Weekend Photos: Iceland Campervan Trip #7
For those who want to read it in order, here are the links to post #1 post #2 post #3 post #4 post #5 and post #6 of the 2-week campervan tour of Iceland's Ring Road in September 2025. I'm working my way as fast as I can through editing the photos, but got behind being away from home for a week over Thanksgiving!
The last post left off partway through...
Day 8 (Sept. 18):
After leaving Seythisfjorthur, I spent the rest of the day driving through East Iceland, pulling off the road wherever the spirit moved me to take a short walk or just a photo or two. I drove through some of the villages, even walked around one or two briefly, but didn't stay long anywhere.
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| East Iceland fjords |
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| Possibly fish farming? |
The wind was fierce along here, reducing my desire to get out of the van. In fact, though the wind blew pretty much the whole time I was in Iceland, it was particularly strong from here out.
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Streiti Lighthouse |
By late afternoon I was happy to call it a day at a campsite a bit up a valley (slightly sheltered) at Fossardalur. This camp had the nicest communal cooking and eating area, for once with ample space, so I cooked and ate indoors.
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| They called it "The Fort" and it had a sort of vaguely cowboy theme. Mostly, it had heat, protection from the wind and rain, cookers, and hot water. Bliss. |
I didn't do a lot of hiking this day, my short walks adding up to about 3 3/4 miles.
Day 9 (Sept 19): Fossardalur, more coast, Jökulsárlon Glacial Lagoon
Conveniently, there was a pleasant-looking hike right by the campground, allowing me to take advantage of the nice morning light. I first poked about a bit right out of the camp.
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| Cross the creek, walk over to the river, and climb up on the low bluffs to try to see an elusive little waterfall. |
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| Looking back down past the campsite to where the river falls off the edge. |
I drove a short way to the trail to the main falls, Fossardafoss, and walked a half mile or so to drop below the falls. The light was amazing, with occasional snowflakes and/or raindrops.
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| Fossardafoss. |
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| The bits of precipitation didn't get me wet, but did provide a rainbow. |
That walk was about a mile and a quarter, before I got in the car and headed out for other adventures, mostly of the driving variety.
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| Mural in Djupivogur. |
Lots of random stops along the coastal drive.
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| A cool seastack at or called Fausaksandur |
Finally, after days of thinking about it, I actually took a driving break at a cafe and had coffee and cake, while looking out the windows at the mountains. I visited Vestrahorn thinking I'd walk to the lighthouse, but changed my mind when I realized that I'd have to pay a fair bit to drive out there, and the wind made me not really want to walk anywhere. This is the stretch of coast where wind gusts were regularly pushing 50 mph (22 meters/second).
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| Vestrahorn Cafe, where they were working by the windows so I couldn't get the best view. There is a "viking village" nearby, part of what you pay to visit, but it's just a movie set so I didn't think it worthwhile. |
A ways farther on I headed up a side road to find a quiet spot for lunch. I was hoping to get closer to one of the many, many glacial lagoons along here that isn't commercialized, but decided against adding another hike. I believe this was the day I did a lot of my driving in the middle of the road, to avoid being blown off the raised roadbed.
I continued to one of the photographic "must see" spots along the south coast of Iceland--the Jökulsárlon Glacial Lagoon. Icebergs large and small float about the lagoon on their way to the ocean. I'd had notions of kayaking on the lagoon--something they do offer, but not on days with 50 mph winds! I instead tightened down my hood and walked around, on both sides of the lagoon and out to the Diamond Beach, which was not all that strewn with polished ice bits on my visit.
My apologies for far too many photos!
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| Across the lagoon to the glacier--and the ice sheet. |
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| Spot the seals swimming between the bergs. |
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| Late afternoon sun made for some great back-lit bergs. |
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| See the rubber ducky? |
The tide was coming in, against the flow of the water out of the lagoon, making for some interesting currents. I stood for a while watching the bergs drift down along the shore, get caught in the tidal current, and race back up into the lagoon, before heading down to the beach.
Diamond Beach is named for the polished ice that washes up there, but I didn't see much of it. Maybe it had been too windy? or too warm, so that the bergs melted too fast?
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| This was actually on the shore of the lagoon, but is the kind of diamond the beach is known for. |
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| Wave breaking on an iceberg. |
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| Alternating layers of dirty and clean ice presumably mark the seasons. |
One more stop gave me a view of a different glacier (or glacial arm) and a different lagoon, less full of bergs but closer to the ice.
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| Fjallsárlón Glacial Lagoon |
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| Some impressive crevasses and seracs in this one. |
Finally, I drove on to Skatafell campground, where I enjoyed possibly the best view of any campsite on the trip.
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| It was also nice enough to hang out outside for a bit, though I ended up moving the stove indoors out of the breeze--a great reduction from the kinds of wind I'd had, but still a bit much for the kind of pathetic stove. |
What with all the little hikes and walks, I accumulated nearly 5.5 miles, and was ready to enjoy my shower and dinner.
Next up: A couple of great hikes.
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2025
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Is the duck 🦆 in the lower left hand corner?? Is not really rubber, right? Also, what kind of a stove did you have?
ReplyDeleteYes, the duck is in the lower left, and it's ice, not really rubber--I just thought it looked like a rubber ducky. The stove was a one-burner job that used tall butane canisters. I'm not sure of the brand. It was very easy to use, but not the hottest flame on the block and had no kind of wind screen.
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