Hot Pool

Weekend tripping around the south and Reykjavik / June 8, 2017 by Kevin Hatcher

How do you top going to the Westfjords? Well, it is difficult, but there is always something new to look at in Iceland and a long overdue trip to Vík í Mýrdal and the surrounding area could be a good start.

I had a few friends visit us here from Scotland. It all started from the bus station in Reykjavik on Thursday morning. We traveled south east along the tourist trail of Route 1 to Vík í Mýrdal.

Our first stop was the iconic Seljalandsfoss waterfall and a smaller secret (ish) waterfall just 10 minutes away called Gljúfrabúi. This smaller waterfall is tucked away in a gorge on the same length of cliffs that Seljalandsfoss is located, but with less tour buses.

When we reappeared out of the waterfall gorge we heard sirens and noticed a helicopter coming into land at Seljalandsfoss. Apparently someone had climbed up the side of the waterfall on the steep embankment and fallen and broken his leg.

A teenager broke his leg and was air lifted away from the Seljalandsfoss area.

We left the craziness of the Seljalandsfoss area and headed toward Vik, only to stop at the glacier cafe just off route 1. It was only a short walk up to the head of Sólheimajökul glacier, which was awesome.

We then drove onto Dyrhólaey lighthouse via the sketchiest 4x4 track ever. Seriously, I had the car on three wheels at one point and it is a Skoda Octavia rather than a proper 4x4! It was cool! Now, I did not take any pictures of the lighthouse because I couldn't get the right composition without a million tourists in the way. Needless to say, it is a great place to visit and has some great views along the coast.

The view along the black beach towards Vik.

Well, after checking out the lighthouse and awesome views we drove just south of Vik and then turned north up a dirt track and drove for 14km to Þakgil camp site. It started raining on the way to the campsite, but that did not dampen our spirits as the landscape was out-of-this-world.

Looking out over a very wet valley at þórsmörk from the road.

It took us about 50 minutes to get to the campsite and it was great fun driving, and well worth it when we arrived. The campsite was a large flat field space surrounded by hills on all but three sides. What a great find!

Double Kev at Þakgil camp site. Thanks Shane for the photo.

We pitched my tent and made our way into a cave...yes a cave...to make dinner and chat to the other local tourists.

The next morning we packed, had breakfast, coffee...two coffees...and headed back to Vik and then on to Reykjavik. We did stop briefly at the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach and the basalt columns, but the weather was still dull and grey, so we hit the road just after a tourist bus spewed forth its contents of visitors.

We did however make one last stop before heading back to Reykjavik, and if you have been reading my blogs you will know I am big fan of...HOT POOLS! Seljavallalaug outdoor swimming pool is just off the main road and down a dirt road and then a walk...so it does require a bit of navigation and planning to get there. When we got to the pool it was lovely and sunny again with the clouds rolling over us and bright patches of sunshine pouring through onto the mountain side. Very peaceful.

Seljavallalaug from above. That is Shane's head just on the left side of the pool.

Shane taking his yearly bath in the pool.

After a nice soak we walked back to the car and had lunch and headed back to Reykjavik to meet another friend who had just arrived, Becs.

After a good dinner and some wine we decided to stay up late to watch the northern midnight sunset over the horizon from the Sólfar and what a sunset! You should check out my new updated Sólfar image on my site too!

That was one of the best sunsets I have seen in a long time and it was shared with great friends.

The next day we hiked up one of my favorite local hills, Móskarðshnjúkar, which is just outside Reykjavik. The location feels like you are in the wilds of Iceland for very little traveling time.

Heading towards the hill.

Nothing but Lupines.

The top of the hike is just to the left.

Last push to the top.

Happy hikers on the summit.

Summit selfie.

This is the hill.

What a great hike, and the weather was nice for all of it too.

The last day of the weekend the three of us (Aimee left for the UK) hiked up a small hill just south of Reykjavik called Helgafell and visited the geothermal fields at Krisuvik. It is a great place for a very short walk around some amazingly colourful geothermal activity.

That last night we ate and drank in downtown Reykjavik. We managed to get the best seats outside the Sæta Svínið Gastropub in the sunshine.

What a great way to finish a great weekend! and now for next weekend...ferries, the Westmann Islands, and the largest colony of puffins in the world! I can't wait.

Cheers,

Kev

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The mighty Westfjords of Iceland. / June 3, 2017 by Kevin Hatcher

Wow! I mean like WOW!

If anyone I know wants to visit Iceland in the future and asks me for what I consider to be the real wild Iceland (without renting a 4x4) I will be telling them all about the Westfjords.

