Iceland #19 - Day 7: Rainy Drive to Stafafell

Day six was a complete write-off. I slept in late, woke up feeling quite rough - a little bit of a raised temperature, slightly groggy and headachey and tired. I had the usual coronavirus vs Garun hangover question, but think it was the beer - that stuff just doesn't agree with me any more. I didn't get the DSLR out once, or leave the cabin except to drive around the headland to go into Vík to try the burger at the Smiðjan Brugghús (which was delicious, as were the chips!). I looked out of the window often during the day, and could basically see nothing but rain and the wind blowing the grasses nearby. The cabin can be pretty noisy with wind bashing it, but it's nice and cosy, so a good place to hunker down and wait out the storm. Cars came and went, and I could see people battling the wind as they headed down to the beach. The benefit of having been to this spot on numerous occasions is that I didn't feel compelled to go and see it or take any photos, which would've been pointless and miserable.

So yes, my first ever day in Iceland where I didn't take a single photo (except for one on the iPhone of the burger!). It was so frustrating, as this was supposed to be my day to explore and hike up at Þakgil, a short drive away. Oh well, that is life.

Day seven was better, although it was still windy and rainy when I woke up (so no sunrise trip down to the beach either). I felt much better - no more headache, temperature normal, so didn't feel as if I had the 'rona! It was pretty foggy as I left, stopping for a quick chat with Raggi before heading off. In the day and a half that I'd been there the covid-19 situation had worsened, and they were about to bring in a new regulation whereby tourists visiting from most countries would be required to have a second test, 5 days after their first. It didn't apply to those - like me - who were already there, which was handy, as I didn't want to have to drive out of my way for a second test.

I set off in the drizzle, barely able to see the hillsides of Reynisfjall. When you know how stunning a landscape is it can be infuriating to see it covered up. As I turned right onto the pass around towards Vík there was a slight rise in the clouds. I noticed a motorcyclist that had come off the road, but wasn't hurt - not great driving conditions. I stopped a little further around the big bend to take a couple of shots of the mysterious looking landscape. It was miserable and wet, but atmospheric.

My plan for the day was to drive to Stafafell, stopping for some more food in Höfn, with stops at Lómagnúpur and Jökulsárlón along the way. I drove straight through Vík which seems to have more and more new buildings up on every visit (and no doubt some of the owners will sadly now be bankrupt...). I passed the turn-off up to Þakgil, the road heading off into the fog and murk. I passed the turn-off down to Hjörleifshöfði - could barely see the inselberg in the distance. I drove on and didn't stop again until I reached Foss á Siðu, where I usually stop for a quick snap.

It wasn't too windy, so the waterfall wasn't blowing sideways or upwards, as I've seen it before, but it was still pretty unpleasant with constant drizzle. I next stopped at a little parking area not far from the Fosshotel Núpar, thankful that there was a portaloo there (I suffer so much with a weak bladder, and much of my trips are spent trying to find somewhere to pee!!). The landscape there was pretty too.

I stopped again a little further down the road, as I noticed a couple of upward waterfalls above the turf-roofed houses as Núpsstaður.

Next stop was a brief one at Lómagnúpur, where the cloud had lifted a tiny bit for me, and I was almost able to make out the top. Almost.

To the east I noticed that there was a little break in the cloud cover, and I could just make out a tiny patch of sunshine on a distant glacier - it gave me a little hope for some better weather in my future!

As I got back into the car I noticed that I still had the key to the cottage at Reynisfjara - not the first time I've forgotten to give a door key back, and won't be the last. I was far too far away from there now to turn back, so I sent Raggi an email apologising and promising to pop it back on my return journey the following week. I hoped that he had a spare (he must do!).

I drove on, and stopped at one of the car-parks along the side of the road on the approach to Skaftafell, as there's wonderful views of various glaciers and mountains. I could see both Svínafellsjökull and Skaftafellsjökull; both looking wonderful. With the long lens I was even able to capture some of the detail of the craggy hillsides and glacial ice from there.

I continued on, glad to have some long-distance visibility and views of peaks, and took the left turn towards Svínafellsjökull, which I only visit every few years. I hadn't been since my birthday in Feb 2018, when it had been extremely glassy and slippery. I had thought of hiking around the moraine to the south side, but I could hear some noisy people along there and that put me off. Instead I just walked through the gate and hiked along the path overlooking the edge of the glacier. I was horrified to notice how much it had receded since my first visits. I remembered seeing a couple of guys hiking on the ice in the distance and then below me - now there was no way that you could hike to this side, as the ice no longer reached the side beneath me. I took a few shots of the dirty ice in the distance with the long lens, with no way to understand the size or scale, and then headed back to the car, feeling a little sad.

