Cycling Life's Highway

 

 

September 5, 2018

We were up early at 6 a.m. and excited about our Trek into northern Iceland. This was the first place where the hot water in our room smelled like sulfur. But we had to remember, we were in Iceland where hot water comes from a geothermal source. After a hearty breakfast we were once again on the road for another exciting day.

We had a 2-1/2-hour drive to our first destination. Along the way, we were treated to rolling farmland through shallow valleys and, of course, sheep continued to be evident everywhere. Like the sign said in the airport – “Icelandic sheep – Free range since 875”.  Just as we were getting used to the pastoral landscape the terrain changed drastically. We were out in the middle of nowhere with volcanic desolation all around us — black rolling hills of ash, small volcanic cones in the distance, and lava outcroppings.

We stopped at a scenic overlook so we could get a better view. We were on the edge of the Highlands of Iceland, a sparsely inhabited plateau that covered most of the interior of the island. The area was mostly an uninhabitable volcanic desert because the water precipitating as rain or snow infiltrated so quickly into the ground that it was unavailable for plant growth. This resulted in a surface of grey, black or brown earth, lava, and volcanic ashes. It looked like a moonscape.

At 10 a.m. we arrived at Dettifoss waterfall, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. After a fifteen-minute walk over a volcanic lava and ash landscape, we reached the falls, coming at them from above. We were greeted by a thundering roar of water and a wet cloud of mist. The falls looked equivalent in size to the American Falls at Niagara Falls, but prettier since the water plummeted 150 feet straight down in a wide sheet with no rocks breaking up the flow on the way down.

Since the area was very misty and damp and the air temperature was 40° F with some wind, we bundled up to keep warm. It was a potentially dangerous site considering the wet surfaces. Where a similar sightseeing area in the U.S. would have waist-high walls or guardrails, Iceland had thin ropes placed just above knee level; where a U.S. site would have rope warning lines and/or signs, Iceland had nothing. They must figure that stupidity merits its own appropriate reward. Slipping into that chasm would be certain death. If the fall didn’t do it, the fast-running glacial water and isolated location would. That may be why Iceland doesn’t seem to waste resources having rescue assets nearby.

Next, we headed to Namaskard geothermal area. The first thing we noticed when we got out of the van was the rotten egg smell, caused by hydrogen sulfide. The vast area was barren with no vegetation due to poisonous fumes and acidic soil but the terrain was colorful due to the deposit of various sulfur crystals. When we toured the geothermal area, we walked by several bubbling mud pots, fumaroles wafting clouds of steam, and fissures. The fumaroles were my favorite feature. They looked like little stacked-rock ovens hissing and spitting steam. The mountain (Namafjall) looming in the distance also had vents of steam rising from it.

At noon we arrived at Myvatn Nature Baths, a hot springs bath complex. While many of our fellow travelers immersed themselves in the hot, mineral-laden water, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a dining area overlooking the bathers and enjoyed some beautiful sunshine while conversing with our guide and some of our fellow travelers.

After lunch we were treated to a walk through Dimmuborgir Lava Formations. The area known as “Dark Castles” was formed by a lava-lake, flowing from a large eruption about 2300 years ago. On the site of Dimmuborgir, the lava pooled over a small lake. As the lava flowed across the wet sod, the marsh water boiled with vapor rising through the lava, forming lava pillars. Some of the pillars were several meters in diameter. As the lava continued flowing towards the lower ground, the crust collapsed, leaving the hollow pillars of solidified lava standing.

We hiked on one of the many paths and explored lava pillars, caves, rugged crags and towering rocks. Some of the rocks were sixty-five feet tall. We climbed up to the most famous formation “The Church” which is a cave opens at both ends with a dome like ceiling. From there we had an awesome view of Hverfjall, a huge volcano crater created during a short but powerful eruption some 2,800 years ago.

Later in the afternoon, we stopped at Godafoss waterfall, known as the “Waterfall of the Gods.” The falls got its name when Christianity was declared the official religion of Iceland, and the locals threw their Norse pagan god statues into the waterfall. It was a short walk from the parking lot along the downstream of the Skjalfandafljot River (the strongest white-water rapids we saw during the entire trip) to the upper side of the falls. Very dramatic. About a ¼ scale version of Niagara Falls in both height (36 feet) and layout; there were two parts – one straight and one horseshoe with a slight separation between the two parts. Many tourists on both sides of the falls were closely competing vigorously for this year’s Darwin Award.

