Iceland.
12 days in the land of Fire and Ice.
Our first day in Iceland. We picked up our rental car and headed straight for the capital city, Reykjavik. We knew Iceland was remote, but when we showed up and found the city completely deserted at 7AM we were confused. I think it was a full hour before we saw a single person in the streets of the city and the place we were to pick up our rental gear was dark and locked just like every other building. So… we wandered, aimlessly. Until we came upon Hallgrímskirkja Church that is. It was a show stopper. We walked around the square and admired it’s unique architecture, but we soon found ourselves hungry and began searching for any open business we could find. When we finally did find one, the lone clerk was just opening a small cafe and we began bombarding him with questions. Funny enough, he had only been living in Iceland about a week and didn’t have many answers for us, but we did learn that we had arrived on an Icelandic holiday and that explained the curious lack of activity in Iceland’s largest city. We filled our bellies with a small meal and headed back up towards the church to find them opening the doors. It was great timing and the perfect way to get a good view of the quiet city below. We were finally able to reach the gear rental company who graciously came in on the holiday and let us pick up our items. We quickly left city behind in pursuit of a grander adventure.
Reykjavík
Oh, and we rented a real adventure vehicle for the trip - the Land Rover Defender. With little sleep, but no shortage of excitement we started driving. We found some back roads to explore and there it was. I think we all collectively looked at this one silly mountain and decided it needed to be climbed. I still couldn’t tell you what mountain it was, but there was a small pull off on the road and that was enough for us to stop and exchange some high fives before we started our first hike. The views were well worth the trip to the top, you can even see our Defender down below waiting for us to return. It was the perfect way to begin a whirlwind of a road trip.
After a rainy first night spent in a small camp ground we got the second day rolling by tackling the highly touted Golden Circle of Iceland. A few of the must see spots according to the internet - you know, the stops with the tour buses and gift shops. All great things to see, but I think we all agreed there were bigger and better things out there so we moved on quickly.
golden circle
GULFOSS, GEYSIR, THINGVELLIR National Park
…And by bigger and better, I mean muddier and sketchier.
Muddier and sketchier, but oh so beautiful. I can remember vividly we had some Bon Iver playing as we wove our way through the isolated mountain roads and happened upon a single swan sitting across the water in the faintest of light. Further on yet we found buildings that looked like they had seen a thousand storms and held a thousand stories. Then suddenly we were at the oceans edge winding through the Fjords with a whole new view and sense that maybe we really had reached the edge of the earth.
Northern Iceland proved to be the formidable adventure we were hoping for. Single track mountain roads and remote powerful waterfalls. Lots of quick nap car camping up here to keep us going. It was so hard to close our eyes knowing everything was out there waiting for us to come explore.
A Natural Wonder
selfoss
TRAVEL MAKES ONE MODEST
YOU SEE WHAT A TINY PLACE YOU OCCUPY IN THE WORLD.
Waterfall of the Gods
godafoss
Northern Iceland also proved to be home to our favorite hot springs - tucked away in rock ledges along the ocean edge. We had made a quick stop in Akureyri (which is a fabulous little city by the way) to grab some food and warm up a bit after a couple days in the snow and wind, but we were back on the road by about 9PM in search of some natural hot springs to settle our tiring bodies. After deciphering some of the infamous Icelandic language posted on a gate that seemed to be standing between us and the springs (we’re fairly confident it said something to the effect of shut it behind you) we pulled into a dark deserted property and decided to make camp. The morning greeted us with warm and welcome sunshine! We found the hot springs just a short walk from camp and spent the morning laying in the sun and hanging out in the pools. Eventually some Icelanders came in to open up a cute little building that offered us some great food and hot beverage options that were perfect to get us fueled for the day ahead.
As we made our way back south we detoured over to the west onto the Snæfellsnes peninsula to visit Mt. Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall in Grundarfjörður. The stunning mountain is said to be the most photographed mountain in all of Iceland. Kirkjufellsfoss offers great opportunities to explore around and behind the waters edge. Oh, and there’s a great little hot dog stand in town you must stop at on your way through!
