dr_wu002
Well-known member
I just want you to know that I didn't forget you -- I do indeed have a lot more Iceland Trip Reports and photos for you. This here is a transitional one and although there was no hiking, well, there was camping so I guess I can post. If you're interested in reading beyond this point, I'd click this Picture link so that I can explain the pictures as you're looking at them. You'll almost feel like I'm sitting right next to you.
We were in Iceland for 13 days and 9 of those days were the roadtrip that I've been writing about. Here is a map of the trip we took:
We hiked on a bunch of days but in the interest of completing the trip, one or two days were for the most part strictly driving days.
Black Sand Beaches
After Skógafoss and between Skaftafell National Park we hit a long stretch of black sanded beaches on the south part of Iceland. I had never seen a black sand beach before so this was of particular interest to me. There were also very impressive bird cliffs on the beach we stopped to walk along.
Iceberg Lagoon
After Skaftafell National Park we passed by one of Iceland's celebrated sites along Route 1, an Iceberg Choked Lagoon. Before that though you can see photos of a nifty sheep farm we passed, complete with steep cliff walls and a waterfall! There were hundreds of farms like this but the one I photographed was one of the nicest. Back to the Lagoon though -- it was pretty impressive as I'd never seen icebergs up close before. I wanted to go live on one but Jess stopped me at the last minute. Apparently this lagoon is home to one of Iceland's largest seal populations -- and we saw a seal he was far away and would pop underwater whenever I tried to photograph him.
Lavafields
Iceland is quite volcanic and there are quite a number of consequences affecting you because of it. First of all, unless you're in an area with lots of glacial water you're going to have to shower in stinky, sulfuric water. It's like taking a dip in fart-spray or something but it does get you clean -- and when you're tenting around Iceland and not showering for days at a time (I didn't want to shower the whole trip but Jess wouldn't let me... I did manage to wear the same pair of clothes, including undies, the whole time though). Volcanism also means that there are geothermal pools and the occasional volcanoes (some are live) but the most ubiquitous thing is Lava Fields. They make you feel like you're on the moon. Either you see a barren, black wasteland with jagged unfriendly looking peaks... or endless fields of bubbly looking bumps as if the muddy lava just stopped right there and froze. For now I only have one picture of a Lava Field that came out good and you can see it in the photo section.
What Time is it Again? - 24 hours of sunlight
Iceland lies just about on the Arctic Circle -- some Islands and maybe a little sliver of the mainland lie above the ring. One of the curious consequences of this is near 24 hours of daylight during the summer months. You literally lose track of time (and it helped quite a bit with Jet Lag because you never really know what time of the day it is). The sun dips below the horizon at around midnight but rises again by 2am. It would be cold in the tent until about 4am when the blazing sun would heat the tent enough that the layers would have to start coming off... quickly. There are a few pictures with the word "sunset" or a time stamp (1am, 2am) that illustrate this enjoyable latitudinal quirk.
How Much? WTF? - Camping and Car Rentals
Iceland is F'ing expensive. Budgeting is simple: Multiply everything in American Prices by 4. A 0.33L bottle of coke is about $4. A Liter of bottled water is $5. Our car rental for a little Toyota Yarvis was $125/day... still cheaper and more flexible than the ring-bus. And we camped, which was great fun anyway and generally a lot cheaper. Campsites were mostly a little grass area at a farm or gas station and not a huge KOA type thing. However, the last pictures in this section deal with the perks you get for your troubles.
The first picture was taken at 2am and it's the Toyota Yarvis at our campsite on a Fjörd. The next two pictures were taken from the campsite in the morning -- nice views to wake up to at little trouble to us. After that are some pictures taken from some of impossibly beautiful roads we took. In one picture I believe you can even see the road ahead. The last pictures were our foray into the really impressive Fjörds in the East... I'll speak about Fjörds more later but stopping and at the top of this mountain crossing and looking down onto this little city on the Fjörd was quite inspiring. It made the long driving quite pleasant.
