11/13 Day 12
A really long and great day of driving through fjords and over mountain passes in the westfjords. The wind continued to whip around bringing with it wave after wave of storm bursts, but in between these, we often had some nice clearings to enjoy the mountain and fjord views. Just like the previous day, the weather didn't really make us want to get out and hike, but that was okay in the end b/c we needed to keep on driving to make it around the loop of Iceland.
From our overnight spot, we snaked around the fjords until we reached the town of Isafjordur which sits on the large Isafjarrdjup bay. It was raining pretty hard here, so we didn't see much of the nice mountains views, but occasional glimpses. Before we reached Isafjordur, we made a little stop at Litlibaer, which is a historic farmhouse turned cafe. It was closed, but interesting to look at with its turf roof. Just around the corner from Litlibaer we spotted some arctic seals. A few were basking (don't know what for as there was no sun!) but the rest were playfully swimming around and curious about us. Further down the road at Sudavik we visited the Arctic Fox Center. It was closed, but we checked in the pen outside and there was a super cute orphaned arctic fox. It came running over to us and wanted to play. It licked our hands and tried to nuzzle up against us through the fence. It'd stick its paw through the fence trying to reach us. Such a cute little guy! I instantly wanted a pet Arctic Fox! A good mammal day thus far!
After checking out Isafjordur, we drove 6kms through a 9km tunnel until we reached an intersection, where we turned right and continued 3km to another fjord: Sugandafjordur. We checked out this fjord surrounded by steep mountains before turning around and going back into the tunnel. Since it had been raining, we decided to cook lunch inside the tunnel in one of the pullouts (since the tunnels are 1 lane tunnels, they have pullouts in it in the event you run into another car. First time I had ever cooked and eaten in a tunnel!
From Isafjordur we continued on dirt roads along fjords and up over mountain passes, some that were actually snow-covered, but little Tyrion handled them no problem. At one point (just outside of Thingeyri), we took a steep and rough road up to a radio tower on top of a hill that afforded amazing views of the surrounding mountains the fjord. We timed it perfectly b/c at the top we had clear views but as we walked back to the camper a squall blew in and we lost all visibility and it started to hail/snow/sleet on us. From there we went over the big pass that is closed most of the winter, but b/c of such a mild fall it was still open. It was the pass from Thingeyri to Hrafnseyri. It was funny when I called the road info line to ask about the condition of the pass b/c I didn't do a good job of pronouncing them. I ended up spelling them out, but even that was a challenge b/c Thingeryri is actually spelled more like Pingeyri, except it's with a funny "P" that has a Th sound but looks most closely to our P.
From Hrafnseyri it was a bumpy ride along the fjords to impressive Dynjandi waterfall. We continued along the fjords going past a cool hot springs pool at Sudurfjordur, but we passed it and continued on. We went over another pass until we arrived at Talknafjordur, which had some really cool (and free) hot pots looking over the fjord and peaks across the way. We spent a long time soaking in these really nice hot pots as squall after squall would come through.
After our long soak, we headed over another pass on the way to Patreksfjordur. On the way down from the pass, we got a really nice aurora show. In Patreksfjordur the wind was really whipping and the surf was high. As we drove along the coastal road in town the waves were coming onto the road and at times splashing onto the camper. There was a petrol station there, but we definitely weren't going to fill up here! It was pretty crazy driving along this short street in the town with the waves crashing over the barrier and the spray reaching up to the buildings. It looked like the weather channel shots of weathermen along the coasts as hurricanes approach.
We continued on in the dark until we were at the base of the Latrabjarg peninsula where we cooked dinner under a nice aurora show! I had really hoped to go see some of the sites on the Latrabjarg peninsula, but due to time, we'd have to skip it this time. We wanted to make it to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, so I drove again until about midnight to reach it. The road out of the westfjords was was a crazy winding road full of passes and sharp curves as it wound around fjords. Elisha watched the Secret Life of Walter Mitty as I drove and indeed we had seen many of the places where the movie was filmed.
Besides the beauty of the Westfjords, something that hit me was how remote and isolated and desolate they were. Iceland is a place of few people, but the Westfjords really had no one. We drove miles and miles out there and hardly saw a soul or another car. I really liked the area and wished we had more time there to really enjoy it and also hopefully get a bit better weather. There were lots of natural hot springs in the area we could have enjoyed as we also explored the steep mountains rising over the fjords. And something that is cool, b/c it's so remote, they estimate that only about 10% of tourists that come to Iceland ever make it to the Westfjords.
