South Coast

From there we drove east to Skogar, where there was another spectacular waterfall.  With all the spray the cliffs all around the falls were an intense mossy green.  Actually, the whole of Iceland is this same intense green.  Being the end of summer there were also many wildflowers in bloom.  I have included images of some of them at the top of each page.

Robert with crampons and ice axe on Solheimajökull (jökull means glacier)

We then went to the glacier about 8 miles down the road.  We pulled out our crampons and ice axes and set off up the glacier.  We walked up for about an hour, looking at the interesting ice formations, and then headed back to the car.  It was nice getting access to a glacier by walking 800 m (1/2 mile) from your car.

Dyrhólaey, across the water from Vík

Another 32km (20 mile) drive and we got to Dyrhólaey where there were wonderful cliffs right on the ocean with crashing waves, seabirds nesting and interesting rock formations.  We saw a few puffins nesting in the cliffs and diving for fish.  They must have been the last few birds to leave as they normally fly out to sea in early August.

We drove up a steep hill to the lighthouse and walked out to the far point from where we took the photo above.  The wind was blowing so hard that we could feel the spray of the waves up on the cliff where we were standing.  One thing which is interesting about Iceland is that they very rarely have guard rails on edges of precipices.  You can walk right up to the edge if you feel daring enough.  Just watch out for the wind as it is strong enough to blow you off the edge.

Farm shed just outside Vík - note how it is built into the hillside.

From there we drove 67km (42 miles) to Kirkjubæjarklaustur.  Okay, there is NO way we could pronounce let alone remember the names of places we went to.  Icelandic is an ancient language, has two letters not used in the English language, and several very strange ways of pronouncing the ones we do use.  When talking to other tourists we could never actually tell them where we had been or where we were going.  Most of them had the same problem.  Fortunately, Kirkjubæjarklaustur is shortened to Klaustur by the locals so we could at least refer to the place by a name we could pronounce.

Robert setting up the tent at Kirkjubæjarklaustur campground.

We camped at Kirkjubæjarklaustur.  The campground was quite full but they had a separate field off to one side which was completely empty, probably because it was far from the toilets, so we put our tent up at the far side of the field and had the place to ourselves.

This was the most expensive car that Robert had ever rented, and it didn't even have hubcaps!  It was however just big enough for the two of us and our luggage.  Those who want to see the country on a tighter budget either hitch or take the local busses.  It is a slow way of getting around but is much less than paying $1,100 for two weeks for a small rental car.  And, if you want to go on the unpaved and unbridged roads (where you have to drive through the river to get to the other side) you have to rent an SUV, which is much more expensive.

 
Fjarðrárgljúfur canyon with its moss-covered sides

Thursday, August 20:  We slept in a bit and then went to the canyon, Fjarðrárgljúfur just west of Kirkjubæjarklaustur.  It was really beautiful with moss-covered sides.  We walked to the end and encountered a tour bus group just as we were leaving.  We then drove towards Höfn, which is pronounced like a quick hiccup, hup.  On the way there we went through some of the most dreary landscape I have ever seen.  It is a great wasteland where the Vatnajökull icecap drains and where there is nothing but black volcanic runoff and everything that was washed down the hill from the glaciers.  We got to Skaftafell around lunchtime.  We stopped at a gas station where they had a diner.  I bought us each a bowl of vegetable soup which was $9 each.

We had planned on climbing the high point but the guided trips were not taking people up there because what is normally a 12 hour trip was taking 20 hours.  The crevasses where really big and they were having to climb down them and then ice climb out, making the going very slow.  We were disappointed but realized that if the guided tours were not doing it, it was probably safer not to do it either.  So we went for a walk to the nearby waterfall in the Skaftafell National Park, Svartifoss.

Jane with the bears (Festus, Ruffus, Grumpy and Treasure) and Morsarjökull (glacier) in the background

Friday, August 21:  We got up at 6am and headed up the hill to go to the high point in the park, 1,126m (3,700ft) Kristínartindar.  We set out at 6:50 and got to the summit at 10:40am, so just less than 4 hours up.  It was a nice, steady uphill hike most of the way but was very rocky and steep towards the top.  Robert made tea and we had lunch up there.  The view of the icecap and surrounding glaciers was amazing.  There sure is a lot of ice up there.

One of the Ptarmigans we saw while climbing to the top of Kristínartindar

We took 2 1/2 hours going back down with lots of stops to take photos and enjoy the immensity of the glaciers around us.  When we got back to camp we had a shower (200 Krona $1.50 for 5 minutes) and packed up.  We then headed for Jökulsarlón, a glacial lake where a couple of the Bond movies were filmed.  There were great big chunks of ice floating in the river which had broken off the glacier and were on their way to the ocean.  It was quite odd to see these icebergs floating along the beach in the ocean.  We also saw several seals frolicking about in the water.  It was bitterly cold because the wind was blowing right over the glacier.  From there we drove another 71km (44 miles) to Höfn.

Skaftafellsjökull

Reykjavík &
Golden Circle

South Coast

For comments contact Jane at  jburke@gtcreations.com
September 2009