As I reached the car there were some wonderful undulating clouds overhead to the south-east; I love how quickly the sky changes in Iceland!

I stopped at the petrol station nearby, not having the usual burger on this occasion, since I'd had one the previous night, and I still had enough bread and cheese for my packed lunch instead. I tried to fill the car up, but for some reason it wouldn't allow me to put in enough to fill it up. I stupidly put my credit card back in my trouser pocket on my leg, instead of in the phone wallet (where it usually lived), being rather flustered by the whole not filling up experience, and off I went, next stop Jökulsárlón (yay!!).

As I approached my beloved Jökulsárlón the weather had deteriorated again, and was now raining again, with low cloud obscuring any mountains - wish it wasn't quite that changeable! I crossed the suspension bridge and drove down into the east car-park, got geared up, and headed down to the beach. The rain seemed to be coming in every direction, so it wasn't possible to just take shots away from the rain, which is usually the solution to shooting in crappy weather there! There weren't a huge number of icebergs on the beach, but generally I prefer it that way, so that I can concentrate on one or a group against the black sand and white waves. I wasn't very happy with either the conditions or compositional options, so I took a handful of shots before heading up to the lagoon on foot, under the bridge (I was actually more pleased when I reviewed and processed a couple than I initially thought!).

The lagoon was also murky and the drizzle wasn't letting up. I was surprised to see that the beach along the edge of the water was no longer there - the water level was obviously about a metre higher than it is in winter (or autumn, for that matter). As a result the options were to walk along the ridges overlooking the lagoon. There was a real mish-mash of icebergs in the lagoon, and I couldn't even see the glacier in the distance as visibility was so poor. There were some blue icebergs but my favourite was one that was rather dirty and looked like a bar of Toblerone, with jagged chunks.

I wandered back to the car, stopping to take one last shot with my iPhone. 

I got back to the car, and for some reason noticed that I didn't have my credit card. I checked every pocket about 5 times, and inside the car, under all the seats, etc... I walked back up to the spot where I'd taken the iPhone shot, as that was the first time I'd taken my phone out since the petrol station, hoping that maybe it had fallen out there. No sign of it anywhere. I got back to the car, checked inside the car yet again, and then phoned the petrol station to see if anyone had handed it in: definitely no sign of it anywhere. So I sat in the car, at the edge of Jökulsárlón beach, cancelling my nice credit card with no foreign transaction fees - grrrr! At least I had a couple of other cards, so wasn't stuck (always carry more than one!!).

I drove off, unbelievably annoyed with myself for being so careless, and headed towards Höfn, passing lots of favourite places (the tree line, the wonky tree) but not stopping until I got to the supermarket in the town centre. The new rules in place didn't make a great deal of difference - just had to use hand sanitiser on arrival at the shop. I know my way around the supermarket now, and picked up some salmon fillets, fresh salad leaves, tomatoes and avocados, and then off to the dairy section for some fresh milk and Skyr for cereal. And then I was back off in the car, and on the last bit of the journey towards my yellow cottage, my home away from home. As I left Höfn I noticed an old man with a sheepdog, who was dragging the man forward excitedly. I soon realised why - there was a puddle and as soon as the dog reached it he went mad, jumping around in the water like a puppy. It was an adorable sight; I smiled as I drove past, the man smiled back. I don't think this was the first time the dog had enjoyed such a simple, fun pleasure.

I continued on, with the weather still dire, with no visibility at all - no point making a detour to Stokksnes, as I wouldn't see a thing. I hoped that maybe coming out of the tunnel I'd suddenly be greeted to clearer skies, but alas no, still rubbish! 

I arrived at Stafafell and was greeted by Sigurdur and we chatted briefly about "the situation". He hadn't bothered to open the hostel this year, but had still had plenty of business in the cottages, which I was pleased to hear. I got to the cottage and took a shot on the iPhone to show how miserable the weather was before settling in and making myself some tea.

One benefit of travelling to Iceland in the summer is that the days are long, which gives you more opportunity to for the weather to change during the day. This, at least, is the hope on days like these! Sadly on this particular day the drizzle was set in, so I just had to lump it. The other benefit is that even if the weather's rubbish, there are still more hours of daylight in the day, so at 7pm off I went to Skútafoss, a little waterfall nearby that I've visited on a few occasions. On the way there, I noticed a police car parked at the Hrafnavellir guesthouse, which was strange - I'd never seen a police car on the stretch of road east of Höfn. I got to the waterfall and hiked up there, hoping that given that there was a cave at least I'd get some shots without having rain on the lens after every shot. The water was raging - far heavier than I'd seen this waterfall before. The turquoise stream of the waterfall and the pool into which it falls was still there. Above I could see little trickles of waterfalls coming out from the foggy hills.