We were on the road once more passing through an area of rolling hills and farms, scrub brush, and trees! We passed several stands of pine trees that appeared to have been deliberately planted and were being managed. We then moved into an area with much higher mountains on both sides of the road wreathed in clouds. We arrived in the center of Akureyri, the second largest city in Iceland. It had a modern look. The tallest building was a large Lutheran church on a hill near the city center – not ostentations, but dramatic and the largest church we’ve seen so far; all others have been of a small, plain design with small steeples topped by crosses. We walked around a bit and had dinner in a local café. We toured a bookstore – neat with English and Icelandic books, local authors, translated best sellers. I walked up many flights of stone steps to the church and got a terrific view of the area.

On our way to our hotel in Dalvik, a fishing village in North Iceland, our guide sprung a surprise stop on us at a “Christmas House”. The stop was in a somewhat isolated location outside of the nearest town and just off the road. It was one of those retail establishments that sells Christmas-related items all year and consisted of two buildings. One was a combination home and gift shop/farmer’s market outlet; the other was a large, red, two-story wood structure designed to look like Santa’s workshop, including a set of Santa’s clothing hanging out to dry.

Bless,
Kathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 4, 2018

We were greeted by a drizzly morning. At 9 a.m. we got underway with our fearless leader and our seventeen other tour mates. Sitting in front of us was a newly engaged young couple from Richmond, Virginia who were medical students. There were a few other U.S. citizens in the group including a retired Navy supply officer who had served on one or two submarines. Others included a quiet elderly oriental couple from. Australia, a married couple from Malta, a lone Chinese woman, an older man from Germany, a very pleasant Chinese-American woman from Washington, D.C., and two groups of young friends. It proved to be an outstanding group of people with whom to tour. All were very nice and sociable and everyone was always on time.

Today was a leisurely day with many stops as we worked our way around the coast to the East Fjords of Iceland. We had to forgo a scheduled inland hike to Hengifoss waterfall because the area was too muddy and wet for hiking. We left Hofn and traveled through a short tunnel and continued in a northeast direction on the Ring Road (Route 1). We drove through many small fishing villages containing very few tourists compared to the “Golden Circle” and “South Coast” areas we visited during the first days of the trip. Only 3.2% of Iceland’s population lives in the East Fjords.

Many fishing villages had monuments to the fisherman who never returned. One village had a scale model of the solar system along a hiking path near their harbor. As we headed up the East coast we rode by dozens of small waterfalls cascading down hills, some comprised of dozens of steps. We stopped at a seashore beach where tall rock formations were scattered about. Around 10 a.m. the sun finally broke through the clouds and we were treated to a beautiful rainbow!

Soon Route 1 turned into a twisting, turning road flanked by the coast on one side and majestic mountain peaks on the other. We were weaving in and out of the fjords and Djúpivogur, the southernmost town in the East Fjords, would be our next stop. Rodge and I treated ourselves to hot chocolate and a muffin on our break. We walked around the small fishing village and took many photos of the picturesque harbor.

The small harbor was very well protected from the sea. Moored to the piers were a mix of one-man fishing boats and larger long-line fishing vessels that fish year-round. Our tour guide took us to a second harbor in the town where very interesting artwork was mounted on a portion of its perimeter. It consisted of thirty-four stone eggs on pedestals, one for each of the bird species found in town. They represented an amazing effort since the shape, color, and relative size reflected the unique characteristics of each species’ eggs.

The next place we visited was Teigarhorn farm, a world-famous site for zeolites. Zeolites are minerals that are usually created in the pores of basaltic rock and at Teigarhorn they were eroded from the cliffs on the coastline by the sea. The farm was designated a natural monument and nature reserve to preserve and maintain the natural conditions, especially in zeolite-rich areas, as well as to allow public access to the area. It is strictly prohibited to disturb or remove zeolite minerals, whether they are embedded in rock or lying loose. We hiked around the farm and down the cliffs to the sea. At the bottom of the cliffs we found the whole area covered with zeolites. There was a small mineral museum on the property but it wasn’t open for a tour. It was very windy and cold by the water but the views were amazing.

We continued our tour around the fjords until we came to the small town of Budir, also referred to as Faskrudsfjordur. Here we traveled through a 3.5-mile tunnel to Reyoarfjordur instead of traveling around a long fjord. This was one of several multi-mile tunnels that were scattered around the island’s perimeter. Most tunnels were driven through the volcanic mountains separating the fjords. Our guide remarked that until the tunnels were built, many of the fishing villages in the fjords were very isolated and reachable only by boat or a difficult over-mountain passage.