We’re not done yet folks
Iceland has no shortage of textured landscape, beautiful horses, or opportunities to hike on dirt that has probably seen very few travelers.
Oh look!
Another waterfall.
Seriously, they are everywhere and yes, you should definitely go explore the lesser known ones.
mountains
on the horizon
We had done a little research on Thorsmork, this really gnarly looking area in Iceland that seemed prime for adventure, but we were having a hard time figuring out exactly what and where we could find it. We took a crazy 1AM drive down a valley under the midnight sun and gave it out best effort. We crossed about 5 rivers, crawled the Defender down a rock ledge and suddenly found ourselves facing a really foreboding looking mountain with a large opening. We had already made a series of questionable decisions so why stop here? We were in it together so we pointed the Defender toward the mountain and kept going. We finally reached a spot to leave the truck and hopped out and started walking under the prettiest cotton candy sky that lasted for hours as the sun hung low on the horizon all night. We made the trek and scrambled up in the large crevice until we reached a dark roaring waterfall. We later found out we had climbed up into Eyjafjallajökull - you know, the one that erupted and stopped all air traffic to Europe for weeks… that sleepy looking mountain that had caught our attention was actually an extremely powerful volcano - AND IT WAS AWESOME. Once we made it back to our vehicle we decided to venture a little deeper into the valley. We found another pull off and once more hopped out of the truck and followed some water further back into a wide deep gorge. It was surreal to be alone in such a landscape. (fun fact about Iceland, there are no major predators to be concerned about while hiking and really minimal bugs too!) We started hearing rumblings like what we know to be jets flying overhead - after a good nights sleep and a clearer head I realized it probably wasn’t likely there were air force jets running practice in Iceland at 4AM and we were more than likely hearing tremors from the volcano we had just visited. So, Thorsmork was an interesting point in our trip. I’m not sure we ever really figured out where we were headed or where we actually wanted to be, but it was a true adventure every inch of the way and we did make it safe and sound back out of the valley by that next morning.
The stunning Skogafoss. It really is a must see. Elegant at a distance, but venture in for a closer look and you’ll quickly be reminded of it’s power as water sprays and swirls around you. We visited early in the day, but found it full of crowds so we decided to venture over to the lesser known Kvernufoss waterfall. Over a small ladder and a short hike down the canyon revealed a beautiful waterfall that we again found all to ourselves. It was the brightest warmest sun we had seen since we arrived in iceland so we decided to explore around the falls and then take a nap tucked away on the cliff side. We woke later in the evening and decided to go see the abandoned US Navy plane on the black sand just down the road before coming back and finding solitude under the midnight sun at the previously crowded Skogafoss waterfall.
DON’T FORGET
TO SAY HI
TO THE FOLKS BACK HOME.
Vik. The black sand beach. We found ourselves running at 100mph so full of excitement when we arrived here, but we were quickly brought to a state of tranquility as we watched the waves come and go in the moonlight. The beach is famous for it’s expansive black rock and powerful waves that can sneak up the shoreline quickly.
Another quick sleep in the defender and short drive over to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon as the light began to rise again. A remarkable place. Except for a few seals, we had the entire lagoon to ourselves and we all wandered the shore finding little gems of ice all along the black sand beach and watched the glacier melt sway in the current.
be still.
be witness.
EXPLORE
Iceland is one big adventure, that’s for sure. We were constantly on the go and amazed at every turn, yet I know there is still so much left to see and experience there.
I think we left Iceland with bigger hearts. It dares you to live without limitation, expectation, or distraction. So much of this earth is shaped with routes, destinations and timetables - both in the physical world and how we are expected to live out our lives. Iceland exists without those things - quiet, innocent, beautiful, powerful, and surprising in each and every moment - being there allows you to do the same.