The Plan

We planned to drive a loop of the Westfjords (1,052km) over a long weekend. We would drive a few hours every day, and do some hiking along the way to break the driving up. The plan and route was as follows:

Friday: Pick Aimee up from work and drive up to Hólmavík (Population 375) and stay overnight at a hostel.

Saturday: Drive from Hólmavík to Ísafjörður (Population 2,559) with a stop somewhere to stretch our legs on a hike. We had booked into a self catering accommodation in the center of the town.

Sunday: Drive from Ísafjörður to Tálknafjörður (Population 306) with a stop planned at the amazing Dynjandi Foss. This time we would spend the night in our tent at the local camp site at Tálknafjörður.

Monday: Drive from Tálknafjörður to Reykhólar (Population 120) with another hike along the way. We would be spending our last night in the tent, but it would be right next to an outdoor swimming pool with hot pool. Not to bad really.

Tuesday: Drive from Reykhólar to Reykjavik (Population 123,246), so that Aimee could get back to work.

A lot of driving, but it was well worth it and we will be going back, it is just to good not too!

Friday and Saturday: Hiking in the rain and big waterfalls.

After a few hours drive from Reykjavik we arrived at Hólmavík late on Friday evening. It is a very small village in the Westfjords. It was wet and grey when we arrived, but it cleared up by on Saturday morning. We stayed in a hostel right on the seafront near an amazing harbour and church. It was so quiet and idyllic you almost forgot you were in Iceland.

We left Hólmavík and traveled onto Ísafjörður. It rained most of the way which was a shame because we really wanted to go for a hike. We could not find anything on the map that might be a hiking route, until we rounded the end of a fjord and discovered a hiking sign.

The rain was so bad that I didn't take my DSLR with me, but I wish I had, as after a small walk of 2km we found Valagil waterfall. It was tucked away and fell from the very top of the mountain to the valley floor. It was a great site to behold in the rain.

We arrived in Ísafjörður late that evening just as the weather cleared up and walked around the largest town in the Westfjords. The clouds and the light were amazing. We were lucky to get dinner at a seafood restaurant that serves an all you can eat seafood buffet. The food was outstanding and I would highly recommend going, but make sure you make a reservation, as it is only open for dinner from 7pm until 10pm and it is very busy. They don't have a website but you can find information on their Facebook page.

Clouds over the mountains near Ísafjörður.

Sunday: Hiking up a lonely mountain and the best outdoor swimming pool ever!

We woke an amzing day with sunshine, blue skies and fluffy clouds. So after breakfast, we packed the car and headed for Tálknafjörður from Ísafjörður. We had found an an area just south of Ísafjörður to go for a hike and hopefully get some nice views.

Morning reflections across Ísafjörður harbour.

We drove from Ísafjörður into a long tunnel that cut straight through the hillside to the next fjord.

Reflections in the water after the tunnel.

The scenery along the road was stunning. Great sharp mountains that rose almost vertically up from near sea level to way above our heads. The road guided us around these giants onto our destination of Þingeyri were we would start our hike up Arnarnupur (558m).

It was a short, sharp hike and we made the plateau very quickly and reached the top in time for lunch. My favorite time!

Looking back from the top of Arnarnupur to Þingeyri

The view from the top was spectacular and right on the edge of a massive cliff to the sea. What a great spot for lunch! But time waits for no man or woman...so we descended back along the same path and back to the car to have a cup of coffee, before setting off across the fjords to Tálknafjörður.

High roads in June, In Iceland! Awesome.

After the spectacular hike we drove onto our next overnight location. This was an interesting drive as a lot of the roads are dirt track, and there is still snow in places in May. We deseneded down into the next fjords and drove along the rough track to the head of the fjord. As we reached the end of the fjords we came across an amazing site...an outdoor swimming pool!

We shared this amazing experience with one other couple and left just as four other cars full of people arrived. It was so relaxing we almost camped there for the night, but we had one more place that I wanted to stop and visit.

Dynjandi waterfall is a site to behold. A massive waterfall of over 100m high and you can walk right up to it, and stand directly below it. The waterfall is magnificent and quite difficult to get a scaled photograph. I did try but it was late in the evening now, and it was very busy with other tourists like us.

Dynjandi waterfall. Notice the people near the top for scale.

We left this waterfall behind us to go to our camp site in Tálknafjörður and slept well after a very packed day of adventuring.

Monday: Waking up to go to the best hot pool ever and then a hike.