What made these dimly lit two-way traffic tunnels unusual, particularly for the non-native driver, was that they were only one lane wide. There were no traffic signals at either end to control entry. Traffic enters continuously in both directions. Inside, the tunnel widens to provide a turnout about every 200-300 yards for traffic heading counterclockwise around the island (the direction our tour was heading in). There were flashing lights immediately before each turnout to warn of oncoming traffic – a necessity since the tunnels were highly curved and the sight lines were typically only about 100 yards before the turnouts.

We ended up in the resort town of Egilsstadir, the largest community in northeast Iceland. The town was located at the north end of Lake Lagarfljot some distance from the sea. Our hotel accommodations were very modern. Our room key had to be inserted into a device inside the room to activate the master power switch for the entire room. At 6:30 p.m. we could have walked out in town to find a place to eat dinner but elected to have dinner in the hotel. We had had another great day along the Ring Road exploring the East Fjords. Tomorrow we would be heading to Akureyri in North Iceland.

Bless,
Kathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 3, 2018

At 6:30 a.m., we were jump started by our alarm clock after a very restful sleep. I managed not to scald myself in the shower – it’s always fun to figure out how to operate European-style plumbing fixtures. It’s also considerate of the designers to incorporate a safety interlock to help prevent inadvertently selecting 100% hot water, which could be life threatening in Iceland given the fact that much of their domestic hot water comes directly from thermal springs.

An hour later we ate a hearty breakfast in our hotel. The typical Northern European hotel buffet included cereals, jams, butters, cheeses, salamis, ham, scrambled eggs, sausages, yogurt, several types of bread, several types of rolls, pastries, fresh fruit, juices, milk, several types of coffee, salmon, etc. The sugar packages contained two lumps (cubes) – that turned out to be the standard wherever we ate.

At 9 a. m. we climbed onto the bus. The gear we had donned for the day included many layers with the top being waterproof. That strategy worked out very well throughout the trip given the uncertainty and variability of Icelandic weather. On our continued journey along the South Coast, we arrived at Reynisfjara black sand beach. The beach was gorgeous and covered in coarse, jet black volcanic sand. It was very tough to walk in it due to the loose-packed nature of the sand. The beach was about 100-150 yards deep with portions backed by towering volcanic rock cliffs. Parts of the cliffs were comprised of huge vertical basalt crystals similar to those forming Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. On either side of the crystals were half-round caves. In one of the caves a crew was filming Game of Thrones, a television series on the HBO channel.

Looking out to sea, tall rock spires jutted out of the water. These were basalt formations–splintered columns of volcanic rock. The beach was striking and very dramatic. One had to be very careful not to get too close to the water because of the strong undertow and dangerous sneaker waves. There were lots of warning signs about the large waves that tend to hit the beach after a series of smaller waves. The sneaker waves routinely carry incautious tourists out to sea to their deaths. The warnings included a picture of a recent example of an unfortunate tourist engulfed in water who became one of those statistics. Our guide provided similar verbal warnings.

Our next adventure was a three-hour glacier hike on a Vatnajokull outlet glacier in Skaftafell National Park. Vatnajokull Glacier is the largest and most voluminous ice cap glacier in Iceland, and one of the largest in area in Europe. It has thirty outlet glaciers flowing from its ice cap. Outlet glaciers, are channels of ice that flow out of ice caps but remained constrained on the sides of the valley. We would have the opportunity to climb one.

At 10:45 we arrived in a parking area where we climbed aboard an old school bus used by the outfitters to house their equipment. We got fitted for crampons and were issued the rest of our gear – ice axe, helmet, and harness. After exiting the back door of the bus, we donned our harnesses and helmets, were divided up into groups of about ten, and met our guides. Ours was a young man from Italy. Then we were off for our “three-hour tour”.

After a thirty-minute walk along the very wide gravel bed of the glacier’s outflow stream, we reached the foot of the glacier. Along the way we paused several times for photo opportunities. Our guide stated that the glacier had retreated one kilometer since 2010, sometimes moving back one meter per day. We moved quickly in single file through a relatively hazardous rock fall area. At the foot of the glacier we stopped to don our crampons. That proved somewhat arduous since we didn’t know what we were doing and the guide had to lead us slowly step-by-step through the procedure to securely lash the crampons to our feet with the crampon straps. Once that was done, we practiced walking with them and headed out up the glacier.

The going was slow as we walked single file. The trek proved more physically taxing than we expected, I think because in walking we were stomping our feet with every step to securely embed the crampon points into the ice. It was tiring. Half-way up the climb to the top of the glacier, I lost my footing and fell backward, landing on my butt and back and slid 8-10 feet back down the trail. All stop! The guide quickly came back, he and another climber helped me stand up, and they checked me out. I was OK (a few minor bruises revealed themselves later in the hotel) and none of my equipment was broken. However, my climb was done. I was pretty tired out and didn’t argue. Rodge elected to stay with me and forego the remainder of the climb.

