in almost complete silence, with only the patter of rain and the occasional bird call for company.

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Aðaldalur-Mývatn-Aðaldalur

Lava dome

Inside a collapsed lava dome

Lake Mývatn

Steaming fumarole at Hverir

I spent most of the day exploring the Lake Mývatn area. This area is all in or near the Krafla volcanic zone and has some fascinating geology including some bizarre lava formations that are found on land only in Mývatn. There are thousands of lava domes and “pseudo-craters” formed by steam from a lava-covered lake bursting through the overlying lava. The Kafla area is one of the nation’s biggest geothermal energy producers and its pretty trippy to drive through sulfur-laden steam and catch misty glimpses of steaming, bubbling ground; fields of lava; hills of red volcanic gravel and miles of steel pipe going all over the place.

Mývatn is also supposed to be a a real birding hotspot, at least in the spring and summer. I found mostly Tufted Ducks, Whooper Swans, Wigeons, Redwings, Ravens and a pair of Slavonian Grebes on or near the lakes, and noticed a lot of Greylag Geese flying in formation overhead. I was hoping I’d catch the fall migration here but I seem to have missed it.

It was, again, foggy, cloudy, windy and rainy today. It wasn’t too bad in the morning, but the rain stopped me only from my last hike of the day – along the rim of a caldera filled with steaming turquoise water – and I used the time instead to treat myself to a long, long soak at the Mývatn Nature Baths. My skin hasn’t felt this good in I don’t know how long! My day finished back at the farmhouse, where I had a dinner of roasted, grass-fed Icelandic beef, reared and butchered right here one the farm. The flavor and texture are markedly different from that of our sedentary, grain-fed,  feedlot cows in America!

Broddanes-Akureyri-Aðaldalur

Lumpy Vatnasdalshólar hills, thought to be remnants of a catastrophic landslide

Goðafoss, on the Skjalfandafljot River

Wall of clouds sweeping over a heath.

Curious Icelandic foal

Aldeyjarfoss – check out the columnar basalt!

You know you’re in horse country…

Today was mostly about driving, and at roughly 430 km was roughly twice the distance I’ve driven or will drive on any other day. Foggy, cloudy, rainy weather kept me from seeing much for the first few hours but the sun broke through for about an hour mid-day, giving me a glimpse of volcanic ridge-ringed farmland going almost to the ocean’s edge. I’d read that in this part of Iceland – the Northwest – horses outnumber people, and I knew I was in horse country when I stopped at a gas station-cum-grocery store, and found a variety of horseshoes and nails in the automotive section!

Towards the end of the day I took an 40 km side-trip in order to stretch my legs with a 4-mile hike to Aldeyjarfoss. This waterfall on the Skjalfandafljot drops 20m over a wall of columnar basalt and is accessible only after hiking over a lava field named Suðurárhraun, which was originally formed by eruptions some 9500 years ago. Most of the  field is just lumpy, barely eroded, coagulated lava but I saw more basalt columns, these lying almost horizontal, in a couple of places. Iceland just might turn me into a geology nerd! Further downriver are several other impressive falls that can be seen from the road, including the mighty Goðafoss. Best of all, I was fortunate to have, if not sunshine, at least no rain while I was taking photos at both these places.