Iceland #17 - Day 4: Driving to Heydalur

On my fourth day in the Westfjords I finally managed to get myself up for dawn. The forecast for the day was far better than the previous days - with a bit of cloud, and some sun! I wasn't sure where to photograph, so took a couple of shots outside the hotel to start with before setting off in the car around the fjord to the north side. There was an orange glow on the horizon, and some remaining clouds striped across the sky.

I parked on the far side as the sky near the horizon turned red, lighting up the water in front of me - it was quite intense.

Soon the clouds above began to enjoy the reflection of the rising sun.

I looked back to the factory at Djúpavík as the clouds above the mountain behind turned an intense pink as the sky lightened quickly.

I drove on a little further, stopping again to capture the serenity of the scene before the sun burst through.

It wasn't long before the sun had broken free of the line of clouds and was lighting up the brown grasses along the banks of the fjord, and the peaks and hillsides in the distance.

I drove back, looking forward to my last breakfast at the hotel. I stopped near the hotel when I saw a seal perched on seaweed, similarly to the previous day - it might even have been the same one (I did try to compare some photos and from the markings concluded it was indeed a different seal on the same perch!). It didn't look nearly as photogenic without the fog hugging the hills across the fjord. The hillsides looked as if they were covered in velvet, lit up in the glorious golden light of the morning.

It felt like a treat having blue skies and sunshine above me, after the previous three days of rain and fog and limited visibility. It bode well for the day's journey - taking me across the Miðdalur pass, around a few fjords and on to Heydalur where I'd spend the following two nights. I had my breakfast, packed up, and headed away from Djúpavík, a little sad to leave; it truly is a wonderful place and as always I wish I'd had more time.

On the way up the hill I pulled in at the trailhead to Kúvíkur - what a difference the weather makes!


I carried on and stopped at the top of the pass, looking down on Veiðileysa - again, a stark difference from two days ago when the whole valley had been filled with fog. It was absolutely glorious and I could see all the way across to the promontory that Skagaströnd sits on (can't find the name!).

I drove on a bit, looking for the beautiful purple saxifrage I'd seen two years earlier, but with no luck. I stopped a little further on in a spot where I could see the Bæjará river squiggling down into the fjord. Another photographer pulled up beside me and we chatted a while - he was Austrian. I was keen to get moving, to make the most of the glorious weather, but I think he hadn't talked to anyone for a couple of days and was keen to get his words in for the day. He would not stop!

After about half an hour I finally extricated myself and was on my way again - it was already past midday. I pulled over opposite the craggy mountain on the north side of the fjord - Kambur. From a distance you can barely notice the colours, but with a telephoto lens the detail becomes easier to see - the colours are magnificent!

The channels in the sea were striking too.

Next stop was Byrgisvíkurfjall, where I'd stopped on my journey up there to capture the raging river. It was so different, and far less interesting, with clear blue skies above and a gentle stream! Far more pleasant to be out of the car, but no atmosphere.

The next area I passed through was Kaldbaksvík, again a beautiful area, but looking dull under the harsh mid light and clear skies. There were some intensely colourful patches of shrubs and grasses on the hillsides, so it wasn't too bad (but aargh, those over-blue skies - couldn't even tone them down in post-processing!)

I continued on my journey, heading south at the edge of the area of sea called Húnaflói, in glorious driving conditions. I stopped when I noticed some lovely sparkles in the water. It was hazier to the south, a break from the blue.

After I'd turned inland, along Bjarnafjörður, the hillsides were again incredibly colourful so I stopped for a little walk.

Soon I was back in the car, zooming over the pass on the nice new road and down into Steingrímsfjörður, in which Holmavík sits. I had a little dilemma when I reached the junction - turn left and head back 10km into the town to fill up on diesel, or continue on my way, hoping that the gas station at the Hotel Reykjanes was open and that the gauge was accurate in the range that I still had left. I decided to risk it, which is something I don't know why I do - perhaps I like the excitement of nearly running out of diesel/petrol in the middle of nowhere when I'm alone? Anyway, I turned right and headed along the fast, sealed road up the pass heading west - a difference from the potholey roads of the past few days.

It wasn't long before I stopped again, as I noticed a beautiful red hillside, dotted with waterfalls, flowing down into a pretty river - the area is called Hólasunndalur. I parked the car and walked along the river bank for a bit before turning back. So pretty!

I continued up the pass; it suddenly felt a bit bleak in spite of the decent weather, with little lakes dotted around the stark hillsides. I did a quick stop where there was a waterfall at the roadside that I'd noticed on bookmarked on my previous visit, but it wasn't very interesting. It was pretty busy, and having seen almost no other tourists over the previous few days it felt a little crowded!