The last day of our trip and what is the best way to start the day...outdoor hot pool! We had it all to ourselves for the first half an hour and it was so tranquil. There are three pools; one hot and deep with benches to sit on, one shallow and cold, and one shallow and warm, so you can rotate around all three and be at the perfect temperature.

Once bathed and relaxed we headed back to the camp site, packed, had breakfast and got back on the road again to our final destination. Reykhólar . We did stop on the way for a quick hike to stretch our legs and got some great views.

After the hike we pushed onto our campsite at Reykhólar, where there was another outdoor swimming pool and hot pool. This one is run by the council so no pictures, but it was great to get another relaxing soak in at the end of the day.

In the kicthen making dinner...it was very windy.

Table for two...I was taking the picture.

Tuesday: Reykjavik - Early morning start and home.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. We woke up super early, packed the tent and left to get back to Reykjavik. But I will be back, as there is so much more to explore!

Thanks for reading this really long blog. I will try keeping it shorter in the future, but there was so much fun to be had over the weekend I just couldn't help writing about it!

Cheers,

Kev

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Try saying this after a few beers...Snæfellsnes Peninsula. / May 17, 2017 by Kevin Hatcher

It has been two weeks since my last post, as I have been very busy exploring the amazing landscapes of Iceland. Over the weekend of 5th May, friends and I traveled north from Reykjavik to explore the Snæfellsnes peninsula. The weather was AMAZING! Blue skies and sunshine. A great combination for a road trip adventure.

Driving up to the Snæfellsnes peninsula from Reykjavik.

It is about a two hour drive directly to our hostel at Grundarfjörður but we decided to stop on the way to find the Rauðamelsölkelda mineral spring. It is a short drive off the main road and down a dirt road, but well worth it.

Waterfall at Rauðamelsölkelda mineral spring.

Drinking from Rauðamelsölkelda mineral spring. Tasty.Photo by: Mike Guarino Photography. — Drinking from Rauðamelsölkelda mineral spring. Tasty.
Photo by: Mike Guarino Photography.

The spring is just to the right of the waterfall, and is like drinking fizz water. On the way out, or on the way in, you pass the Gerðuberg Cliffs. These cliffs are very prominent and distinct, and you can get right up close to them, even on top to get great views.

Sitting on the Gerðuberg Cliffs.Photo by: Mike Guarino Photography. — Sitting on the Gerðuberg Cliffs.
Photo by: Mike Guarino Photography.

We drove up and over the peninsula in the glorious sunshine and bright blue skies. It was beautiful and arrived at Grundarfjörður. It was so nice that we decided to hike the famous and most photographed mountain in Iceland. Kirkjufell mountain..

The mountain rises up from sea level and has no direct trail to the top. This trail is not for the faint-hearted and I would only ever attempt this when the weather is good and the conditions are dry. We got lost at one point and I ended up on a knife edge of a cliff looking directly at a seagull on its nest. Oops!

Kirkjufell mountain elevation profile.

There are three sets of ropes to climb over areas that are very steep, including the last rope at the top which is very exposed. You really need a head for heights for this hike.

View from the top of Kirkjufellmountain.

If you do make it to the top the views are out of this world, especially on a day like we managed to get. There was not a cloud in the sky!

Once we completed the hike we went to stay at the clean and well kept hostel at Grundarfjörður.

I did spend sometime taking a few images of the famous Kirkjufell mountain in the evening, but the real treat was in the morning. I awoke, or to be precise, I didn't sleep very well as I was not sure if I should get up early but eventually got out of bed at 6:30am and went to see the amazing morning light. Below is one of the many images I created and is now on my website here.

Kirkjufell mountain with Kirkjufellsfoss in the foreground.

After being up so early I had the whole day in front of me, so went for a small walk just north east of Grundarfjörður up Eyrarhyrna. We then headed east to Ólafsvík for some ice cream in the sun. The route home would take us up and over the peninsula and once over onto the south side it was very foggy, grey and cloudy. I think we got a lucky break with the weather, as the mountains along peninsula seemed to be holding back the bad weather.

Driving around the Snæfellsnes peninsula and back to Reykjavik.

What an amazing weekend with some great weather and some amazing hiking. I will be back to visit the peninsula as I never made it to the end, or hiked the Snæfell mountain.

I hope you all enjoyed this blog and there is still my week adventure to the glacier lagoon at Jökulsárlón, and some crazy weather. Iceland is an amazing place.

Thanks,

Kev

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P.S.

Although the weather on the way home was not as sunny and bright as it had been on the way up, we did manage to locate one of Iceland's little gems of a hot pool...Landbrotalaug. This is only big enough for four people and we were lucky as there was no one there when we arrived. Perfect.