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Published: September 26th 2016
The hand of God...
Northern Lights in Myvatn...This day was to be one of the shorter drives, with a number of sites and activities to check out so after our morning coffee we were on our way...after a wrong turn we got back on track and were headed to our first stop of the day: Dettifoss waterfall...
We were told that the road from Asbyrgi to Dettifoss wasn't paved, and after finding the correct turnoff we were surprised to see a paved road...wicked! Cruising along merrily when unfortunately that wonderful stretch of asphalt suddenly ended and sure enough the dirt road began...It was then we were to discover that not only was this a dirt road, but it was full of potholes...couldn't drive more than 20 or 30 meters before having to slow down and negotiate through oftentimes deep water-filled holes, it was tough sledding and certainly tacked on a significant amount of time to the drive...the road went on like this for about 30kms, so what should have taken about 20 minutes stretched to well over an hour and a half...not a lot of vehicles along this path either, we were overtaken by two or three 4x4's and passed a handful coming the other way...at any
rate we and more importantly our van Viki survived, and after seeing some spray in the distance we once again found pavement and the entrance to Dettifoss...
Thundering best describes it, the amount of water pouring over the approximately 100 meter wide waterfall is impressive to say the least...fortunately for us the sun was out that day so we caught all sorts of rainbows in the mist as we made our way around the site...lots of folks here but again thumbs up to the infrastructure and we were able to catch stunning views of Dettifoss from a few different vantage points, fantastic...didn't know at the time but there was another waterfall within a short walking distance (Selfoss), and while not as large and imposing as Dettifoss was still quite beautiful...great stroll and a nice way to start the day...
Back in the van and off to the Myvatn region; we were to base ourselves here for the remainder of the day and I was keen on doing some hiking in the area...fortunately we were done with the dirt roads and soon found ourselves nearing the town of Reykjahlid (launch point of the region) when we spied a number
Myvatn Nature Bath
...really cool geothermal pool... of vehicles parked off the side of the road and steam shooting out from various points in the earth, better check that out! Again one of the best reasons to self-drive is the ability to just pull over whenever you want, something that would happen often on this trip and really made us rethink the way we travel in general...turns out this was Hverir, a geothermal area just outside the town of Reykjahlid...it was on the maps but somehow we overlooked it, so a fun spot to stumble upon...
The somewhat lunar and rich ochre-toned landscape was dotted by vents either just slowly oozing steam or in some cases sounding and looking like blast furnaces pumping the stuff out...really cool, some pools of grey mud bubbling away and again easy access to stroll around the site to take it all in...the sulfuric smell is quite strong here, so after a good wander it was back in the van to escape it...where we were to discover that the clothes we were wearing now smelled of sulfur...*sigh*...
Made it to town, hit the info centre for a map of the region, checked out some campsites and then off for a
Geothermal exhaust...
...at Hverir, this was one of the blast furnaces...loud! hike...number of trails in the area, but due to the longer than expected journey to Dettifoss we settled on a 90 minute hike around the black gravel crater of Hverfell...bit of a climb to get up to the edge but once there the views of the surrounding area were spectacular...a really nice walk (albeit a bit windy) but we lucked out this day with no rain at all...
One of the popular things to do in Iceland is visiting Hot Pots, or hot springs; basically naturally occurring geothermal pools (Blue Lagoon is the most famous one here, but there are a lot of them spread out all over the country)...the Myvatn Nature Baths were in the area and after the chilly hike they were now calling our names...really cool place, well organized with change rooms and a small restaurant...paid our entry (and a couple of pints up front) before making our way into the warm and relaxing waters...
Great way to unwind after all the walking/hiking we had done that day...waters were warm (some spots are warmer than others so we swam around until we found a temperature to our liking) and the views were beautiful...overlooking a valley,
View from Hverfell III
...the landscape is spectacular... it almost seemed like we were in an infinity pool, and with the sun setting it just really set up a wonderful evening...a pint in our private corner of the lagoon didn't hurt either...haha...loved these, and while we would eventually get to the Blue Lagoon (more on that later) my big regret is that we didn't seek out some of the more rustic spots on the island...a good reason to go back...
Sun was setting so settled on a campsite and as it turned out there was a fantastic pizza place there...temperature was dropping so had a great dinner and made our way back to the van hoping to catch a glimpse of none other than the Northern Lights...we heard rumours that they were beginning to show, and with this area being renowned for sightings (and more importantly there were very few clouds that evening), we bundled up, set up our camp chairs facing North and held our breaths hoping for some luck...
And there it was, Aurora Borealis in all its splendour! Started off with just a few wisps of green on the horizon, but as it got darker the light show intensified and we were treated
Morning coffee...
...you may be seeing a pattern here...trying in vain to dry out my pants and boots... to a wonderful performance...I was thrilled as the Lovely K had never seen them (I had seen them a couple of times in Canada), and frankly I think it is one of the most beautiful naturally occurring phenomena going...enjoyed some vino and the show for about an hour before it and we started to fade...
Fantastic day, one of my favourites...
(Some photos copyright of Karen C., denoted by (KC)...used with kind permission)
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karen
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Nice Pic.....
I think the Lovely K took that one, or else, you are very talented! ha ha :)