The previous night’s blue skies had disappeared by the next morning, and we awoke to gray, cloudy skies on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. A peek out the window revealed that the local sheep were resting in front of our cabin. Things seemed quiet and peaceful, but not all was as it seemed.
Andrea had awakened before me and decided she wanted to go back to the beach to do some beach combing. As she was going down, the birds from the previous night were being aggressive, and she decided to return. She did some research and decided these were Arctic Terns who are known to be aggressive around their nesting grounds. She also read that it was good to carry a stick over one’s head as they will attack the highest point. Not wanting to go alone, she asked me to go to the beach with her. However, to be safe she decided to take my trekking pole as a stick. So as we went down to the beach she held the pole straight up in the air, and it seemed to work. The birds flew around but kept farther away than before.
With our beach adventure done, we packed our car and headed out. We had a lot to cover today as we would go around the end of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, the western part of the country. Interestingly enough we passed through an area where the clouds had parted, and the sun was shining through. It was only one place, and it just seemed strange although we enjoyed the few moments of sunshine. That would be scarce throughout most of our day.
Our first adventure in exploring the Snæfellsnes Peninsula was unplanned. We were heading to a church, when we looked over and saw a waterfall cascading off the top of the cliff. We pulled into a parking lot and found the trail that led to a viewpoint. There was also an unpaved trail continuing up the side to the base of the waterfall. Andrea decided to do that and scrambled up. I chose to stay behind and take pictures of her ascent. Andrea successfully made it up, and we enjoyed this unexpected gift of nature. I also began to learn some Icelandic here. The name of the falls was Bjarnarfoss, and I figured out that “foss” at the end of a word means waterfall. Instead of it being a separate word, it’s all combined into one name.
It was only a short distance from the waterfall to the church. This is an old church, and what makes it notable is it is painted black. It really stands out against the gray sky background. There were a group of motorcycle riders there when we arrived, and they had parked their bikes right in front of the church. That limited my photo options to keep their bikes out of my pictures.
Traveling can sometimes cause us to forget that the people who live there are going about their normal daily routines. I was reminded of that this day seeing farmers at work in their fields. It appeared to be haying season. Farmers worked as late as 9:00pm in their fields cutting the hay and wrapping it in sheets of plastic, which is the more modern way to do it. It always seems strange to see these big plastic rolls out in the field instead of the bales I saw as a kid growing up..
Our next stop in our tour of Snæfellsnes was entering a narrow gorge named Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge. There is a break in the mountain, and a river runs through the break creating a gorge. One can enter it and even travel a ways inside, but that would require walking on rocks through the river. We walked up to the entrance and walked on rocks to get inside. At the beginning there is a rather large cavern space. There were quite a few people in there taking their selfies and photos of each other. A few folks were venturing farther into the narrow crevice. Someone told us there is a waterfall deeper in the gorge. However, we decided not to go past the opening cavern. Eventually too many people were crowding into the space so we left. It was certainly an interesting place to see.
We decided to stop at the nearby fishing village of Arnarstapi to find some lunch. Driving in we saw an interesting looking sculpture toward the water and went to investigate it. We discovered a troll made of rocks. Actually the statue is of Bárður Snæfellsás who is said to be the guardian spirit of the nearby mountain in Snæfellsnes. He is a mythical creature, and there are stories about him in Icelandic folklore. Trolls are actually a popular part of folklore here.
We didn’t find anything to eat here, but we did enjoy the views looking out over the water and the nearby cliffs. There was a short hike in the town which went along the water’s edge and leads over to the next village, but we didn’t take the time to do it.
Our goal now was to go around the end of the peninsula which goes through Snæfellsjökull National Park. Toward the beginning of the park we saw a really interesting looking rock formation on a cliff. It looked to me like either angel wings or a ship’s sail. The formation is called Lóndrangar and is said to be the church of the trolls. Visitors can see this volcanic plug from some distance away. We also discovered a huge bird colony here. However, after our experience with the aggresive Arctic Tern, Andrea wasn’t so thrilled about seeing a large colony of birds.
The rest of the Snæfellsjökull Park wasn’t too interesting. Most of it was just old lava flow fields. There were a lot of jagged rocks and rocks covered with moss. Perhaps if we had been able to see the tops of the mountains, it would have been more interesting. Sadly the layer of clouds continued to be low and cut off the tops of the mountain.
We did see a medium sized mammal as we were driving. I tried to get some pictures, but they didn’t turn out very sharp. We thought it might be a fox when we saw it, but I’m not convinced of that now. Its tail makes me think more of a badger.
Leaving the park, we finally stopped to get some food at a nice restaurant in the fishing village of Ólafsvík. We also saw a modern church there. It seems the church buildings in Iceland are either very traditional or very modern. This one was modern, but just outside of town a traditional one seemed to be surrounded by the fields of lupine. It was very pretty.
Another waterfall was our next spot of interest. The big draw for Kirkjufellsfoss was that a nearby mountains made an interesting background for the waterfall. unfortunately that wasn’t happening this day as the cloud cover was cutting everything off. The waterfall itself was interesting enough. The falls had two levels and various streams at each level. Despite the disappearing background, it was still an interesting waterfall.
Having seen what we could see during our short visit to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, we headed toward our evening accommodations across the bridge from Borgarnes. Along the way we would pass some typical volcanic landscapes.
This night we would be staying in a red cottage below tall cliffs. It had a bedroom which was nice, but only one bed. That meant Andrea had to sleep on the couch, but it was comfortable enough for her. After we arrived, we rested some and then headed out again. After all it is still light even at midnight.
Our final adventure for the day involved another waterfall. Actually it is two waterfalls. the upper falls, Barnafoss, flows rapidly through lava rocks, cutting into the rock and creating a canyon of turbulent water. After this is Haurnfossar, a long series of water falls that flow into the Hvítá River from the side. Here the water has seeped through the lava rocks and then spills out into the river. It is a really beautiful series of falls and well worth the stop.
On the way back to our cottage, Andrea spotted a stream with steam over it. She wanted to stop and see if the water was warm. There were a couple of horses nearby who showed interest in what we were doing. Horses are common, and people talk about the unique Icelandic horses. This was our closest encounter with some. They seemed very friendly.
Andrea did get down close to the water and could smell sulfur in it. When she touched it, it was warm. She thought that was an interesting experience.
Arriving back at our cottage, I stayed outside to take some photos of the horses across the way as well as the water. The sun was low in the sky in that direction so taking photos was challenging. However, looking back toward our cottage and the cliffs behind it, the light was beautiful, and we again had blue sky for the evening. We were blessed to have such a lovely view.
Our second day in Iceland was closing even if the sun was not fully gone yet. I hope you are enjoying reading about our experiences. Be sure to tune in next week for a new installment of our father/daughter journey. If you haven’t already done so, look for the subscribe box and subscribe. That way the next five posts on Iceland will show up automatically in your inbox, and you won’t miss a thing.