In any event, we had indeed climbed on a glacier despite not doing quite as much as planned (check off that bucket list item!). Our group proceeded on up while we waited ten minutes to join up with a group coming back down. Our guide had radioed the situation and told us we would go down with a group led by a Swede with a big blond beard (an accurate description as it turned out, and he was great). We joined our new group and made it back down without further incident. Based on comments from that guide, members of his group had also experienced some problems along the way – at least one slight injury – that caused them to fall behind schedule.

We finally arrived back at the school bus where we dropped off our gear. As it turned out, we only missed about ½ hour of climbing time. We chatted with our Arctic Adventures tour guide and waited for the rest of our group to arrive back from the glacier. It was a quiet group that trudged its way back to the bus – all looked pretty tired out.

Our next stop was in the small town of Vik for lunch. Our guide told us that north of the town is located the active volcano Katla. It last erupted one hundred years ago in 1918 and was due for another eruption. All of the residents of the town had to participate in annual helicopter evacuation drills because when the volcano erupts it causes glacial flooding that inundates the land on which the town sits. We were told Iceland has 150 earthquakes per day. Yikes!

We were now underway again for a 2-1/2-hour drive to our next destination. Our trek would take us along the Ring Road through Southeast Iceland. We were once again traveling along the coast. We passed many glaciers coming off of the vast interior ice sheet glacier. To our right was the ocean. We drove on a wide, flat area that was seabed during the last ice age (after the ice age ended, the land sprung back up several meters as the weight of ice was removed). To our left was a high eroded sea cliff, the top of which was the beginning of the interior highlands. The flat area had scattered farms with hay and innumerable sheep scattered about the flat land and up the slopes. Farm homes and support buildings were typically tucked at the base of the talus or heights on the left. Avalanches and falling rocks must be a constant hazard, but the location probably provides protection from much of the winter winds.

Along the way we drove atop one of the largest lava flows in recorded history. There were miles and miles of strange, twisted, lumpy landscape – a very humbling sight. The stark landscape was the result of the eruption of the Lakagígar fissure which lasted for eight months in 1783. It’s poisoning of the environment killed half of the island’s livestock, destroyed most of the crops, and led to widespread famine in which about 25% of the island’s population perished. The eruption also had a significant impact on the northern hemisphere, producing a very severe winter in 1784 (e.g. the Mississippi River froze in New Orleans). We also passed the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, and its associated lava field, that halted all air traffic in Europe in 2010.

The road we were traveling on had many single-lane bridges. There were no traffic signals as one approached the bridges, just a warning sign in Icelandic and a single flashing yellow light on the right-hand bridge abutment. It was up to the drivers to proceed or not. The longest of the bridges had pullout sidings at the midpoint. Luckily, the generally flat topography along the coast and the lack of trees resulted in pretty long sight lines so seeing oncoming traffic that time of year was not generally a problem.

We finally arrived at our destination, “Diamond Beach”, another black volcanic sand beach at the outflow of a short glacial river. It was named Diamond Beach because the ice looked like glistening diamonds against the background of black sand. We walked along the beach and saw small stranded icebergs melting in the mild temperatures. We watched many small icebergs float by in the fast-moving current on their way to the sea. Several seals were hunting for food in the river. They appeared focused on their work with no time to pose for the tourists wandering along the shoreline.

A half mile away we visited Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. It was an enormous lagoon, 800 feet deep, filled with huge chunks of ice that had broken free from Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of the famous Vatnajökull (the largest icecap in Europe). Our guide related that one day he watched a group of excited tourists exit their car and rush to see the iceberg-filled pool. Alas, they failed to set the parking brake on their car which is still at the bottom of the lake along with their passports. While we were there, the lagoon was very busy with companies offering kayaking and amphibious boat tours. It was truly gorgeous with many small bergs dancing within it. Although the air was very chilly with a brisk wind, the views were awe-inspiring.

It was 7 p.m. and time to head to our hotel. We arrived in the small seaside town of Hofn where we stayed at Hotel Smyrlabjorg. It was another country hotel with a magnificent ocean view. The hotel was started by a farmer and his family and is still a working farm that produces all of the lamb served in the restaurant. Lots of baa-ing was evident as we walked around the front of the hotel. That night we ate as a group in the hotel restaurant and all enjoyed the outstanding food and each other’s company.

