Iceland #17 - Day 5: Exploring near Vigur and Horse-riding in Heydalur

The weather forecast was poor, and I hadn't opted for the breakfast, so I treated myself for a lie-in on day five of my Westfjords trip. The only definitive thing I had planned for the day was horse-riding at 4pm - after my experience the previous year I had to go again as it's just so wonderful. I headed out at about 10.30am, driving north and around the top of Mjóifjörður to an area called Ögur, opposite the long, thin island of Vigur. I'd stopped at the beach there two years earlier and loved the geology - some small stacked pancake rocks, and some weirdly eroded rocks with eerie troll faces in them. The views weren't bad either.

I stopped along the way to photograph some of the wonderful red foliage. As I'd driven down on the opposite side of the fjord the previous afternoon it was nice to see the other side, although it was very similar, with some amazingly colourful autumnal trees dotted on the otherwise-dull hillsides.

I soon came to a pretty waterfall, to the left of a narrow bridge. I parked a little further on and walked back to it and set up the camera for the usual long-exposure shots. The waterfall was called Gliúfurá, and was surrounded by the shrubs with tiny red leaves, which I'd noticed before seeing the gentle falls.

Water droplets clung to the red leaves, but fortunately the rain had pretty-much stopped.

I noticed a no shooting sign, a few of which I'd seen - the picture made me laugh.

I continued on until I reached the beach opposite Vigur, passing some more of the holy, eroded rocky formations. I had to drive along the same route the following day (and later to get back to the farm) so knew that I had another opportunity to stop there. It's always difficult to stop at the side of the road anyway, unless you know where you can pull over. Driving normally, it's pretty dangerous to suddenly slam on the brakes and pull over when you see something good, so I try to avoid doing that! Many other visitors unfortunately don't...

There's an area to park near the beach at Ögur, so it's an easy place to stop - there was a camper van when I arrived, but they moved on while I was on the beach. I parked up and headed down towards the rock where I'd seen the troll faces before. I just love these formations!

I walked along the path a little and set up the tripod to take a couple of silly self-portraits - some evidence that I was actually there...

The sun came in and out as I wandered around, enjoying the views around me.

There were lots of berries along the path, and they looked safe enough (like tiny blueberries) so I tucked in. They were actually crowberries, not blueberries, and not particularly amazing, but somewhat addictive. I am my father's daughter - he always stops to pick berries on hikes!

I noticed a large spider scuttling across a rock - a rather unusual sight in Iceland, and one my friends had never seen before - I only managed to take a (rubbish) iPhone photo of it, protectively hunched, before it disappeared. It was about an inch long, with a massive body and thick black legs. I believe it's a rock weaver (thanks to Jorgen Lissner for this resource!) but since the photo quality is so poor I can't be sure.

I put some filters on and took some long exposures of the views, as the clouds were moving quickly across the sky. Patches of sunlight would come and go in the distance.

My horse-riding was booked for 4pm so I headed back to the farm to have time to get myself ready for it. I wasn't going to take the big camera this time; it had been a mistake on my last trip, not enjoyable galloping with a large camera bag bashing against my back, even with the waist-strap on. The light turned beautiful as I got back to the farm - lovely and golden hour-ish! I met my guide, a sweet girl from Czech republic who was working the season there with her husband, a kayaking guide. My horse was gentle, but quite happy to go quickly, and as we set off up along the river valley he was keen to be ahead. The large retriever accompanied us. The scenery was quite lovely - with the golden hour light on the autumnal leaves, and some lenticular clouds coming and going above. We walked up the valley for a while, before turning back, crossing the river, and eventually walking around the edge of the bottom of the fjord as the light began to disappear. From time to time we galloped - it was absolutely superb! All of the photos below were taken on the iPhone, so the quality is sadly poor (whatever Apple says about the quality of its cameras, I'm sorry, it is just ridiculously bad!). Had I not been out riding I would have got some nice shots with the decent camera. Hey ho, that's how it goes - and I'm glad I got a wonderful two hour ride in under beautiful skies, though, so worth it. And I was also so pleased that I'd opted to spend a little more money to go on my own, rather than in a slow group.

For the whole of the ride, the dog came along with us - playing around in the river and fjord, probably covering at least 50% more ground that us on horseback! When we got back to the stable he lay down, looking completely exhausted, unsurprisingly. The sheepdog did a little photobomb as I tried to capture the tired retriever! Sadly no waffles following this ride (unlike my one at the Geyser Hestar farm a year earlier).

As sunset was imminent, as soon as I got off the horse I picked up my camera gear and drove down to the edge of the fjord, where I'd just ridden. I found a nice little spot where the last of the light illuminated the rocks in front of me. The clouds were still moving fast, so I did a few long-exposure shots too.

I ate another delicious meal in the restaurant - lamb with pecans and salad - climbing over the exhausted dog who lay in the doorway all evening!

I hadn't taken as many photos during the day, so not as much to review before bed. I had a long drive the following day, with grey skies forecast, so didn't plan on leaving too early or getting up for a non-existent sunrise.

