Photo Friday: Iceland Campervan Tour, Post #3

Continuing to work my way through the photos from the trip. It looks like I'll be sharing them for several more weeks!

Here's the link to post #1  and post #2 of the 2-week trip.  

 

Day 4 (Sept. 14): Trollaskagi Peninsula, Gothafoss, Lake Myvatn 

I wish I'd kept track of my daily driving mileage. It was a lot lower than you'd think for the amount of time it took, thanks in part to my propensity for the road less traveled. 

As usual, there was at least some sun in the morning, after our wild night of wind and rain, and I headed north for the Trollaskagi Peninsula and the little town of Hófsas. My guidebooks raved about the ocean-side community swimming pool there, and I was feeling due for a swim as a change from hiking and driving.

Morning light on the Austari-Herathsvotn estuary.

Alas, when I got to Hófsas, the pool was temporarily closed and drained. Since the guidebook indicates it is open all winter, I must have just gotten unlucky. All was not lost, however, for there was still fantastic light, and a nice collection of basalt columns.

The harbor at Hófsas.

Glacier was here--polishing the tops of the columns into a parquet floor.

Hófsas waterfront.

Hófsas church. The low light and clouds made me want to photograph everything!

 
Beyond Hófsas, the road ran along the often cliffy edge of the ocean, in and out of short tunnels and occasional gravel stretches, though for the most part it was paved.

I'm not sure exactly where this is; probably Mjklavatn.

By mid-morning I was getting rain showers, but nabbed a break in the weather to climb a quarter mile or so up to a viewpoint over Siglufjorthur, on the modest-sized fjord of the same name. 

Siglufjorthur. There is a good museum here, but it appeared to be closed. I couldn't find good coffee.

In an interesting bit of history, until 2010, Siglufjorthur and Olafsfjorthur, now "sister villages," were a long way apart. Each was at the end of a long, dead-end road up either side of the Trollaskagi. In 2006 they started tunneling, and 2010 a pair of tunnels (7 km and 4 km) opened, making the towns about 20 minutes apart instead of a nearly all-day drive, or a rather dodgy boat trip around the two fingers of land between them. This part of the North features very steep mountains plunging down into the ocean.

Causeway across the end of the Eyjafjorthur.

Akureyri is the second-largest city in Iceland, which doesn't make it huge--about 20,000 people. Compared to the other villages in the North, that's pretty big. It's located at the inner end of the Eyjafjorthur, the longest fjord in Iceland. I made sure to get groceries and gas, as sources of both were few and far between.

Akureyri

Beyond the town, the Ring Road enters a tunnel--the only pay tunnel on the route. Partly because I'm cheap, and partly because I like views, I stuck to the old road, up and over the pass, a little out of the way but a scenic drive. The fall colors and low alpine vegetation felt familiar and comfortable.

My next stop was the Gothafoss. The giant glacial rivers draining Iceland leave no uncertainty about why travel in Iceland, until very recently, relied on boats. You can't ford rivers like this.

In order to see the falls from both sides, I took my time, and walked a little less than 2 miles in the doing of it. According to the story, this is the Gothafoss (Godsfalls) because in the year 1000 Thorgeir, chief of the district and Lawspeaker of the Althing (it must have been an interesting journey to get from up here to the Thingvellir back then. I assume he went by boat) was tasked with deciding if Icelanders should become Christians. He decided they should, and threw his statues of the old gods into the falls.

My last goal for the day was Lake Myvatn, with a few interesting spots along the shores on my way to my chosen campground.

The lake. Clearly islands have been reforested.

I stopped at Dimmuborgir, where trails run through the wild lava piles and mounds. The fall color made this particularly scenic.

 
This was one case where my trusty camping map failed me. The campground at Reykjalith was supposed to be open (and looked really nice), but had, alas, closed for the season. I did find a spot nearby, though I wasn't inspired by it. It did have a communal cooking and dining area, but it was too crowded to try to use it, so as usual I did my cooking and eating in the van (in case you are worrying, yes, I opened a door or window some when cooking inside).

By the end of the day, I had hiked about 5 1/2 miles, much of it in little bits. That seems to be the way the trip went--no time for super long hikes most days, but I definitely hiked every day.

Day 5 (Sept. 15): Grjótagjá 

This post is getting unmercifully long, so I won't do the whole day. But I had one more stop to make on the shores of Myvatn: the grotto known as Grjótagjá. If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you may recognize this spot (I'm not, but it was a really pretty pool anyway).

Just an innocuous crack in a bubble of lava.

Enter through the little hole in the rocks.

Until the eruptions from 1975-84, this was a popular place for hot bathing. The water is now too hot to climb into--about 60 degrees Celcius (140*F). I'm not sure what all happened in the scene in the GoT, but I can say that the rocks don't look at all comfortable for lying around on them, and the water is too hot to get into. 

Beautiful blue water.

Yes, I did dip a finger in just a little bit, and yes, the water is really that hot. No swimming.

From there I was off to explore some thermally active areas, visit another of the great waterfalls of Iceland, and end up camping where Thor's horse may have stepped. I'll get to all that and more next week!

 ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2025   
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