Walking in Europe

From Vik to the glacial lagoons at Jökulsarlon and back again.

With only a few days left and some unpredictable weather, we have kept our short time in Iceland to the South Coast taking in some touristy stops, sights, and short walks along Highway 1 as far as the foot of the massive Vatnajökull Glacier.

From our campsite in Vik we stopped for a nice morning hike up to the top of what was an island, now a low, flat topped hill rising out of the beach (sea level was higher pre ice age). Its name is Hjörleifshöfdl and was also the site of a Viking settlement established in 874AD. Legend has it that the settler, Hjǫrleifr Hróðmarsson, was killed by his Irish slaves in 875… however it remained a farm into the 1700s..

We continued up the coast (part farmland and part very flat sand desert outwash plain from the glacier) to the canyon at Fjaðrárgljúfur, a very deep river canyon along the Fjaora and Skafta rivers. Back in the car and further up the coast along the outwash plain at the foot of the Skeiðarárjökull glacier where we found a nice campsite at Skaftafell (but no indoor cooking! 🥶).

With a clear night at Vik and Skaftafell campsites we were very lucky to catch the Northern Lights!

Yesterday morning we awoke to beautiful clear skies but a howler of an offshore wind (right off the glacier), so much so that there were driving warnings issued along the highway. This is a thing in Iceland. Sometimes the highways are closed so that vehicles aren’t caught out and blown over. (There’s also an app for your phone where you can receive alerts if conditions worsen or improve). The advice is drive with care and for big gusts pull over and park with the front of the car to windward!! Advice at the campsite was to proceed with our day but to drive carefully! After breakfast we drove further up the coast to a series of glacial lagoons with icebergs and chunks of ice calved off the glacier at Fjallsarlon and Jokulsarlon. Walks were short as the temperature had dropped and the wind was strong and incessant- “hold on to the door tightly as you open it so it isn’t bent backwards at the hinges” was some other advice… but a beautiful and dramatic landscape including “Diamond Beach” where icebergs float out along a channel from the lagoons and into the sea, some of which wash back up to adorn the beach.

After Diamond Beach we made the long trek back to Vik for the night but not before a few harrowing miles in our little camper with brutal crosswinds. We did take the advice and parked along the way to give the white knuckles a rest and sit out a few crazy gusts. 💨🌊

Today we are camped at Selfoss after a drive back from Vik with stops to see the massive waterfall at Gullfoss and the geysers and vents at Geysir. Today the weather was back to a rain deluge so our walks to the sights were quick!

Sound bytes…

Wind outside during the night

Gusts while we pulled over!