As we set off eastward towards the glaciers, an interesting roadside stop caught our eye and prompted us to loop back around to check it out. It turned out to be Rútshellir, two man-made alcoves that may be some of the oldest known habitations in Iceland. The main alcove had a more recent turf shelter reconstructed in front of it. A little further on we detoured for the quickest stop to Skógafoss, a hyper-touristy waterfall, and one of only a few places in all of Iceland with a "no drones" sign. I snapped a couple pictures and we headed on.
 |
| Rútshellir |
 |
| Skógafoss |
Next stop was Reynisfjara Beach where a great wall of columnar basalt, a couple sea caves, and towering offshore seastacks created a picturesque scene despite the gloomy weather. The scene reminded me a lot of some of the wild coastlines around Dunedin, though yes, arguably a bit more spectacular here. Despite the drizzle there were a couple tandem paragliders skimming the cliff edge 150m above- looked like fun. We walked to the end of the cobble beach and waited out the worst of the drizzle in a small sea cave. When it eased I took the drone up for a quick pass around the seastacks and along the beach.
We drove across some interesting alluvial plains and then the road cut through a vast landscape unlike any I had ever seen. Eldraun lava field was a bumpy aa flow made even bumpier by thick bulbous masses of moss coating everything in sight. Once again I took the drone up for some shots of this bizarre sight. Many views looked like a scanning electron microscope image of some biological growth.
A short drive further was the crowded parking area for Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. This short 1.5 km long canyon is intricately cut into soft volcaniclastic rock to create fins, spires, and the occasional natural arch. The bottom and middle of the gorge had beautiful blue waters while the upper part of the gorge had several waterfalls hidden out of sight of the viewpoints. This was a highly manufactured trail with continuous ropes ensuring no one took one step off the trail and two prescribed viewpoints; this was probably for the best as nearly every fin seemed to have a trail scarring its moss top from its less controlled past. I waited for a lull and as least obnoxiously as I could sent the drone up. The view looking down on the fins and water was so much more dynamic and interesting than the views offered by the viewpoints.
We continued our drive east across wide alluvial flats towards the glaciers. I stopped for a quick drone flight at an interesting landslide because I couldn't resist. The day was quickly running away from us so we skipped hiking to Svartifoss and had the quickest stop to check out Svínafellsjökull Glacier (not enough icebergs for our purposes) and drove on. The further east we went the gloomier, colder, and windier the weather. The views from the road were spectacular. At one point a small glacier steeply pouring over a steep cliff with a gorged waterfall below had me completely captivated, but we continued on. This area would have been worth spending some more time in. We stopped very briefly for a windy run to have a look at Bílastaeði Glacier (also not enough icebergs).
 |
| Svínafellsjökull Glacier |
Next we drove unmarked roads to the westernmost access to Fjallsárlón glacial lagoon. Zero cars, this was more like it. And icebergs!!! The weather was cool and intermittently sprinkling (and it was already 6pm!), but we rallied to get our packraft gear together for a paddle. Best I could tell from the poorly published national park maps this corner of the lagoon was outside of the park boundary so I was able to get some cheeky drone footage as Heather paddled through the maze of multi-colored and multi-patterned icebergs (frontispiece).
I soon joined and we spent well over an hour darting from interesting iceberg to interesting iceberg as our backdrop intermittently changed from foggy whiteness to multi-pronged glacial tongues plunging down the mountains. We were the only people around for miles and it was calm and quiet, just the occasional drip and creak from neighboring icebergs. Very occasionally a gun shot would ring out in the silence, a new iceberg forming from the glacier calving. This was probably the coldest point of our entire trip and my feet were certainly cold but I was also too enthralled to care. We happily paddled around and I explored a few nooks and crannies within some of the larger stable looking icebergs. We were both thrilled to be using our packrafts. Occasionally there would be a completely sculpted remnant of a larger iceberg floating in the water, basketball sized or smaller of perfectly crystalline translucent ice which added to the interest. After we felt like we had visited all the most interesting icebergs in our vicinity we headed back to shore and walked the short 150m back to the car.
We had a heavy drizzle as we continued east, but not strong enough to deter us from a stop at "Diamond Beach", where icebergs manage to exit the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, travel the short outlet channel, and then make it to the ocean where they are washed by waves and beached on black sand, sparkling diamonds against a dark canvas. We had the quickest look at the hyper-touristy Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon parking area, but it was getting late and we needed to find a place to camp.
The surprisingly good national WiFi coverage via our hotspot was once again a godsend for identifying nearby camping options. We drove east 60km to Haukafell Campground, a nice low key, off-the-beaten-path spot near a small forest and went about the evening dinner and sleep routine. Another long, full day!
No comments:
Post a Comment