Well, for 20 or so pictures this actually turned out to be a bit lengthy. I hope you stick with me next time for some more hiking trip reports and photos.
-Dr. Wu
We were in Iceland for 13 days and 9 of those days were the roadtrip that I've been writing about. Here is a map of the trip we took:
We hiked on a bunch of days but in the interest of completing the trip, one or two days were for the most part strictly driving days.
Black Sand Beaches
After Skógafoss and between Skaftafell National Park we hit a long stretch of black sanded beaches on the south part of Iceland. I had never seen a black sand beach before so this was of particular interest to me. There were also very impressive bird cliffs on the beach we stopped to walk along.
Iceberg Lagoon
After Skaftafell National Park we passed by one of Iceland's celebrated sites along Route 1, an Iceberg Choked Lagoon. Before that though you can see photos of a nifty sheep farm we passed, complete with steep cliff walls and a waterfall! There were hundreds of farms like this but the one I photographed was one of the nicest. Back to the Lagoon though -- it was pretty impressive as I'd never seen icebergs up close before. I wanted to go live on one but Jess stopped me at the last minute. Apparently this lagoon is home to one of Iceland's largest seal populations -- and we saw a seal he was far away and would pop underwater whenever I tried to photograph him.
Lavafields
Iceland is quite volcanic and there are quite a number of consequences affecting you because of it. First of all, unless you're in an area with lots of glacial water you're going to have to shower in stinky, sulfuric water. It's like taking a dip in fart-spray or something but it does get you clean -- and when you're tenting around Iceland and not showering for days at a time (I didn't want to shower the whole trip but Jess wouldn't let me... I did manage to wear the same pair of clothes, including undies, the whole time though). Volcanism also means that there are geothermal pools and the occasional volcanoes (some are live) but the most ubiquitous thing is Lava Fields. They make you feel like you're on the moon. Either you see a barren, black wasteland with jagged unfriendly looking peaks... or endless fields of bubbly looking bumps as if the muddy lava just stopped right there and froze. For now I only have one picture of a Lava Field that came out good and you can see it in the photo section.
What Time is it Again? - 24 hours of sunlight
Iceland lies just about on the Arctic Circle -- some Islands and maybe a little sliver of the mainland lie above the ring. One of the curious consequences of this is near 24 hours of daylight during the summer months. You literally lose track of time (and it helped quite a bit with Jet Lag because you never really know what time of the day it is). The sun dips below the horizon at around midnight but rises again by 2am. It would be cold in the tent until about 4am when the blazing sun would heat the tent enough that the layers would have to start coming off... quickly. There are a few pictures with the word "sunset" or a time stamp (1am, 2am) that illustrate this enjoyable latitudinal quirk.
How Much? WTF? - Camping and Car Rentals
Iceland is F'ing expensive. Budgeting is simple: Multiply everything in American Prices by 4. A 0.33L bottle of coke is about $4. A Liter of bottled water is $5. Our car rental for a little Toyota Yarvis was $125/day... still cheaper and more flexible than the ring-bus. And we camped, which was great fun anyway and generally a lot cheaper. Campsites were mostly a little grass area at a farm or gas station and not a huge KOA type thing. However, the last pictures in this section deal with the perks you get for your troubles.
The first picture was taken at 2am and it's the Toyota Yarvis at our campsite on a Fjörd. The next two pictures were taken from the campsite in the morning -- nice views to wake up to at little trouble to us. After that are some pictures taken from some of impossibly beautiful roads we took. In one picture I believe you can even see the road ahead. The last pictures were our foray into the really impressive Fjörds in the East... I'll speak about Fjörds more later but stopping and at the top of this mountain crossing and looking down onto this little city on the Fjörd was quite inspiring. It made the long driving quite pleasant.
Well, for 20 or so pictures this actually turned out to be a bit lengthy. I hope you stick with me next time for some more hiking trip reports and photos.
-Dr. Wu
Last edited:
The midnight sun is so cool...
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