I had to clamber over a few rocks to get into the cave, whereas usually the water level is lower and there's no barrier. I felt nervous that the water might be rising even higher, so kept a close eye on it while I was in there. It's a tricky spot to take photographs from, and when I set my tripod up I realised that the knob that tightened the panning mechanism had fallen off. This had happened in Costa Rica too, but I'd seen it lying by the car and tragedy was narrowly avoided. Not so lucky this time - the knob was most likely long gone (and I'd already checked under the car seats for the credit card and nothing had appeared). I could still use the tripod, just had to hold it steady, which kind of defeats the purpose of a tripod! 

After awkwardly trying a few shots in the cave I then headed up onto the rocks above, where I hadn't thought to photograph before. It was great to get a different perspective, but the rain was problematic, so I didn't last long.

The rain began to get heavier, so I called it a day, walking back down to the car. On the drive home I was interested to see that the police car was now in a lay-by near the guesthouse, waiting to nab speeding drivers going past. Fortunately I was driving less than 90kmph as it was so wet and miserable, but often I do go a little over that. There were so few tourists or locals on the road it seemed a little odd for them to be doing it, but then the penalties are quite good, so maybe it's worth it for a little extra police revenue...

I got back home and diced up and fried a chunk of the salmon and served it with salad and washed it down with two divine sour beers (especially the Dr. Schepsky's Passion Fruit Sour - divine!). 

The forecast for the following day was also poor, with more rain, or at least cloud cover all day. It wasn't windy at least, but still annoying. I had a full day there, so hoped to visit Stokksnes, Hvalnes and maybe Skútafoss again if the weather improved. I was also looking forward to the lovely swan lake, Lónsfjörður, although in this weather it was unlikely to be as amazing as usual.

Click here for my blog from Day 5 - Red Volcano and Dark Canyon
Click here for my blog from Day 8 - A Wet Day Around Stafafell

Iceland #15 - Day 3: Hrífunes to Jökulsárlón

Day 3 in Iceland started with a lovely breakfast at the guesthouse, a chat with Élin and Borgar, before heading off late to continue my journey east - I didn't have too far today, so was taking it easy. I took the alternative route 208 back to the ring-road, which I'd avoided on my last visit due to the stormy conditions. It was a pleasant drive, alongside river braids before meeting up with the ringroad. It was a lovely day, mild and still, with mainly blue skies - nice conditions for a drive, if a little dull for photography.

As it was such a lovely day I decided to stop at the basalt floor of Kirkjugolf, but first headed a little further to a waterfall I'd never visited - Stjórnafoss. A coachload of tourists was there when I arrived, but soon headed back to move on to their next stop, so I had the place to myself for a while. It's only a short walk from a car-park, so easy to visit, like most of the sights along the ring-road. It was in annoying shadow - I was there at totally the wrong time of day for decent light - but it was still rather picturesque, set in a mossy, craggy canyon.

There were some interesting geothermal slopes on the low cliffs nearby that reminded me of Yellowstone National Park. And some nice trees.

I hadn't visited Kirkjugolf for a few years, as most of the times I've driven through nearby Kirkjubæjarklaustur it is covered in snow. This was a perfect time to visit. There were a few cars parked in the car-park, but I could see about three couples walking back across the meadow - only one pair was in front of me and hopefully they wouldn't stay long. I was annoyed to see the guy put his bag down on the basalt floor and get a drone out. He spent about ten minutes with the horrible thing buzzing around, and where he stood meant I couldn't take any photos of the view towards the hills behind. Eventually he retrieved the noisy menace, packed it away and they headed back to their car, leaving me in peace finally. I do like photos taken from above with drones, and have considered getting one myself, but they should never, ever be used with anyone in sight or earshot - that buzz is so unbelievably painful!!

Next stop was a brief pull off at the pretty Foss á Siðu, one of my usual quick stops. The falls were going straight down, as there wasn't a great deal of wind.

And then it was on to my beloved Lómagnúpur, which was looking spectacular with a little autumn colour nearby. It was time for the silly selfies, in a spot I've taken many before. I think the borrowed lopapeysa (thank you Sigrún!) made me fit in quite well as a honorary Icelander! The clouds were moving a little, so I did a couple of long exposures to capture their movement across the sky. I get a bit impatient and never work out the calculations, just putting the camera on bulb and trying out a few different times. Must be a bit more scientific about it!

