23 | July | 2017 | Adventures with Julia

July 22, 2017

Now I will write about July 21st. It feels better to be back in sequence. I was getting myself confused. Hope it did not disturb you.

As we climbed up the hill from the Sifurberg Country Resort, actually a small guesthouse, we were immediately engulfed in fog with a temp of 11c, until we were over the hill and down in the next valley. The temp rose to 15c and then by noon it was 18c. Very comfortable.

Icelanders buying vegetables. Not so plentiful and varied, but adequate.

We stopped to buy gas and lunch things in the small town of Egilsstadir and then began what is called the “Diamond Circle” loop enroute to Lake Myvatn.

Rjukandi Falls

Right away we came upon a large waterfall beside the road and stopped with a bunch of other tourists to see it. While hiking up to the view point we met up with two couples from Isreal, who offered to take our photo. We had a pleasant change and I learned how to add captions to the bottom of photos. Nice trick. The falls are called Rjukandi.
Then we headed for the first stop of the Diamond Circle, Dittifoss waterfall. It is considered the largest falls in Europe with a volume over 400 cubic meters per second. It is small compared to Niagara Falls which is 212,000 cubic feet per second. You do the conversion. It was a good hike to get to the falls and they were well worth the effort. The path was crowded with people coming

Dettifoss waterfall. Largest volume waterfall in Europe.

and going. About a kilometer down the road we cam on a much smaller falls below Dittifoss, called Hafragilsfoss. To get to Dittifoss we have traveled 28km on a dirt road and we continue another 30km on dirt to get to the next stop, a canyon called Asbyrgi, which was very interesting and difficult to photograph.

Sitting next to Dettifoss.

It is a huge box canyon created by a volcanic eruption and massive flooding that moved through the are in 2-3 days eons ago. Amazing how scientists can figure these things out.

On a separate note, we both have noticed and commented on road and driving conditions. First, all the roads are narrow, with no shoulders. Most are paved and in good condition. Gravel roads are in good shape for what they are. There are so few trees that it is easy to see long distances and pass as often as needed. Speed limits tend to be low, and Mark exceeds them much of the time. So far we have seen only one cop and he was busy with someone else. The most curious thing is that we see many cars and lots of people at every tourist attraction, but when we pull out onto the road there are almost no cars and we can travel quickly. This has been the case every day and we are still wondering how they all get from place to place.

Mark in his clean, dry zodiac suit.

The third stop is Husavik, a harbor town known as the whale watching capital of Iceland. We got there in time to have a late lunch of fish and chips. Yep, I finally ate some cod. Must admit it was barely breaded and very tasty. At 4pm we showed up for our next zodiac ride. This time, the weather was sunny and warm, the sea calm, the zodiac large and well appointed and the program well organized.

Our waiting zodiac in Husavik Harbor. 12 seats are 2 abreast down the center. We straddle a seat like riding a horse and use our legs to grip. There is even a back rest.

We did climb into similar suits as on the iceberg trip, but these suits were clean and dry. Our experience was positive even before we started. Twelve of us climbed into the zodiac with a boat man and a guide, who spoke to us over an inboard speaker system. We could all hear every word he said. Lovely.

One of many Humpback sightings.

Mark and I managed to be in the front this time and were happy to be there. Although the driver did speed out to Puffin Island, we did not get a drop of water on us. We, of course, were supposed to see Puffins around the island and they were certainly flying everywhere. However, they were so small we could hardly make them out.

Beginning a deep dive.

Even when they were floating on the water, we could not get close enough to them to get a decent photo. We were not allowed to approach the island where 100,000 of them are nesting. We learned they can dive up to 60 feet deep to catch fish, but to do that they are built for swimming, not flying.

The surface finish to a deep dive.

They mate for life, lay only one egg per season, live at sea the first 5 years of their lives before returning to land to mate. They have hooks in their beaks to hold up to 45 fish. Sorry, I was not able to get even one good shot.

Another sighting.

After 20 minutes of “puffing around”, we turned our attention to humpback whales and had much better success. I will share several photos. Our guide thought we actually saw only 4-5 whales, but we saw each of them several times. No matter, we were happy to get so much time with them.

Flukes up. Looking for the perfect finish.

After 2.5 hours in the bay, we finally returned to the dock, thanked our boat driver and guide and headed for Hotel Laxa in Lake Myvatn. Mark had driven 377 kilometers in 5 hours and 15 minutes. A long day filled with great activity and sights.

