On to Vik - Iceland trip, Day 3

(This is part of a series of posts about our 2011 trip to Iceland. Here are the first, second, and third posts.)

Boulder Field - Pakgil

Day 3

I'm not much for sleeping in, especially on vacation. I'm usually up before dawn, watching the sun rise.ⁱ So, when I fumbled my way out of the tent at 7 AM, and the sun was already well above the horizon, it took me a minute to remember we were near the domain of the Arctic's endless days. Sunrises would be a bit of a challenge this trip. While the others slept in from the previous day’s long slog, I took a quick morning walk down by the river that ran past our campgroundⁱⁱ. When everyone roused themselves, we made a quick stop at the small grocery for some breakfast makings, and had a simple breakfast at the campground (which included our first iconic Icelandic food experience, skyrⁱⁱⁱ.)

Angelica sp., Great Black-backed Gull, Meadow Pipit, Skyr!(photo by Flickr userTristanF), Leaving Hella (-ella, ella)

From Hella we continued our drive along the remarkable southern coast. The scenery was unrelentingly amazing, with the lushly green fields of the coast rising abruptly into towering cliffs of the highlands that dwarfed everything in sight. The ubiquitous little white farmhouses were tiny specks in a sprawling landscape, lost in a backdrop of uber-green cliffs and cascading waterfalls. For somewhere that is so dominated by rock and ice, the coastal strip does its very best to be reminiscent of New Zealand or Ireland in its overpowering greenness.

Coastal formation

Our first stop on the way to Vik was the waterfalls of Seljalandsfoss. This was a typical tourist stop/take pictures/get back on bus location^iv, but as such go, it was pretty impressive. The cliffs spanned the near horizon and waterfalls gushed over them in multiple locations, with Icelandic ravens circling and calling over a summer landscape of flowers and vegetation in vibrant bloom^v.

Seljalandfoss cliffscape, Waterfall, Waterfall landscape, Waterfalls with wildflower, Kate and Nina, Waterfall with Tourists, Seljalandfoss landscape.

Since it was nearing lunch time, we stopped at a grassy field on the far end of the site, and had a makeshift lunch. While there I had a chance to explore a “hidden waterfall” on foot, despite the bone-chilling water one had to ford to get into its recesses^vi. It took me a few tries, but when I got inside the fold in the cliff that housed the waterfall, the sun lit up the walls around me from above, and it was a near-spiritual sort of setting. It really did feel like a natural cathedral, and my private moments there are one of my favorite experiences from the trip^vii.

Hidden Waterfall entrance, Hidden waterfall, Hidden Waterfall (B&W), Sacred Place

Vik and points eastward awaited, so we reluctantly extracted ourselves from the pastoral reverie, and continued down the Ring Road. We stopped at several locations to take in the amazing scenery of the lush coastal strip^viii, and had our first close-encounter with the famed Icelandic horses^ix.

Coastal landscape, Immensity of the land, Icelandic horse with landscape, Icelandic horses with Landscape, Coastal landscape

The coastal town of Vik is as close to picturesque as towns got in Iceland^x, nestled between the highlands and black sand beaches on the rugged coast, with a bright white church towering above the town on the cliffs.

Church and cliffs - Vik

We’d see more of Vik later, but our lodging for the night was an isolated campground in the highlands, so we started our ascent into the mountains^xi. The drive was long, but the scenery was outstanding. When we got into the plateau of the highlands, the nearby ice cap of Myrdallsjokull filled the western horizon. Its massive outwash channels carved filled the rolling landscape, coursing down to indescribably large coastal plains. At a crest, we stopped in a high meadow, and engaged in a bit of silliness^xii before continuing on along a glacial river to our campsite.

Icelandic sheep and Myrdallsjokull, Traditional structure, Me with glacial landscape, Glacier jump!, Our Forrester and the ice cap, Glacial landscape, Glacial outwash

The Pakgil campsite was deep in the mountains at the base of the Myrdallsjokull ice cap, nestled in a bowl of cliffs. It was another long day and we were excited to get out and hike before the light faded, so we opted for one of the surprisingly well-appointed little cabins^xiii and made a quick dinner.