I stopped after the long bridge when I found a pull-out to take a shot looking back - I just love that stretch of road (and was devastated to read of a fatal crash off the bridge last week).

I turned the corner and the glaciers in the distance came into view. The road goes on for ages, but it's certainly an easier experience in conditions like these. I passed the next corner near Skaftafell and stopped in at the petrol station for a burger, before stopping a little further on at a spot called Háalda. Just before I turned off I drove past a lone tree that was in peak autumnal colours - I'd only noticed the tree on my previous visit, which is odd given that it's been there for a long time! I'd always noticed the strange desert landscape, though, with boulders strewn across it, reminding me of the incredible surreal Salvador Dali area in the high altiplano in Bolivia. This time I turned off the road and parked, something that is tricky in winter when you've no idea how deep the snow might be and don't want to risk getting bogged down. I did a hike back the way I came, away from the road, turning round after half an hour when I reached a good viewpoint for the tree.

I loved the place - so peaceful and alien at the same time.

Nice views from near the car park at Haalda

Looking to the east - glaciers!

The landscape was dotted with sporadic patches of moss and plants, some with yellow or red leaves.

As I was leaving three girls arrived and got out to take a few snaps; I love this photo - I think it would make a good album cover!

Next stop: Jökulsárlón - hurray!! I always feel a sense of trepidation and excitement as I approach, with the usual places along the way to let me know I'm close - the turn-off to Fjallsárlón, the moraine along the road and the parking spots, and the electricity pylons and cables eventually meeting the top of the little suspension bridge. I arrived at the bridge at about 4.45pm and was surprised to find that a new road was in the process of being built on the west side of the bridge down to the car park. It wasn't completely finished, but looked as if it had a much better, wider road down the hill. The icebergs didn't look all that impressive at first glance. I drove across the bridge and discovered that the road down to the car park on the east side of the beach had been blocked off, and access was via the area on the other side of the road near the café. I carried on to Gerði to check in, to get that out of the way, and then returned to Reynivellir to drop off my bags. It was nice to be back there, in my little single room.

I made myself a (nice) cup of tea and headed back to the beach and parked on the far side, got myself ready and headed off to see the icebergs. I'd left it a little late, and it was already 6.30pm by the time I got down to the beach, about 40 minutes before sunset. There wasn't a particularly spectacular display of icebergs to greet me, which was a bit disappointing, but I had a little wander along the beach and found a few small ones sitting in the surf line. There weren't that many people either - the usual 20 or so milling about in-between the icebergs. The sky wasn't very interesting either, with a few streaky clouds turning slightly pink over the horizon.

The light began to fade and I suddenly noticed a weird bright light on the horizon. At first I thought it was a boat on fire, then it dawned on me that it was the moon rising! As it was rising I also suddenly noticed that there were loads of large icebergs visible in the waves a little way offshore. This had happened on a previous occasion when in the space of a couple of minutes the outgoing tide revealed some huge bergs. They were moving around a lot in the waves, but I managed to capture a couple of weird-looking creatures with the rising moon behind (which was an incredible burning orange). The moon also cast a beautiful light on the crashing waves too.

I stayed around a bit, taking a few more shots of the stunning moon, before heading off to check out the potential northern light situation at the lagoon.

It's very handy now to be able to use 4G for free and be able to check the forecast from the car, rather than having to wait until I have wifi somewhere (back in the old days). There wasn't much aurora activity forecast, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. As I drove out of the car-park at the beach I couldn't find the new road - it took another car arriving for me to be able to find how to get out. I parked up along the road a little (where I'd parked on a couple of previous occasions) and set off across the moraine to the lake. The moon was now shining pretty brightly on the icebergs, although it was only just appearing from behind the moraine. I could see a very very vague greenness in the distance, but nothing to write home about. I wandered along the shore for a while; it was serene and not too cold. Eventually I got a bit bored and hungry, so walked back to car (managing to find my way up the hill in the dark, which was no mean feat, although the moonlight definitely helped!).

The forecast for the following morning was for rain, so I had some food, one of my lovely strong beers, and headed to bed with the alarm set for a positively luxurious 10am! Not the best first day back at my favourite beach, but that's just the way it goes, and makes it all the more special when you do get incredible conditions.

My route on Day 3

Click here for my blog from Day 2 - From Hraunfossar to Hrifunes
Click here for my blog from Day 4 - Out and About near Jökulsárlón