Please click here for the blog from Day 4: Driving to Heydalur
Please click here for the blog from Day 6: The Long Drive from Heydalur to Laugaból

Iceland #17 - Day 3: Seals, Fog & Stacks near Djúpavík

Day 3 in the Westfjords started slightly better. It was still foggy when I woke up and looked out of the window, but the forecast was for it to clear a little later on. After breakfast I headed out, north again, trying for the Munaðarnes hike once again. I stopped after the first major bend when I saw a seal reclining on a seaweed mound, similar to the one I'd seen the previous day. It looked very chilled. The backdrop was wonderful, with a band of fog hanging over the autumnal hillsides. Occasionally the sun would come out and the landscape would look as if it was covered in gold leaf for a brief moment.

I walked down on to the beach and watched it for a while - it was watching me too, looking a little sad. From time to time it had a little scratch.

I drove on, enjoying the beautiful serenity.

There were a couple of other seals a bit further out along the fjordside. I parked again and wandered down towards one, another darting under the water when it saw me. I watched this one for a while; it look so worried - I suppose because of my presence. I took a few shots before heading further around the fjord.

The road winds up and down, around the edge of the Reykjarfjörður fjord - and really is one of my favourite ever roads.

As I got to the top of the fjord, before turning left at Gjögur, I noticed a lovely warm glow on the horizon - the first decent bit of light for a while!

Next stop was at a small lake, Mýrarhnúksvatn, on the next fjord, which reflected the foggy hillsides beautifully.

Along the coast there are some nice little stacks, but the conditions were just a bit miserable again on this side, with flat light. I was keen to get hiking, so didn't stop for long anywhere along the way.

In spite of the thickening fog, I continued on towards Munaðarnes, really keen to get a proper hike. I drove up the little track and was relieved (and very pleased!) to see the spiky peaks of Drangaskörð just visible beneath a layer of low cloud in the distance. I set off past the deserted buildings towards the beach and stacks. I set the tripod pretty soon, keen to avoid the mistake I'd made on my previous visit - waiting to take photos of the stacks until the way back, at which point it was pissing with rain! It's a weird area, with many strange stacks sticking out of the sea, as well as lower piles of rocks. There was again no-one about - I wonder how many people have ever actually visited this place? The beach is called Skálanesvík, but I cannot find the names of the stacks. I got the filters out and took a few long exposures. The stacks there are so strange, with layered horizontal rocks.

For a moment the sun came out and shone on the black rocks, making them look golden, and lighting up a lighthouse just visible on the horizon (which I believe is called Selskersviti)

My plan was to go as far as I could along the beach to where another large stack marks the end of the hike before turning back. As I continued on my way I was startled to see a lone sheep near the beach. It was all alone; it must have missed being rounded up a week or two earlier. I wondered if someone would come to look for it, or whether it would ride out the winter alone... There was plenty for it to eat, at least. I was also startled by a couple of snipe suddenly flying out from the grass just in front of me, just like my previous visit. I took a few shots of the weird seaweed on the beach. Some of it looks like tiny, pained, screaming faces to me.

There are some areas where the weird pink seaweed is in piles, squelchy to walk through, flies disturbed, putrid and slimy. Not nice to walk in! Next stop was a short walk uphill to the pretty waterfall, and time for some silly self-portraits wearing my lovely lopapeysa (completely forgot to mention that in my first blog - on my arrival my hand-made lopapeysa was waiting for me on my bed; I was absolutely thrilled!!).

I carried on along the beach, passing a massive chunky stack, continuing on to the last one, where I did some more long exposures.

I turned around at that point and headed back, stopping again to photograph some more seaweed on the beach and the huge stack just off the beach.

I got back to the settlement at around 4pm, having walked about 4 miles. The place felt a bit eerie, and like the last visit, I felt as if I was trespassing.

I headed back down the track and stopped to capture the view - considerably more to see than the previous day!

I stopped a couple of times, but the clouds were strong and light flat. It wasn't until I reached the pass near Gjögur that I found something lovely to photograph: a swan family.

The clouds at the entrance to the Reykjarfjörður fjord were looking pretty moody, so I stopped to do some more long exposure shots - the tripod and filters were getting a good work-out today!

The fog cleared from the mountains opposite, but as I drove back towards the hotel I was greeted by patchy fog again - the place looked beautiful. As I neared Djúpavík I was surprised to see that there's a wonderfully pointy mountain behind it - something unseen until now!

I got back to the hotel at around 6.30pm, so it had been quite a long day. I didn't stay long, though, as the light began to change to a sumptuous dusky blue, so I got back in the car and headed around the fjord again to a nice little spot I'd noticed on the drive back.

It was my last night there, so I decided that I had to order the delicious lamb again - well worth the money, truly divine! I was the only person staying at the hotel that night; all of the other guests had departed in the morning. It felt a little odd, but it's not the first time I've been the only guest in remote places. I had a reasonably early night, setting the alarm for sunrise - my last chance of some decent morning light. It had been a lovely day, with the rain holding off and the fog providing some lovely atmospheric conditions. The hike was superb, seeing all those bizarre stacked stacks! I will be back some time soon...

Click here to see my blog from Day 2: Exploring around Djúpavík in the Fog
Click here to see my blog from Day 4: Driving to Heydalur