Iceland, continued

We stayed at our Mývatn campsite 2 nights. On the first day, we drove through Jökulsárgljúfur heading into Asbyrgi canyon to hike Rauðhólar and Hljóðaklettar (we're offering 1000 Icelandic krona to the first person that can pronounce all of those). Afterwards we visited Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe and a short jaunt away was another beautiful waterfall, Selfoss. On our way back to camp, we visit some of the famous volcanic landscapes near Mývatn including Námaskarð springs, Krafla, and nearby Lava fields. While the springs reminded us a bit of Yellowstone (sans restrictions - we were able to get way too close to way too dangerous areas), the landscape is like nothing we’ve ever seen. We ended the day with one of Iceland’s blue lagoons, Mývatn nature baths, and relaxed with a few drinks in some rejuvenating geothermal waters.

Detifoss Waterfall

Námaskarð springs

Mývatn Nature Baths

We continued onward the following day, making a diversion on the way out to visit a cave - one that's featured in Game of Thrones - called Grjótagjá (many people refer to as the “sex cave” as it was a scene with Jon Snow and Ygritte). On our way we also saw Skútustaðagígar pseudo-craters, and the Dimmuborgir lava formations. After these quick sight-seeing stops, we headed to our next adventure - Stuðlagil canyon where we had lunch and swam in the river. We MAY have been slightly misguided in our route (but Nicole is still the world's best navigator), but a quick backtrack led us to the proper trail to hike our 3 miles in and enjoy. After trekking back out of Stuðlagil, We drove through Lagarfljót & hallormsstadarskogur forest - the largest wooded area in Iceland where we stopped for a sprite and some rock skipping (Kyle can't just sit still and enjoy a lake). Though our route initially took us along multiple tranquil fishing villages and fjords - Google maps found us a shortcut inland (and fortunately a road our Dokker could actually handle - unlike a few others we had tried). We drove through the winding inland elevation and found (yet another) waterfall that we, of course, had to venture up to. The road led us to one of the tranquil fishing villages mentioned above called Höfn where we decided to stay for the evening. We pitched our tent (for what we didn’t realize might be the last time) and made sandwiches for dinner before crawling into our sleeping bags and falling fast asleep.

Grjótagjá - Game of Thrones Cave

Stuðlagil Canyon

Höfn campsite

Dokker in all his glory

We woke up the next morning to a cloudy day. After some camp-stove coffee, fruit smoothies and granola bars - we headed to Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. As we walked up the the inlet, the first thing we noticed were the SEALS (neither of us were expecting to see any on the trip). They were playfully swimming around and going up on the floating glacier chunks. We watched them with the binoculars for a bit before moving along. We had seen a nice hike inland towards the glacier so began walking along the shore. About 2.5 miles in, we pulled up the map and realized we were on the wrong side of the lagoon - which actually put us closer to the glacier than we anticipated. After a near-death bird encounter (there are two species of seagull in Iceland - murder-gull and suicide-gull) - we made goat meat/cheese sandwiches for lunch on the shore of the lagoon. Thinking we were close to the glacier, we also dumped our all of our drinking water to have “fresh glacier water”. Word of wisdom - for coastal lagoons there is an overlap between bodies of water (AKA fresh and salt). A big swig made us quickly realize we were drinking more seawater than glacier water. Luckily, we had one water bottle left over to wash it down before we saw storm clouds rolling in and started the hike back. We made it almost the entire way before the rain started. We stopped for a quick cup of coffee to warm up before heading down the the “diamond beach” - AND FOR THOSE OF YOU STILL WAITING….you'll have to wait a little longer as it was not the type of diamond that goes on Nicole’s left hand :). At the Diamond Beach, the icebergs which fill the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon float out to sea and wash up on shore, creating a stark contrast with the volcanic black sand. we walked along the beach examining the different pieces that had floated up in the rain, and once thoroughly drenched headed to….you guessed it….another waterfall. This was in an area called Skaftafell which has many unique hiking trails. We chose one that ended...at another waterfall. However, like all the other falls in Iceland so far, this one was worth the hike as well. It was called Svartifoss, a waterfall with cascading basalt columns coming down alongside the waterfall. This hike, however, did begin our theme for the next 2-3 days - hiking in the rain.

