Day 3

Woke up at 6:30AM to start on the 10 day road trip.  But before that I had to get some breakfast, so I stopped over at Braud&Co. As soon as I walked in I could smell the fresh hot buns coming out of the oven.  I think I walked in when the first batch were coming out, so perfect timing. Could not make out what the menu said so I just went with what looked good and smelled nice. I got myself 3 chocolate croissants and 1 caramel stuffed deliciousness. I walked back to the car started it and then turned-it off to go back into the store to buy more… the smell just sucked me back in.

 

Next stop was Glymur Waterfall, which is the second highest waterfall in Iceland.  As I left Reykjavik behind, the landscape changes immediately into miles of rolling meadows with hills lined with purple wildflowers on one side and the ocean on the other. You begin to wonder (or at least I did)... why do all the hills look like they have their heads chopped off? They stand up so majestically with their bases crawling with lush green grass and flowers and slowly transitioning into rock as you move up before getting lost in the clouds. As soon as I said that, there you go, there was a snow capped peak.  But in general I was still right. As you drive through the countryside you will find a lot of horses and sheep doing their thing.  Take a moment to pull over and gaze at these majestic beasts. My favorite animal is the horse, so was good to get a close-up without their saddles on against the green background.

 

After pulling into the parking lot and getting my daypack organized I started on what was basically a short 5 mile roundtrip hike to Glymur. The first portion of the hike was pretty easy as you walk through fields of flowers. You must make sure to turn-around (although you will see it on the way back) as the view looking out is quite breath-taking. The trail goes through an arched cave of sorts. Good photo op location. As you continue on you reach a point where you will need to cross the river.  There is a steel cable and a log to assist you. The trail after that got steeper. Another 2 km and I reached a point where I got a good view of the falls.  I decided to turn back and head back to the parking lot.

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Onwards to “Hraunfossar” waterfalls. Along the way you will find the Troll waterfalls.  I did not stop there for more than a few minutes, to just take a few pictures. The Hraunfossar waterfalls are very different compared to most waterfalls since it’s not about the height or width or even the volume, but more about the source of the water that makes it unique. The water looks like it’s coming out from in between the lava with no real river to feed it. I did some research later and it’s apparently fed by a cold spring that runs beneath the ground. This was to be the place to whip out some camera tricks. Always wanted to take some of those dreamy waterfall pictures where the water looks like its streaking down in slow motion. I must have over-done the number of pictures here, but hey I mastered one trick.

​

At this point I was taking a look at the gas gauge and I figured I would need to fill up by the end of the day or at least some point the next day. I had made a rule for myself that the moment the tank was 25% empty I would stop at the next gas station. So here I was at a gas station trying to use my card and ran into my first problem on the trip. US based cards do not have a PIN (other than to draw cash from an ATM) and I was not about to use my Icelandic currency so soon. The lady at the store also had no solution for me, so I said I’ll figure it out later and not worry about it now, hoping my trip does not lead to an early end.

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Next stop for the day was a good 100 miles away. The hostel was located in the town of “Grundarfjordur”. As you enter the town you see a lot boats, which I am assuming are for fishing, tied up at the docks. It almost felt like a lazy little habitation of bright colored homes. The one thing you will not miss is the “Kirkjufell” mountain.  You can see it from anywhere you are in the town and that was what I was there for. The mountain itself looks like a sharks fin. After spending a few minutes there to admire the mountain and the waterfall in the foreground I was amazed with how Iceland has been able to maintain its beautiful natural feel with almost no urbanization. The only thing that made me rush to the car was the rain that started to come down again.  I wanted to keep going as it was just mid-day and hoped for some luck. I decided to check out “Port Arnarstapi” and the cliffs there as well. Glad I did not bug out since the rain cleared as soon as I reached the cliffs and the Sun was out, or rather it was playing hide and seek behind the clouds. It’s basically a small fishing village at the foot of Mt. Stapafell.  The port was a site for small multi-colored vessels which stood-out against the blue still water and the hills in the background. You also get a glimpse of the 700,000 year old glacier capped Snæfellsjökull stratavolcano, where the entrance to the center of the Earth supposedly lies as detailed in Jules Verne’s novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth".

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

The cliffs themselves are not really tall but they were not dull either. It made for a good stroll around the area as I checked out the “Stone Bridge”.  I don’t think one could ever get tired of staring out into the vastness of the blue ocean bordered with grass capped cliffs, peppered with yellow wild flowers. After spending an hour I sat down for some fish-and-chips at the local restaurant.

 

As the rain had cleared up, I could now admire the drive back to the hostel.  Let me try and describe it as no photo can truly do justice, and try as I did, I just could not get it in one frame.

 

"Red sandy BEACHES and the clear blue OCEAN on one side. Lush green HILLS in the foreground with snowcapped PEAKS in the background on the other side. Lava ROCKS playing host to bright green MOSS along both sides of the road and of course wild FLOWERS. And in between all of this, a solitary white COTTAGE with a light blue roof. In some parts the dirt ROAD made for the perfect divide"

​

​

So as I pulled back into the town I stopped over at the local grocery store and found out I could buy pre-filled gas cards (duh!!) using my US credit card.  So problem solved and I could sleep well for the night. Its 24 hours daylight this time of the year in Iceland so night based on my schedule.

​

Google Maps Day 3

Google Maps Day 4

​

Google Photos