Iceland: Will the Wind Just Stop Already!!!!

 From Monday, September 27 and Tuesday, September 28th

When I started out from Akureyri on Monday morning, my plan had been to snake in and out a few fjords, take a few pictures, and hopefully see some seals.  Well, that plan changed a bit suddenly when it turned out that while it was no longer raining, it was snowing instead.  That meant visibility wasn’t great and some of the things I had on my list to stop and see probably wouldn’t be visible. So instead of going around one of the peninsulas, I decied to cut through a pass.  This wasn’t the best idea, because it turns out it went through the mountains and the snow was even worse up there.  But it wasn’t like I could really turn around by the time it got bad, so I just kept going, veeeeery slowly.  I eventually made it out the other side.  I’m sure some of the AWD vehicles were wondering what in the world I was doing up there, but all the roads up in that area had shown as clear when I started out that morning.

A picture of two rivers joining up...taken before the snow hit me on Monday.

Anyways, with all the plans thrown to the winds, I arrived in Blonduos really early.  Like, 1:20 early.  That had been where I planned to stop for the night, but I had expected it to be more like 4, with me stopping a bunch and taking the long way around.  Well, that just seemed too early and it didn’t seem likely that things would be much better if I waited so I decided to keep on moving.  Okay, my next plan was to stop for the night in Hvammstangi, but the campsite there didn’t really seem open and it was still only like 2:30.  So I pushed onward some more.

I eventually pushed all the way down to Borgarnes.  If you look at a map of Iceland, that basically means I covered about a quarter of the ring road in one day.  Shortly before reaching Borgarnes though, I did come across a neat crater to stop and hike up.  It was extremely windy up to the crater rim, but it wasn’t snowy.  There also seems to be some sort of old either animal pens or foundations for a house.  Their signage is really quite good here, but it never mentioned what the stone walls were for.

Picture is a bit blurry, but that's because it was so darn windy out there that
I couldn't get a good picture.

So I settled down for the night in Borgarnes, and got to catch a nice sunset over an inlet of a fjord.  The inlet was frozen...winter is settling in to Iceland.  

Sunset at the campground in Borgarnes.

When I woke up on Tuesday morning, my plan was to tackle the Snaefells Peninsula.  I was up and on the road by 8:30 because I had a lot to see.  An hour into my drive I was hitting heavy winds and snow and then I hit one of their boards that displays road conditions.  The part I can read is wind speed, temperature, and wind gusts.  For the road I was planning to take it was saying winds at 14 m/s (31 mph) and gusting to 24 m/s (53 mph).  This sounded like a repeat of when I was on the southeast side of the island.  I decied to turn around and head inland, away from the ocean instead. 

That certainly did help the winds.  The snow stopped for a while, but then started back up as I was getting close to the two waterfalls I was on my way to: Barnafoss and Hraunfossar.  The snow does make things prettier, but it also makes things a bit difficult when it is blowing sideways.  It is rather hard to see at that point.  I made my way up to Barnafoss first.  You couldn’t really see a waterfall, but more water rushing through a narrow canyon at high speeds.  I really liked it.  Then I made my way over to Hraunfossar which was one waterfall with multiple falls, it is hard to decide how word that.  Curtain doesn’t seem right.  It was a waterfall I had seen on a few postcards (that I purchased).  There are so many waterfalls here in Iceland that I couldn’t remember if the ones on the postcards I got were on my list to see, but I did!

If you can see through the snow...Hraunfossar

From Barnafoss/Hraunfossar, I made my way down to Glymur.  It was still snowing, but perhaps a little more lightly.  At least the day seemed a little brighter. When I got to the parking lot I pulled on my rainpants and raincoat over a few layers of clothing.  The snow was a bit wet so it seemed like the best option.  I set out on the trail and reached an overlook.  I could see the water raging below, pretty and clear.  The sign said Glymur to the right, but I couldn’t find a trail down.  I did find a trail, and followed it, but it didn’t seem right.  I’m not sure how far down that trail I went, a mile maybe?  I finally decided to turn around and head back because it didn’t seem right.  I wandered around near the sign and finally noticed some steps down, literally 3 feet to the right of the sign.  I went down and through into a little cave that created the perfect picture frame for the scenery below.  I continued down to the river and followed it up to where there was a river crossing.  And when I say river crossing, I mean, your feet are going in the river and you will be wading through near freezing water for 30 feet to cross to the other side while holding onto a cable.  This was one of those times where if I was with someone else I probably would have gone.  But crossing a river by myself when I wasn’t sure if there was anyone else around just didn’t seem like a great idea, so I turned around with dry feet.

River coming down from Glymur.

I drove on to Akranes for the night and the wind is blowing like crazy here too.  I’m sure I’ve experienced plenty of wind in Kansas like this, but it is different when you’re inside a van for the night, instead of a solid house.  Currently winds are blowing at around 18 m/s (40 mph) and I’m literally about 30 feet from the ocean.  Pretty view, would be nice if it wasn’t so windy though.  It’s supposed to calm down a little bit later tonight.  Like 2-3 am.  Not sure what I’m doing tomorrow.  I guess we’ll see what the weather decides I’m doing tomorrow.