Day 5 : Skaftafell National Park to Djupivogur
Route :
Ring Road 1 from Skaftafell National Park to Djupivogur. In other words, FOLLOW THE RAINBOWS.
Campsite : Framtid campsite, Djupivogur
Ring Road 1 from Skaftafell National Park to Djupivogur. In other words, FOLLOW THE RAINBOWS.
Campsite : Framtid campsite, Djupivogur
And good morning, Beautiful!
Day 5 greeted us with sunshine and blue skies. And clouds and rain. All at the same time.
And oh my god - this view.
And oh my god - this view.
We had originally planned to hike a bit here, but the hike I wanted to do would've straight-up killed us, I think. It would've been an all-day commitment, and we were still tanked and recovering from our tangle with Thorsmork on Day 3. We could have easily stayed another day here and explored the park - and I almost wish we had. But we decided to gamble, take a rest day, and push on toward the remote northeast where there was another hike I was dying to do. The weather looked iffy, so we knew it was a crapshoot. But our hearts (and our legs) weren't into hiking, so we made some coffee, and had some breakfast in the glorious sunshine beneath the summit of Hvannadalshnúkur - the highest point in Iceland. Then we packed up and moved on. I think the trade-off was worth it.
Hvannadalshnúkur from the Ring Road. This peak forms the north-western rim of the Öræfajökull volcano, which is the largest active volcano in Iceland and is currently snoozing beneath the massive Vatnajökull glacier. It last erupted in 1728, but it started rumbling again in August of 2017 - and in November of 2017 an ice cauldron (or sub-glacial eruption) was detected in the main crater. When it erupts, all that melted ice will have to go somewhere. Bardabunga, another volcano sleeping beneath this icecap, lives on the western side.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office maintains a website that has a wealth of information - we checked it daily for weather and wind updates - but it also has updated info on earthquakes and potential eruptions. Volcanoes are color-coded for aviation purposes. It's the most accurate and up-to-date info available in Iceland for current atmospheric & geologic conditions.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office maintains a website that has a wealth of information - we checked it daily for weather and wind updates - but it also has updated info on earthquakes and potential eruptions. Volcanoes are color-coded for aviation purposes. It's the most accurate and up-to-date info available in Iceland for current atmospheric & geologic conditions.
After roughly a 45 minute drive to the north-east of Skaftafell, we reached Fjallsárlón Glacial Lagoon. As you can see, the weather had gone from blue skies to drizzle - again. But we actually lucked out here - the photos make it look worse than it was. It didn't start REALLY raining until we were walking back to the van. So we were able to spend a good chunk of time here and still stay dry.
Photos cannot do any of this justice. The mesmerizing, raw, rugged beauty - you have to be immersed in it to fully appreciate its enormity. It's all-encompassing - and a bit freaky when you're face-to-face with a whopper of a glacier that could melt and flood the entire area should the volcanoes sleeping beneath it decide to wake up from their naps.
Photos cannot do any of this justice. The mesmerizing, raw, rugged beauty - you have to be immersed in it to fully appreciate its enormity. It's all-encompassing - and a bit freaky when you're face-to-face with a whopper of a glacier that could melt and flood the entire area should the volcanoes sleeping beneath it decide to wake up from their naps.
These little ice diamonds were sprinkled all over the beach - tiny diamonds of crystal-clear glacier that broke off and washed ashore.
Larger chunks were bobbing around in the shallow lagoon waters.
Larger chunks were bobbing around in the shallow lagoon waters.
Ptarmigan! Camouflage perfection.
Fjallsárlón is the smaller and less well-known cousin to the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, which is just five minutes further down the road. Both are magnificent, and both are worth exploring. If you have time and are so inclined, you can actually hike from one to the other. There are marked trails between them. - the people in the above photo (with a RAINBOW!) are walking back on one of the trails. I didn't know this - but if I had, we may have decided to hoof it over to Jökulsárlón and back. The trail is obviously breathtaking.
Next up : Jökulsárlón. And you can see why this is the grand-daddy of glacial lagoons.
SEALS!
And just when you think it can't possibly get any cooler, you can head directly across the street to the Diamond Beach - which is where all the icebergs that make their way to the ocean from Jökulsárlón get washed up on shore. And it. is. spectacular.
I imagine people get hurt here a lot - because Darwinism was on full display.
I imagine people get hurt here a lot - because Darwinism was on full display.
Once we left the lagoon, it was getting close to lunch time so we decided to head to the adorable town of Höfn (pronounced Hup, as I was
politely corrected by a local). :) As you can see, it was a horrible drive. Just awful.
politely corrected by a local). :) As you can see, it was a horrible drive. Just awful.
Höfn is a gorgeous coastal town just bursting with magical Icelandic charm.
They make excellent pizza.
And before you know it, they've separated you from $50 of your hard-earned money and you won't even care.
Checking the Facebook and taking the photos.
I would have loved to spend more time in Höfn. It's a beautiful town and we didn't get a chance to really explore it,
or make it out to the Stokksnes Peninsula, which is one of the more popular photography locations in the country.
I would have loved to spend more time in Höfn. It's a beautiful town and we didn't get a chance to really explore it,
or make it out to the Stokksnes Peninsula, which is one of the more popular photography locations in the country.
ONWARD! Through the Almannaskarðsgöng Tunnel. Some tunnels in Iceland are two-lane. Others are single-lane, and have pull-offs at regular intervals throughout the tunnel - depending on the tunnel, I've seen different rules about who is responsible for yielding. We just went with "if the pull-off is on our side, we'll yield to the big truck headed directly for us." Luckily this one is a two-laner for the whole 1300 meters.
Looking back toward Vestrahorn as we zipped toward the Eastern Fjords.
Vestrahorn is hidden in the clouds - the three jagged pinnacles on the left belong to Brunnhorn mountain -
affectionately known as "Batman Mountain" by the locals because it's shape resembles the Batman logo. :)
Vestrahorn is hidden in the clouds - the three jagged pinnacles on the left belong to Brunnhorn mountain -
affectionately known as "Batman Mountain" by the locals because it's shape resembles the Batman logo. :)
I had to maneuver around Mark's big melon and shoot through rain drops and bug splats to get this blurry shot - but the rainbow literally
lit up the whole side of the mountain. Magic. Is. Everywhere.
lit up the whole side of the mountain. Magic. Is. Everywhere.
This full double rainbow hit out of nowhere and I had to snap photos any way I could because there was no safe place to pull over. So the rain splats on the windshield were necessary - because in the few minutes it took us to safely pull over, the second rainbow had faded completely and the first barely showed up in photos. There were rainbows EVERYwhere on this day. Shortly after this stunner, we saw another off to our east - and we literally followed it into Djupivogur to our next campsite - which turned out to be a jackpot.
It's like the sky was screaming at us - "OVER HERE -->"
At the end of the rainbow we found the sleepy coastal fishing town of Djupivogur. Jackpot, indeed.
The campsite office wasn't staffed because it was technically off-season, and there was a sign posted on the door to walk over to the hotel down the street and check in at reception there. Hotel Framtid is the grey building just above our van in the photo below. So we found our perfect spot and headed over. This town is adorable and the campsite also has a handful of camping pods if glamping is a little more your style.
We explored town a bit, and crawled up on top of the rocky outcrops around the site - then we had dinner, amazed by where we had been, and where we were. We may not have seen any elves yet, but we were definite believers in magic. And we were tired. We crashed around 9:15.
All photos are © Sugarjets Studio - all rights reserved. Please don't steal them. Stealing is shitty.
Don't be shitty. And please don't make me be mean.
Don't be shitty. And please don't make me be mean.