Day 7: Borgarfjordur Eystri - Myvatn
Route :
94 to Ring Road in Egilsstadir for lunch; 1 West to 864 to Dettifoss; back to 1, then all the way to the lake and hang a left.
Campsite : Vogar Travel Sevice, Myvatn
94 to Ring Road in Egilsstadir for lunch; 1 West to 864 to Dettifoss; back to 1, then all the way to the lake and hang a left.
Campsite : Vogar Travel Sevice, Myvatn
When we left the campsite in the morning, the caretaker wasn't there - so feeling a bit guilty about not paying for our stay, we continued on our journey. Perhaps this was Iceland's mea culpa for what it was about to do to us on the mountain.
On the advice of the woman at the cafe the day before, we found the dirt track near the center of town, swung left,
and headed up into the mountains in search of reindeer. We found sheep.
and headed up into the mountains in search of reindeer. We found sheep.
^ Click to enlarge
We weren't really sure where we were headed, or how far we could safely go - but after driving through a few mountain passes in the last few days, and knowing the remoteness of where we were and the condition of the road we were on, we decided this was far enough. So we found a trail marker and a pull-off and decided to explore a bit and see what we'd find.
Hint : it wasn't reindeer.
Hint : it wasn't reindeer.
But man - did we find beauty. And solitude. And even an Arctic Fox track or two. This was about as far from the tourist circuit as we could get.
And we LOVED it. But as for actual wildlife - we got skunked.
And we LOVED it. But as for actual wildlife - we got skunked.
Morning sunlight finally peeking over the mountains - the vibrant greens of summer giving way to the rich golds and reds of autumn.
And our little Volkswagen-that-could.
And our little Volkswagen-that-could.
Scenes like this always take me back to high school art class and color wheels and learning about nature's innate color wisdom.
They're obviously making a huge effort to improve this road into Bakkagerði - but it's still totally sketch, and a white knuckler for sure.
Glad we had good weather for the drive - I can't imagine trying to drive this in bad weather, or in the dark.
In case y'all missed it : there aren't any street lights.
Glad we had good weather for the drive - I can't imagine trying to drive this in bad weather, or in the dark.
In case y'all missed it : there aren't any street lights.
And then we attempted the hike.
The destination was Stórurð - an area of large boulders, ponds and meadows that sit below a small glacier west of the Dyrfjöll Mountains. We started out with sunshine at the pass - but there was a menacing cloud hanging over the mountaintops. And sure enough - the further we got, the worse the conditions got. Iceland clearly didn't want us anywhere near Stórurð - it basically spat us off the mountain. Visibility got down to near zero, so we decided to pull the plug and head back to the van. Makes no sense to spend hours hiking in if you can't see shit when you get there, right? And there was a real concern of losing track of the trail - and we did not want to be lost on a remote Icelandic mountain. So. Foiled again.
Of course, we descended out of the tempest and back into blue skies and sunshine. Stórurð is simply a nice thing we were not allowed to have.
Whatever, Iceland. You win this round.
We decided to follow the sunshine - and the sunshine took us to Egilsstadir for a gas-up and a quick lunch.
And a reindeer sighting.
Now back on the Ring Road, headed west, we discovered the Yst Í Rjúkandi waterfall - just THERE, on the side of the road. There is no sign, and minimal parking. But it's a gorgeous place and worth a stop. We weren't looking for it, weren't planning for it - and suddenly there it was. So we stopped and checked it out for awhile. We saw only a couple of other people the entire time we were there.
Stabbing westward on the Ring.
The landscape morphs from the coastal inlets and farmland back to stark, desolate volcanic black ash.
Eventually we found Road 864 - another washboard ash-pan of a track that heads north to Dettifoss - the most powerful waterfall in Europe. As soon as we made the turn, so did the weather. And we were left asking ourselves if we really thought we'd even be able to see the waterfall when we got there. It was a long, LONG, bumpy, rainy ride. If there's anything out there besides flat nothingness, we couldn't see it.
(This is not considered an F Road, by the way. This road, though a horrible dirt track, is passable for 2WD vehicles. The river crossings all have bridges, so no snorkels required). :)
(This is not considered an F Road, by the way. This road, though a horrible dirt track, is passable for 2WD vehicles. The river crossings all have bridges, so no snorkels required). :)
According to Google maps, it's pretty much all flat nothingness. I guess we didn't miss out on much!
You can barely see it, but there's a little blue sign with yellow letters at that fork in the Google screen shot above . This is the only sign for Dettifoss. Blink and you'll miss it, and you'll be headed north into more nothingness, toward Asbyrgi Canyon and the north coast.
The final approach to Dettifoss apparently looks like ^ this. Another winding dirt track to the middle of nowhere.
And then, suddenly, you're there. You have to hike down to the falls - it's not difficult, but it's not a paved footpath, either. You've got to navigate some big stone steps to get to get down there. You'll hear it before you see it - the frigid glacial water plunging over the falls at 500 cubic meters per second is deafening. Dettifoss is sometimes referred to as "The Beast" by locals - and it isn't hard to see why. If you've seen the movie Prometheus, you may recognize this waterfall from the opening scene.
The water that courses down this river and rushes over the falls comes from the Vatanjökull glacier - you'll remember that from way back on
Day 5, in Skaftafell National Park in the east : the massive glacier with a healthy number of snoozing volcanoes beneath it.
Day 5, in Skaftafell National Park in the east : the massive glacier with a healthy number of snoozing volcanoes beneath it.
About 3/4 of a mile further upstream there is another waterfall called Selfoss. We decided to walk up and check it out.
We were already wet, so why not?
We were already wet, so why not?
And it was worth every step.
^ Click to enlarge
Hellooooo, Sexy.
In the above photo, you can see a tiny human standing on top of those rocks in the middle of the screen on the left. That human is on the other side of the river. I knew there was a second, western entrance in to the falls on another road - what I did NOT know is that it has RECENTLY BEEN PAVED. I was like - those cars are coming and going pretty fast... is that... is that... PAVED? And sure as shit - it's paved. The entire way. No 32 kilometers of washboard bullshit. >>> BUT.
There are differing opinions on which side is better for viewing the falls. And it probably depends on time of day and what you're trying to achieve. Without having seen the falls from the western PAVED side, I can say that I think the eastern side may be slightly better. You might get a better view of Dettifoss from the west - I don't know, because I haven't been there. But I definitely feel like Selfoss looks better from the east. The majority of the falls are only visible from that side - so if that makes a difference, then I'd brave the bumps on the eastern side. You also get a much better view of the river and canyon downstream from the east, as seen in the last photo below.
There are differing opinions on which side is better for viewing the falls. And it probably depends on time of day and what you're trying to achieve. Without having seen the falls from the western PAVED side, I can say that I think the eastern side may be slightly better. You might get a better view of Dettifoss from the west - I don't know, because I haven't been there. But I definitely feel like Selfoss looks better from the east. The majority of the falls are only visible from that side - so if that makes a difference, then I'd brave the bumps on the eastern side. You also get a much better view of the river and canyon downstream from the east, as seen in the last photo below.
Here in the north, the autumn colors were nearing full swing.
Once we left Dettifoss, we were pretty well beat. We bounced and rattled back to the Ring Road and headed for Myvatn -
where we'd find a campsite at busy Vogar Travel Service.
where we'd find a campsite at busy Vogar Travel Service.
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.