Iceland-Part 1

Iceland has hot and cold running water

Clouds of steam pour out of a towering  mountain  that plunges into Djupifjordur or the Djupi fjord.  The wind blows away the clouds of steam to reveal a plunging cascade of boiling hot water.  The thermal fall drops well over one hundred feet to feed a hot river at the base of the mountain.  I  spin around  around to the opposite bank where another equally tall mountain plunges to the sea split by a beautiful waterfall of crystal clear ice cold water that feeds a rushing stream.

Iceland is a land of contrasts.

The steaming peak of Mt Snaefelllsjökull looms over a massive glacier that clings to slopes above ropy ancient flows of lichen clad basalt. At 65 degrees north latitude, just below the Arctic Circle, even in late August the days are 19 hours long.  On the summer solstice, the sun rise at 1:30AM and sets at 12:30 AM. In the winter, there is just a few hours of daylight.

After landing in Seydisfjordur on the ferry from the Faroe Islands we made a beeline to the Northwest corner of Iceland to an area called the Western Fjords.  We wanted to beat the cold weather here where winter starts to set in in mid-September and also to meet up with our friends Bob and Pauline from Mt Shasta.  We were expecting a frigid trip with lots of rain.  So far, every day has been T-shirt weather but rain is expected in the next few days. The past few days we have hiked to a waterfall,  walked along the shore of a pristine fjords, hiked to lighthouse that looked like something from a Buck Rogers movie, stood on basalt arches 50 feet above the North Atlantic and hiked to  caves that provided a refuge for  Gisla, a character from an Icelandic saga. 

Our rented campervan continues to be problematic.  It is a cantankerous old beast that I have nicknamed Moby Dick because it is a great white whale of a camper.  Every morning Deborah prays to St Jude that it will start and about half the time it does but only with copious amounts of starter fluid, cursing, and a few kicks to the bumper.  The latter two procedures don’t really help it start, but it does provide relief for the driver.

Tomorrow, we are headed out to the western most point in Europe (if you discount the Azores according to Lonely Planet) to visit bird rookeries.  More on that later.

The sun has just set but at 9:30 but twilight will last until well after 11:00.  Fortunately, our little camper has pretty decent blackout curtains so I am ready to hit the sack  anticipating the adventures of tomorrow. Stay tuned for more of our adventures in the great white whale.