I saw a rather hidden waterfall a little further on, but there was nowhere to stop, so had to park a little further down the hill and hike back up about 1km (good for getting my steps for the day in). I wish I'd taken my tripod with me, as it was a delightful series of falls flowing through canyons. The area is called Miðdalur, but the waterfall doesn't appear to have a name. There were some pretty white grasses near the car, which are possibly dried cottongrass, but I'm not so sure...

I walked quickly back to the car and headed onwards, still a little worried about the diesel situation. If the place I hoped to fill up wasn't working I might just have enough to get back to Holmavík but it would be a right pain, and really tight! At the bottom of the hill the skies had become a bit cloudy, but I saw a pretty church - Nauteyrarkirkja - so parked again and walked back to it. The sun went in just as I reached the spot where I could capture the church, a river bend and some clumps of yellow shrubs together. Ho hum!

As I reached the fjord I could see the hotel (where the petrol station is situated) across on the other side - tantalisingly close as the crow flies (about 3km), but a long slog to the bottom of the fjord and back by car (about 37km!). I took the long drive down Ísafjörður (so many repeated names in Iceland!), stopping only briefly to capture some pretty reflections of the autumnal hillsides.

Finally I reached the gas station - only a self-service pump which thankfully was working just fine. I filled up and had a look around for the salt place that's supposed to be there, but to no avail (it's called Saltverk and it is behind the hotel - looking at a map now I can see how to find it - next time!). Feeling rather relieved that the diesel panic was over I continued on towards my destination of Heydalur. Almost immediately I passed a small lake that was teeming with swans. There was nowhere to stop so a little further on I turned round and went back to find a place I could pull off the road to take a few photos. I just love the whooper swans (in case you didn't already know that!). The lake is called Sveinhúsavatn, which I thought might mean swan house lake, but it doesn't (svein means boy not swan!).

To get to Heydalur I had two options - to go on the east side of Mjóifjörður or across the bridge and down the west side (the quicker of the two). I decided on the former, as I'd be driving up the other side on my onwards journey anyway. I made one quick stop along the way when I noticed a wonderful red seam in the rocks at the side of the road. During my stop I had a Nature Valley bar and for some reason managed to take a massive bite out of the tip of my tongue, which swelled up massively and hurt like hell - first self-inflicted injury of the trip!

The fjord was pretty but the light had become pretty flat and the sun had gone, so I headed straight to the farm. There were quite a lot of small trees dotted around the hillsides, some of them intense red and orange. There was some sun forecast for the following day, so hopefully I could capture some nice shots of them then.

I received a warm welcome from Stella, the owner of Heydalur. She gave me an overview of the place (there's a pool, hot tub, and a natural hot pool on the far side of the river) and then pointed me towards my room. I enquired about horse riding, and was told that there was a group wanting to go the following morning that I could join and to ask later at dinner. I had a nice little room with an ensuite bathroom, not that I was planning to spend much time in there. I was also greeted by the two resident dogs, a smiley sheepdog and an enormous wet retriever who leaned up against me, I thought wanting tickles, but then he began to loop his leg around mine and so I extricated myself before I got into a full humping situation - this was a massive dog!

As it began to get a little dusky I had a meander around the grounds, hiking a little way up into the canyon. There were some lovely autumnal colours, from shrubs on the ground to actual trees (of which the area had more than the usual Icelandic landscape).

A bit later on I headed out in the other direction along the riverbank, with the horses off in the distance. There were some weird undulating clouds to the south-west and some mammatus clouds behind me to the east. It began to rain, which made any photography tricky with the wide angle lens (and no protective hood).

The clouds prevented any possibility of northern lights later on, but the forecast wasn't great for them anyway. I had a tasty local trout for supper (my tongue had recovered swiftly so eating wasn't painful!), and found out that the other party of horse-riders were a group of six, beginners, going at 8am - I declined and organised to go myself in the afternoon at 4pm, when the weather forecast said the rain would have stopped. I told the girl that I wanted to go fast :)

I returned to my room, climbing over the massive dog, had a lukewarm beer in my room before a reasonably early night. I wasn't getting breakfast included, and with no sunrise to look forward to I set my alarm for 9am. It had been a wonderful day - nice to have some mild weather and not have to contend with rain and poor visibility, but the fog had certainly provided some more atmospheric photographic opportunities.

Google Maps doesn't let me use the other road to Heydalur!

Click here for my blog from Day 3 - Seals, Fog & Stacks near Djúpavík