Bless,
Kathy
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 2, 2018

It was the first day of our Artic Adventures Tour around Iceland’s Ring Road. We awoke at 6 a.m. and after a hearty breakfast in the hotel we walked a block to Bus Stop # 7 to wait for our tour bus. At 8:20 a.m. a nineteen-passenger bus bearing the “Artic Adventures” logo and towing a small trailer pulled up. We were greeted by our guide, a tall, robust, somewhat weathered man of fifty, who would be our guide for the week. Over the course of the next few days, we would learn quite a bit about him in snippets.

Although he and his family currently lived about a forty-five minutes north of Reykjavik, he was born and raised in a small fishing village in northwest Iceland. His family had been in Iceland for the last 1000 years. After finishing school, he fished on many vessels until he eventually served on and captained a large vessel (100-150 foot) that remained at sea for weeks at a time. He later obtained his masters license and served as the captain of a small touring vessel that plied the waters around Norway, Great Britain and Iceland. For the last few years he worked year-round as an Iceland tour guide. Both his English and his skills as a tour guide proved excellent. His driving prowess and ability to maneuver the bus and its attached trailer were akin to that of a mountain goat navigating a hillside.

With our luggage loaded and all nineteen of us aboard, we headed out for our seven-day excursion. Our trek would take us in a counter clockwise direction around the perimeter of Iceland on the 800-mile long Ring Road.The first area we explored was the Golden Circle, an area east of Reykjavik. After riding an hour, our first stop was Pingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World heritage Site. Its dramatic gorge marked the pulling apart of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates and historically it was the area where in 930 AD the Icelandic people established their parliament.

We pulled up to the Visitor Center and walked to a viewing platform which overlooked the Pingvellir Rift Valley. In the distance we could see Pingvellir Lake and beautiful rock features littered with ravines, many of which were filled with crystal clear spring water. We walked along the edge of the North American Plate by weaving our way through the Almannagia Gorge. Along some parts of the gorge we could see across the valley to the Eurasian Tectonic Plate. The plates continue to move apart at 2.5 cm. a year.

Our next Golden Circle discovery was Gullfoss waterfall or “Golden Waterfall”. As we approached the falls from a footpath, we could hear the roar of the water and see a sparkling cloud of mist. The breathtaking waterfall is fed by the Hvita River which is created by Iceland’s second biggest glacier, the Langiokull. The two-tiered waterfall plummets thirty-five feet into a narrow gorge which is seventy feet deep and 1.5 miles long. We stood on the lower viewing platform and were mesmerized by the sheer power and beauty of the cascading water.

The next area to explore was Iceland’s beautiful, rugged South Coast. After driving for ninety minutes we arrived at our first destination, Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. Like most waterfalls in Iceland, Seljalandsfoss was also fed by a glacier. The melting waters from the glacier-capped Eyjafjallajokull volcano flowed to form the Seljalands River which then cascaded 213 feet over steep cliffs into a pretty meadow.

There was a footpath which ran along the bottom of the cliff and allowed access behind the waterfall. We decided not to hike there because we didn’t want to get drenched by the drizzle. It is the only known waterfall in Iceland where it’s possible to walk behind the falling sheet of water.

As we continued west along the South Coast, we had the sea on one side and on the other side a flat stretch of land about three miles wide bordered by dramatic cliffs running parallel to the sea. We rode by beautiful bright green meadows dotted with wooly sheep. Sheep were grazing everywhere even on the highest cliffs.

As we approached our next waterfall, Skogafoss we were mesmerized by its beauty and the magnificent rainbow encircling it. We immediately jumped off the bus and ran to capture a picture. The sound of the roaring cascade was deafening. As we walked closer to it, we were drenched in a cloud of spray. The falls, formed by the Skogar River, dropped 200 feet to its bottom. A staircase (527 steps) led up to an observation platform above Skogafoss where you could view not only the waterfall but south Iceland’s coastline.

Our last stop of the day was Dyrholaey Promontory, a peninsula on the south coast famous for its lighthouse, natural sea arches, picturesque off shore rocks and sweeping views of black sand beaches. We walked up to an overlook and spent time bonding with the natural beauty of the sea. The promontory also served as a bird sanctuary. In the summer, many Atlantic puffins and Arctic terns could be found nesting on the cliff faces.

At day’s end, we pulled into a country inn, the Hotel Dyrholaey. It was located in the middle of nowhere with a great view of the southern coast in the distance. The back view out our hotel room window was equally awesome – lots of green mountains in the background. We thoroughly enjoyed our first day on the Ring Road and looked forward to what tomorrow would bring!

Bless,
Kathy