May 27 - Eat some breakfast in the apartment and head north along Highway 49 to Highway 1, duplicating yesterday’s route but turning north and descending the dark depths of Hvalfjörður Tunnel (5.77 km!) that goes under the ocean.
The land up here is flat with some green growth near the shore, sloping up rapidly to talus and grey volcanic peaks. A lot of gray sky today. Pass across a long bridge into the town of Borgarnes, where we turn off Highway 1 onto the 54.
Soon we enter an area with much more recent lava flows to the west. Make a play at going to Eldborg Crater, a dramatic volcanic cone out in the middle of a lava field. But the weather is cold and drippy, and we determine that not everyone is going to walk the 45 minutes to the crater rim. Carry on and take another detour to see Landbrotalaug Hot Springs.
I would happily have gone in these hot springs, but that was not in the cards for today as a group. It consisted of a few warm pools, fed from below, along with cold ponds where some good birdlife could be viewed.
From here, back onto the highway for a few minutes, then off to see Gerðuberg Cliffs. This is a wall of columnar basalt, first of probably many columnar basalts we will see in the country.
A short climb brought us to the top of the cliffs, which was a heath meadow with great views.
From this point, we are officially on the Snӕfellsnes Peninsula, which juts out from the west side of Iceland. A bit further on, we stop at a visitor’s center and fill up the tank (the diesel price is Kr 320/liter, or about $8.60/gallon).
Next stop is the Ytri Tunga seal-watching beach, another site requiring a parking lot payout of Kr 1200. It is a cold and rainy day for the seals, and perhaps for that reason there aren’t so many around. Regardless, see a small group ‘basking’ on the seaweed-covered rocks. It is incredible how much seaweed is both on the rocks and heaped up on the shoreline. Also present are eiders (a type of duck), famous for its soft down used in clothing.
Next up is a waterfall. There are so many around but this one (Bjarnarfoss) was larger than most and easily walked.
Just after this, leave Highway 54 and again move west along the coast of the peninsula. Stop at the village of Arnarstapi to see some scenic coastal landforms.
The above legendary figure, son of a human mother and King Dumbur, a half-titan/half-giant father, is the mythical protector of the Snæfellsás Peninsula.
More columnar basalts here at the shoreline, that create some wonderful patterns and complicated coastline weathering. We spend an hour visiting all of them.
We do not really visit Arnarstapi itself, but it is tidy and practical like most little towns here.
From here we curve around and begin heading north along the western end of the peninsula. The terrain gets rougher, with (relatively) recent lava flows everywhere and no further towns. There is a fair bit of rain and the afternoon is getting on, so we go quickly along, stopping at only a few places more.
It is after 8 pm when we arrive in Ólafsvík. The sky is dark with rain, but that does not subtract from the beauty of this place, backed by a mountain and large waterfall.
Debbie wants a restaurant meal, but there is only one place open and it is fully booked for a wedding party. I’m relieved because the meals here are $30+ a plate. We get some simple takeaway (still more than $20). That becomes the theme for these small towns: limited restaurant options and all of them are very expensive.
The Airbnb host had left info about a local pool complex, so Janet, Odette and I head over. It turns out to be a wonderful place, with pools, hot tubs, and a sauna with just a few locals using it. There is something crisp and refreshing about sitting in a hot tub in the freezing rain. Odette and I even use the water slide, braving the cold wind to climb to the top.