A really long and great day of driving through fjords and over mountain passes in the westfjords. The wind continued to whip around bringing with it wave after wave of storm bursts, but in between these, we often had some nice clearings to enjoy the mountain and fjord views. Just like the previous day, the weather didn't really make us want to get out and hike, but that was okay in the end b/c we needed to keep on driving to make it around the loop of Iceland.
From our overnight spot, we snaked around the fjords until we reached the town of Isafjordur which sits on the large Isafjarrdjup bay. It was raining pretty hard here, so we didn't see much of the nice mountains views, but occasional glimpses. Before we reached Isafjordur, we made a little stop at Litlibaer, which is a historic farmhouse turned cafe. It was closed, but interesting to look at with its turf roof. Just around the corner from Litlibaer we spotted some arctic seals. A few were basking (don't know what for as there was no sun!) but the rest were playfully swimming around and curious about us. Further down the road at Sudavik we visited the Arctic Fox Center. It was closed, but we checked in the pen outside and there was a super cute orphaned arctic fox. It came running over to us and wanted to play. It licked our hands and tried to nuzzle up against us through the fence. It'd stick its paw through the fence trying to reach us. Such a cute little guy! I instantly wanted a pet Arctic Fox! A good mammal day thus far!
After checking out Isafjordur, we drove 6kms through a 9km tunnel until we reached an intersection, where we turned right and continued 3km to another fjord: Sugandafjordur. We checked out this fjord surrounded by steep mountains before turning around and going back into the tunnel. Since it had been raining, we decided to cook lunch inside the tunnel in one of the pullouts (since the tunnels are 1 lane tunnels, they have pullouts in it in the event you run into another car. First time I had ever cooked and eaten in a tunnel!
From Isafjordur we continued on dirt roads along fjords and up over mountain passes, some that were actually snow-covered, but little Tyrion handled them no problem. At one point (just outside of Thingeyri), we took a steep and rough road up to a radio tower on top of a hill that afforded amazing views of the surrounding mountains the fjord. We timed it perfectly b/c at the top we had clear views but as we walked back to the camper a squall blew in and we lost all visibility and it started to hail/snow/sleet on us. From there we went over the big pass that is closed most of the winter, but b/c of such a mild fall it was still open. It was the pass from Thingeyri to Hrafnseyri. It was funny when I called the road info line to ask about the condition of the pass b/c I didn't do a good job of pronouncing them. I ended up spelling them out, but even that was a challenge b/c Thingeryri is actually spelled more like Pingeyri, except it's with a funny "P" that has a Th sound but looks most closely to our P.
From Hrafnseyri it was a bumpy ride along the fjords to impressive Dynjandi waterfall. We continued along the fjords going past a cool hot springs pool at Sudurfjordur, but we passed it and continued on. We went over another pass until we arrived at Talknafjordur, which had some really cool (and free) hot pots looking over the fjord and peaks across the way. We spent a long time soaking in these really nice hot pots as squall after squall would come through.
After our long soak, we headed over another pass on the way to Patreksfjordur. On the way down from the pass, we got a really nice aurora show. In Patreksfjordur the wind was really whipping and the surf was high. As we drove along the coastal road in town the waves were coming onto the road and at times splashing onto the camper. There was a petrol station there, but we definitely weren't going to fill up here! It was pretty crazy driving along this short street in the town with the waves crashing over the barrier and the spray reaching up to the buildings. It looked like the weather channel shots of weathermen along the coasts as hurricanes approach.
We continued on in the dark until we were at the base of the Latrabjarg peninsula where we cooked dinner under a nice aurora show! I had really hoped to go see some of the sites on the Latrabjarg peninsula, but due to time, we'd have to skip it this time. We wanted to make it to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, so I drove again until about midnight to reach it. The road out of the westfjords was was a crazy winding road full of passes and sharp curves as it wound around fjords. Elisha watched the Secret Life of Walter Mitty as I drove and indeed we had seen many of the places where the movie was filmed.
Besides the beauty of the Westfjords, something that hit me was how remote and isolated and desolate they were. Iceland is a place of few people, but the Westfjords really had no one. We drove miles and miles out there and hardly saw a soul or another car. I really liked the area and wished we had more time there to really enjoy it and also hopefully get a bit better weather. There were lots of natural hot springs in the area we could have enjoyed as we also explored the steep mountains rising over the fjords. And something that is cool, b/c it's so remote, they estimate that only about 10% of tourists that come to Iceland ever make it to the Westfjords.
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