We begin the next part of our journey, driving from Svalbardseyri (Akureyri adjacent) to Skaftártunga, a small hamlet between Kirkjubæjarklauster and Vik in Southern Iceland. It was a 730km (and change) drive along the eastern arm of Ring Road. Our long but enthralling path started off with, by far, the most out-of-this-world sunrise either of us had ever seen.
Sunrise in Svalbardseyri:
Once again we found ourselves in windy rain and rainy winds so strong, we constantly wondered if the jeep would tip over completely or not. On the flipside, Icelandic horses we passed by just stood there in the same wind, sturdy as mountains, eating as peacefully as any other day, unwavering, not bothered in the least by these gargantuan gusts.
The landscapes of the eastern coastline, again began changing drastically, tall looming mossy green covered mountains, crowned with dense fog and adorned with innumerable waterfalls, semi frozen, cascading down now that the temperatures had started melting the snow and ice. The fjord on the left was swollen, waters lightly fluttering, an opening act to the wild gray-blue ocean that slowly but surely filled our left sided field of vision.
As we drove along the coast, the green mountains on the right side begin to intensify their layout, with thick layers of black rock columns, twisting around the mountain, until they looked like soft serve ice cream swirls. Green, black , gray blue fog. And from that softening thick fog come flocks of whitish gray birds flying in all directions, entropic in the storm. It felt like a scene out of an epic fantasy film. In fact, I imagine authors were inspired by naturally mystical places like Iceland, when describing scenes in literature, that movie producers then tried to capture on camera by coming to those same mystical places. Circle of life in artistry? Made me chuckle
Just as quickly as our green surroundings had blossomed around us, they swiftly morphed into volcanic ash and black beaches hiding behind a thick veil of fog as the fiesty ocean waters crashed onto the Eastern shoreline to our left.
Also we saw a couple reindeer.
From there we drove to our remote cabin in the woods (the last 3 kilometers of the drive to the cabin were minimally paved roads with no winter services. Yay snowtires)
Everything about Iceland is softspoken and adorable. Look at these traffic lights and this church.
Even the highway signal for speed control makes you smile. If you are over the speed limit, it flashes a red sad face and once you slow down, it turns into a happy face.
Sights of Southern Iceland:
Vatnajökull National Park: Glacier Hiking and Ice Caves
The tragic beauty of the glacier: "Jökul" means "a piece of broken ice; snow mountain" and refers to glaciers. Vatnajökull is the largest glacier in all of Europe. To get to the glacier, our glacier guide took us in what is called a Super Jeep (check out the epic tires these beasts are retrofitted with) onto the base of the glacier.
Vatnajökull takes up roughly 7-8% of Iceland's entire landmass with about 35 fingers stretching down the mountainsides. What we hiked on was merely one of the little fingers. Glaciers are some of the most surreal natural phenomenons. They are formed by centuries of snow compressing on itself a s it traps dirt, air, and pure water in layers. Glaciers are live ice giants that move back and forth with the seasons and have their own version of tree rings to guess the age. When temperatures drop and glacier size and mass grow, they literally crush anything in their path and push the land in front until small hills are formed. Then as temperatures drop and the edges of the glacier melt into small bodies of water (lagoons) they recede leaving behind earthy markers of where they once were. This push and pull motion creates "rings" in the earth in the form of giant hills and valleys. What made us sad was learning that 600 years worth of glacier growth receded within the last 30 years due to human emissions and climate change. How rapidly we have impacted our own home.
Nontheless its gemlike sparkling blue structure remains as radiant and celestial as ever. The most magical part of the ice caves is that they are ephemeral, fleeting. Different parts of the glacier are carved by movement of water so the ice cave we saw looked completely different 3 months ago and will look completely different 3 months from now. Here are some of our favorite photos:
Seljalandsfoss:
Another of many beautiful waterfalls, this one was formed by the eruption of the volcano under the icecap of Eyjafjallajökull (another giant glacier). Also more horses!
Skogafoss:
This waterfall experience was otherwordly for us for a few reasons. The waterfall itself is, of course, amazing both from below and from above (after climbing a million stairs built into the cliffside). But what was unexpectedly spectacular was when the fully overcast, opaquely white skies, so thick with clouds the horizon line disappeared, suddenly opened up and allowed the luminous sun to cast its golden light across the entire valley.
The change in color scheme was wild. We went from subdued navy blues and grays and whites, with mysteriously colored waters just daring us to test their depths to this warm inviting canvas of mossy green and soft rose gold, complete with a giant rainbow across the waterfall. The multicolor mirage appeared and disappeared in the swirls of heavy mist, and even the spirits of the birds were warmed up, flying with an eagerness initially missing in the snowy cold.
Black Sand Beach and Dyrhólaey:
Iceland is known for its black sand beaches and this spot was a particularly epic one to watch the sunset from. Unfortunately access to the Dyrhólaey Promontory was snowed off, but it would take a lot more than one missing viewpoint to dampen the impact of Icelandic scenery.
And last, but most CERTAINLY not least....
The Aurora Borealis of Iceland:
That's right. After 8 straight nights of cloud cover so thick you could cut it with a knife, we were driving home tired and eager for some sleep, when we happened upon a car with its hazard lights on. We stopped to ask if they needed help, and lo and behold, they were there watching the queen of the night, Aurora Borealis, slowly and faintly begin to emerge in the sky.
I do not even know how to truly describe these soul-altering visions, but I know that it felt like we were watching a living glittery creature, a celestial dragon weaving through the stars, dancing carefree across the skies in every direction, dazzling its open jawed audience below. After spending every night stalking KP indices and metereologic reports to no avail, nearly resigning to the notion that perhaps this just wasn't our time to see those Northern Lights, there she was, appearing before us when we LEAST expected. I guess all worthwhile things decide when they come to us, not the other way around.
We were so ecstatic, we spent almost 4 hours outside, just the 2 of us, frolicking in the middle of an endless expanse of snow below and a sky filled with magic above. We didn't even notice how cold it was. It was an unforgettable night of paradise:
And thus ended our final night in Iceland, a goodbye we will never forget!
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