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

Diamond Beach (all ice, no diamond rings)

Svartifoss Waterfall

Post-rainy hike commenced our first night of sleeping in the Dokker. We realized quickly just how lucky we were that the cheapest vehicle we could rent also happened to have a bed in the back. So we pulled into Kirkjubæjarklaustur (another 1000 krona for pronunication), threw our bags in the front seat, and popped our sleeping bags out in the back. We ate dehydrated Mac and cheese for dinner (don't worry, we re-hydrated it) to warm us up, and then headed to bed. WOW - sleeping in the van actually made it feel like there’s a nighttime in Iceland. We could see the Mýrdalsjökull glacier (about 11% of Iceland is covered in glaciers) as we woke up and started our next hike to Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon (or as we had seen it referenced - the “sweet ass mossy canyon”). Yet again, rain proved to be a consistent theme throughout the day. After waking to the glacier, then a lush canyon, heading to the stark contrast of black volcanic beach was astounding. These days made it easy to see why Iceland is the “land of fire and ice”. We checked out the Dyrhólaey/Reynisdrangar rock formations along the beach before heading to yet again - WATERFALLS! TLC told us to not to chase them, but we definitely didn't listen. We were able to walk entirely behind Seljalandsfoss for some unique views while Gljúfrabúi Waterfall, a 5-minute walk away from Seljalandsfoss, required weaving through some rocks/canyons to a hidden spot right underneath the waterfall. At this point, we had planned to camp nearby for our biggest hike of the trip - but the forecast continued to look formidable so we improvised - and headed for the west coast and Golden circle with plans to come back and hike in 3 days when the forecast improved. This improv took us to Grindavik, a town on the southwest peninsula in Iceland. We decided to try some of Iceland’s well known unlimited soup and bread dinners. Broccoli + Leek and Carrot + Honey were the 2 flavors of the day. We each may have had 3 bowls - drying off and having a hot soup dinner made falling asleep in the van easy yet again.

Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon

Black sand beach at Dyrhólaey/reynisdrangar rock formations

Seljalandsfoss

Unlimited soup bowls

In the morning, Kyle’s inner pyromaniac impulses took over and the opportunity to see flowing lava sent us on a quest. We hiked in 5 miles (it would have been a little shorter, but Kyle's impulses did not include verifying where the trail was) to the point of most recent volcanic activity at Fagradalsfjall. We had no idea what to expect, by ”volcanic activity” we were expecting a large field of dry lava, not too far off from what we had seen elsewhere in the country. Instead, we found the volcano spewing and a hot lava river running down the mountain. As we crept even closer to the lava, we experienced our own personal sauna where the rain land and instanlty turned to steam. We ate lunch not 5 feet from moving lava, and hiked out back into the rain and wind, and in awe of what we had just seen. After a 3 mile hike out (the correct route this time), we were already wet and cold decided to give the infamous Blue Lagoon a try, although we were not hopeful we would get in as it is usually booked out well in advance. We tried simply walking in but, due to the crowd, we thought we were out of luck. Fate was on our side (or the staff saw how frozen we looked) - and we were able to snag a spot. The Blue Lagoon (albeit expensive) was as amazing as everyone and everything makes it out to be. The temperature, color of the water, and sheer relaxation you feel upon leaving makes it so worth it. Not to mention we met “GentleFoxASMR” - who reads books/content live on Twitch - check him out if you need a relaxing voice to fall asleep to.

Fagradalsfjall Volcano

The Blue Lagoon

After a warm shower we headed to Þorlákshöfn to campervan sleep again (the rain has still not stopped) before starting all of the sight-seeing in the well-known Golden Circle near the capital. We camped right next to the Haukadalur geothermal area, stopped by Kerid crater early where we were surprisingly the only people there, then headed north to Þingvellir National Park, to Geysir (which is not an active geyser as of this writing), and to Strokkur (an active geyser that erupts eve 8-10 minutes). We then went to Gullfoss waterfall where we shared a pizza for lunch, and then Faxafoss waterfall and Friðheimar tomato farm. At this point, and after another rain filled day, we went to Gamla Laugin (the Secret Lagoon, Nicole must have a list of these hot pools somehwere) to warm up/relax/and again have a hot shower and place to dry. Guess where we slept? YEP - in the Dokker yet again. Luckily, we had hit majority of the Golden Circle in a day, which allowed us to head down towards the start of our big hike and have a day to stay dry/blog/plan next steps. Here we are in Selfoss, spending a day getting packed for our adventure tomorrow and trying to keep you up to date :)

With 3 days left, we still have a few major things to check off our Iceland bucket list (hello Reykjavik hotdog) and we look forward to sharing the rest of this beautiful

country with you.

Keurid Crater

Gullfoss

Gamla Laugin (the Secret Lagoon)