Pakgil camping grounds, Pakgil sign, Pakgil cabins, Hillside waterfall, Making dinner at Cabin 2

Our evening hike was a short but rewarding jaunt along one of the outwash channels toward the ice cap. The light was fantastic, and lit up the river valley with evening colors. We would have liked to go further, but the light was going quick, so we turned around after reaching a crazy field of massive boulders.

Glacial valley hike landscape, Sunset river flow, Boulder and valley

Before we turned in, we headed for the camp cave^xiv for a little dessert and Brennivin nightcap. I think I was the only one who enjoyed^xv the Brennivin. Another long day behind us, we nestled into our bunk beds, with the sound of the nearby waterfall behind us as we fell to sleep.

To Be Continued....

NOTES

i Or, as likely, hiking in to get that perfect morning light on something we saw the day before.

ii While Seth is usually my enabler when it comes to early morning photography, none of them is really into beating the bush for wildlife, so it was nice to have a little time by myself to check out the local flora and fauna I managed to turn up a few bird species, but not much else. I haven’t mentioned new species thus far in the posts because, well, it’s interminably boring to most people. But for those counting, the new species for this trip thus far are: Common Eider (Keflavik coast), Meadow Pipit (Hella), White Wagtail (Geysir). I ended up with 27 new species, sadly only one of them was non-avian. I guess I’ll add new species as endnotes as we progress.

iii Which was pretty tasty, with some muesli mixed in. Or, was pretty tasty the first couple times. It got pretty old pretty quick.

iv At which we saw some of the same tourists we’d seen on the plane/at other locations.

v New species noted – Northern Fulmar.

vi It took me several tries to make it all the way. A German family was frolicking in the small stream that exited the cleft in the cliffs, behind which the waterfall lay. I can only imagine what they must have though of me, fully decked out in rain gear, with massive camer equipment underneath, going in and out and in and out of the waterfall entrance.

vii Needless to say, between the icy cold, waist-deep wading, and photograph-deterring spray, I was alone in this endeavor. Sadly the pictures didn’t come out well, even with me frantically wiping spray form the lens and all the effort it took to portage the camera into the enclave, holding it above the water as I maneuvered over slippery rocks with feet that had long since lost any feeling in the icy water. The mental images are still more than worth it, though. Which is fine by me, I like having some private accomplishments on trips like this…some moments that are just mine.

viii It was amazing to see large sprawling farmhouses and outbuildings get completely lost in the background, and to realize that the vast majority of the population lived in this mile or so deep strip of green between the highlands and the glacial outwashes of the coast. A lot of the outbuildings (probably root cellars/etc) and even some of the houses were building directly into the turf or rock.

ix Horses are pretty serious business in Iceland. They outnumber the people there by a fairly large ratio, and are fairly strictly controlled. Non-Icelandic horses can’t be imported, and Icelandic stock is carefully maintained. The horses are in high demand in many parts of the world, so horses make up an appreciable part of their domestic output.

x While the scenery was astounding, the towns/buildings tended to be much more utilitarian, even in heavily touristed spots, to the point of being almost unattractive in a lot of places. It was apparent that this was an economy still in recovery, even accounting for the warped sense of expectations of the American eye.

xi New species noted - Whooper Swans.

xii I think it started with something like “take my picture while I’m jumping up, so it looks like I’m floating over the coastal plain” and devolved into a lot of jumping. A lot. Vacations: serious business.

xiii Surprising in that they had mini-kitchens, nice new furniture, etc. even though the site is probably one of the more remote locations I’ve ever driven in to.

xiv One of the draws for this site was the “dining hall in a cave!” part of their advertisement. Unfortunately, the cave turned out to be a somewhat small affair, and, as caves are wont to be, somewhat damp.

xv And I’m using “enjoy” in a very, very general sense.