My best fluke finish.

Hotel Laxa is quite large and take in bus loads of people. The dining room was filled with long tables set for crowds. Fortunately, we ate early at the head waiter’s suggestion and escaped the crush. We have a nice corner room with windows in two directions and a lovely view. There is room for our bags, but still no place to sit. We happily went to bed early, so no need to sit.

My favorite shot. Had enough.

This morning we woke to a beautiful clear, sunny and warm day. The best day yet by far. The temp got up to 23c by mid afternoon and the sky stayed clear, sunny and warm all day. As we are staying in the same hotel tonight, driving will be at a minimum. Nice for Mark.

Hotel Laxa in Myvatn. Roof is sod as are many in Iceland. Distant crater is the one we hiked.

Lake Myvatn is located at the edge of the interior of Iceland, is pretty rural and has many lava, geothermal and natural features to hike and photograph. We settled on a few that sounded appealing to us and quite early.

The hotel surprised us by refusing to do our laundry, and the sink was so small we could not use it for laundry. So our first stop was to the laundromat. It is located in a pretty, grass-covered, terraced camp ground. Camp receptionist instructions. Leave the bag of dirty things. Get your clean clothes in 4 hours. That was easy.

Krafla caldera with a small Viti crater and turquoise colored water.

Off we went to the Krafla caldera to see a volcanic crater with an opaque teal green lake. Just down the hill from the crater was a thermal power plant that was open to visitors. We met the guide, Susie, who had us watch a short video and then showed us the two turbine.

The Danish power station guide, Susie.

She was very charming and we ended up having a good discussion about land ownership and family feuds. According to her, most of the rural land is privately held by farming families with too many owners after many generations. If one member does not want to do something, nothing gets done.

The warm water shower near the power station. An interesting novelty.

She used the example of out houses built for public use on private land. One family member can force the closure of the toilet, even if the other members want to keep it open. The public need does not count. Thus we see “out of order” toilets around. Interesting problem. Other toilet issues include people using them to clean their shoes after walking in mud. All outdoor bathrooms we have seen have flush porcelain toilets that empty into septic tanks. Just near the power station was an outdoor shower that constantly sprayed warm water. That would be a good place to clean one’s shoes.

Hiking up Hverfjall crater.

Looking inside Hverfjall cone crater. Seen at a distance in the photo of the hotel.

We made a quick stop at Namaskard Pass to look at a bumbling black mud pot. The place pales in comparison to Yellowstone so off we went to hike up to the top of Hverfjall, a huge tephra (volcanic ash) cone crater overlooking the whole area. It was very desolate looking, but we climb a steep hill to see it anyway. We had planned, once at the top, to walk around it, but having seen that the inside was just as desolate, and “boring” as Mark put it, as the outside, we took a few pix and hiked back down.

A Myvatn area scene including a grass covered volcanic hill, rough lava on the valley floor and ash hills in the background.

Nearby was the most popular sight, Dimmuborgir. It is a huge lava field with formations that inspire creative imagery. There are hiking trails with a wide range of difficulty. We chose a medium trail and enjoyed the dense vegetation that has grown up in and around the lava formations as much as the unusual formations.

Fanciful lava formation along the Dimmuborgir hiking trail. The name means “Dark Castles”.

Bus loads of tourists all in huge groups was too much for us. Off we went to find a quiet place for our picnic. We found a spot called Hofdi that had wooded trails leading to and around a river basin and a small car park. We grabbed our food and started walking.

The lush and lovely wooded forest we walked through to find a lunch spot.

What a pretty place-narrow wooded trail-pretty trees-purple and yellow flowers-crystal clear water, lava formations left alone in their spender and us. Having driven around the lake and completed the plan we set for ourselves, Mark dropped me off at the hotel and went to get the clean clothes. I spent the rest of the day catching up on the blog.

Lovely woodland flowers.

For dinner we drove half way around the lake to a place called Vogafjos Cowshed Cafe. Susie had recommended it to us. What a delight. The restaurant is attached to a dairy. We watched, through a glass wall, the cows being milked while we waited for our dinner.

Our lunch spot. Lava formations everywhere.

Apparently the woman milking the cows, with what looked like very modern equipment, owns the whole property including the restaurant and a guest house next door. Very creative way to make a living. Our waitress told us the restaurant is packed every night even in winter. As we happened to be there during milking time, we were treated to a small cup of fresh warm milk. Delicious.