Cycling Life's Highway

 

 

September 8, 2018

We awoke early and enjoyed a hearty breakfast. It was an overcast rainy day but we looked forward to exploring the Snaefelles Peninsula in West Iceland. We boarded the Artic Adventures van with fifteen new tourists who would share the day with us. Our first stop was Ytri-Tunga. The beach was home to a large seal colony. In Iceland most of the beaches were covered with black volcanic sand but here the sand was a golden-brown color.

We walked along the misty beach climbing over huge rocks covered with algae. Rodge was able to see and capture pictures of harbour seals basking on rocks in the distance with his telephoto lens. Seals live there year-round, but the months of June and July are a more favorable time to see them.

Twenty miles down the road we stopped at Arnarstapi, a beautiful coastal village at the foot of Mt. Stapafell. Arnarstapi used to be an important trading post and vibrant fishing village but now is a busy center for tourism. We walked around the small harbor surrounded by basalt columns, ravines and grottoes. The boats in the protected harbor were lodged up against the basalt walls. We didn’t stay too long because of the rain.

On the way to our next stop, we drove along the shore where we were surrounded by the ocean on our left and flat land and tall volcanic mountains on our right. It was a pretty dramatic contrast. When we arrived at our destination, we were at Djupalonssandur Beach. We hiked down a steep pathway to the beach. Along the way we passed through incredible lava formations. The black pebble beach was breathtaking with powerful huge waves crashing against the rocks.

Along the beach, we found pieces of a shipwreck randomly strewn around. The wreckage was from a British fishing ship called the Epine GY7 that was destroyed there on March 13, 1948. Fourteen men lost their lives that day and five lived. The ruins from the ship were kept on the beach as a memorial to the fishermen.

At 1 p.m. we arrived at Snaefellsness National Park. We stopped for a caving tour at Vatnshellir lava tube cave, created in a volcanic eruption some 8,000 years ago. We did not elect to pay extra to go underground (been there, done that already in a previous spelunking adventure that was enough to last the rest of my life) so we stayed in the van and finished off our lunches while relaxing and watching the drizzle outside.

After our spelunkers boarded the van, we continued on to Saxholl crater. The worn-down basaltic cone of lava was composed of red rock and coated in young vegetation. The crater was formed when the volcano erupted four thousand years ago. Saxholl was easy to climb because it had stairs with rusty-orange iron steps going right to the summit. The 109-meter-tall crater was a popular spot to see views of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding Snaefellsjokull glacier but since it was cloudy, we were only treated to views of the oval shaped crater.

As we rounded out our day we headed to our last destination, Kirkjufell “Church Mountain”, one of the most majestic mountains in Iceland. Kirkjufell takes its name from its resemblance to a church steeple, sharpened at the top with long curved sides. The mountain rises 1,519 feet above sea level and many people recognize it as being “Arrow Head Mountain” on Game of Thrones. Kirkjufell is not a volcano but is a stack of layers of sedimentary and extrusive igneous rocks. During the last Ice Age, it was shaped by erosion. The mountain changes color every season from summer green to winter white.

Close by we visited Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall. From a distance, the waterfall appeared as one mass stream, but as we got closer there were actually three falls all running in the same river. It was fed by the glacial waters of the Snaefellsjokull glacier and dropped fifty-four feet over a rocky hill. We spent time photographing the picturesque mountain and waterfall.

It was time to get underway for our return to Reykjavik. It was a two-hour non-stop traverse of coastal areas and then a cut cross-country (rural of course) to the south. We ended up going through the Hvalfjordur Tunnel, a four-mile road under the Hvalfjordur fjord 541 feet below sea level. When we arrived in Reykjavik, we said good bye to our guide and fellow travelers. It had been another amazing day exploring Iceland.

Bless,

Kathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 7, 2018

We awoke to a beautiful sunny and warm day but it would be bittersweet. Exploring the Borgarfjordur area of West Iceland would be incredible but it would be our last day with our guide and most of our tour group. Our first stop was at the Grabrok volcano craters. The volcanoes last erupted 3,000 years ago. We climbed up ~300 vertical feet via wooden steps and ash paths to the top of the tallest cone, Grabrok. It had a conical crater in the center – a perfect shape. There were amazing views of a smaller cone, Grabrokarfell, from the rim of Grabrok. We walked all around the rim of Grabrok and viewed its extensive lava field in the distance. Most of the terrain was draped in yellow moss.

Next, we were on our way to an Icelandic horse farm. When we arrived, we were greeted by a very friendly dog who loved having his belly scratched. The owners bred and maintained sixty horses and opened up their facility for visitors. There was a hot spring on the property – hot water was piped to heat the home, horse barns, etc. The horses were wonderful, docile creatures – very friendly. They provided lots of opportunities for selfies. The owner led us on a tour of the property (horse barns, hot spring), told us all about Icelandic horses, introduced us to several of them, and provided guidance and encouragement for up-close photo opportunities.

The farm had been in her family since 1886. At the end of the tour she served us coffee, hot cocoa, and rye bread (a special family recipe) that she baked for 25 hours in the hot spring. It was all very good. The farm only used about 5% of the hot spring water. The rest simply flowed into the watershed. What a wonderful time…one of my favorites.

A 1:30 p. m., we arrived at a park containing a very unique waterfall called Hraunfossar Waterfall. A short-paved walk from the parking area brought us to a scenic river overlook with the waterfall on the far side of the Hvita River. The waterfall was fed by the Langjokull Glacier. The glacial meltwater traveled to the Hallmundarhraun lava field where it flowed under the rock and then poured out in thousands of rivulets, forming the very wide picturesque falls. I’d never seen nor heard of anything like it. If there are any other such waterfalls on the planet, I’d be surprised.

Further along the path was the smaller but very dramatic waterfall, Barnafoss, comprised of a substantial flow moving down a snake-like channel carved in the surrounding lava. We remained long enough for a quick lunch break at a nearby restaurant for those needing refueling.

Later that afternoon we stopped briefly at Reykholt, the site of a 1,000-year-old settlement. The main attraction was “Snorri’s Pool”, an old stone-faced hot water pool used and written about 1,000 years ago by Snorri Sturluson, who is the very famous author of Icelandic sagas. There was an underground tunnel from the outdoor pool to Snorri’s nearby home. The tunnel was a hundred feet or so long and had a spiral staircase inside. Nearby, we viewed the old foundations of Snorri’s dwelling and other buildings.

Next to the hot pool was a large modern building that was a boarding school our guide attended as a child. He lived there with 120 or so other children from mid-September to Christmas, and then from January to Easter. Boarding was the only option since the weather made commuting impossible. The nearby hot spring was steaming; it supported this small community. There has been a Lutheran church on the site since 1,000 A.D. or so. The small structure was typically plain but inside was a truly beautiful wooden organ. The prominent manufacturer’s nameplate indicated that the organ was built in Washington, New Jersey (probably in the late 19th or early 20th century).

Five minutes down the road, we arrived at Deildartunguhver Hot Springs, Europe’s most powerful hot spring. It was awesome to see it bubbling up along a long stretch enshrouded in steamy mist. The water from this spring is captured and piped many miles to the surrounding towns of Borgarnes and Akranes where it is used for central heating. The hot spring gushes out fifty gallons of boiling water per second and its thermal output is 62 megawatts!

We ended our day in the coastal town of Borgarness, ninety minutes northwest of Reykjavik. At our hotel for the night we said goodbye to our tour guide and all but one of our companions. The rest of them were on a six-day tour and would be dropped off in Reykjavik. We then relaxed in our room, went out to a nearby restaurant and then called it an early night.

Bless,

Kathy