The intrepid trio

We (along with Mum) spent three days in Rekjavik getting wet in different ways. Here we are getting wet at Gullfoss (Golden Falls).
And we made sure to take in a photography show by our hero Viggo Mortensen:
Mostly the pictures were of trees, his gift to Iceland, a land with few trees these days.

The Narrow Road to the North-West

This is a map that comes with the rental car. Note enormous "area where passenger cars are not allowed to drive." We, however, were heading to the North-Western part of Iceland, the Westfjords:
That biggest red dot is Isafjordur, population around 3,000--making it the bustling metropolis of the region. Here are a couple of common road signs:
On the way up, we had rain and fog. It's very frustrating, driving in this area. You turn a corner and you can see where you want to go, just a mile across the water--but you have to drive 30 miles down to the end of the fjord and back again, to get there. Scenic, though.

Lovely Isafjordir

This is what Isafjordur looks like in Winter, at night. But we were there in the Summer, when there is no night. Still, you can see, the town is on a spit of land in the fjord, opposite the airstrip. Unusual church:
Our guest house, Gamla Gistihusid. Very nice.
Rush hour in downtown Isafjordur:
This interesting-looking and rather derelict building, was across the street from Gamla.

A pirate's life for me

The teenagers in town find employment singing and dancing or posing in costume at the Maritime Museum:

Last seen, Captain Jack Sparrow was seen in this boat heading for Florida. But here is proof he settled in Iceland. (That compass, you know. Not too reliable.)
These are shields of Denmark, which used to govern the island until 1940:
Nine hearts and three lions above, also the bee-hive below. All these symbols were representative of the Danish monarchy.

Public art in Isafjordir

We found this lovely anchor in the junkyard across from the Maritime Museum.
Also this dirt-mover thingy.
More art outside the welding shop:

First big hike, part 1

After an unusually rough crossing (nearly half the boat puked, but not Eric), we arrived in Adelvik in the rain. Our guide Iris cried out: "It's an adventure!" Our other guide Albertina was sick with the rest of us. All efforts to persuade anyone to live here year-round ended in 1952, but there are still one or two remnants, such as this church:
Very verdant and lush, quite boggy in places, with wonderful wild flowers and moss:


Temperatures were nice, in the 50s, but there was still some snow:
And this amazing moss, which was very deep and spongy:

First big hike, part 2

After an hour and a half, we reached the top of a ridge and looked back. You can see the bay where we started. Also you can see, the weather cleared up nicely.
Eric Blood-Axe takes a break.

Once upon a time, they tried to put in phone lines, but that didn't work out. Cell-phones work though.
A beautiful tarn with cotton-grass:
At this point we were about 20 miles short of the Arctic Circle, so THAT STREAM WAS COLD. We forded it barefoot. Eric squealed. Really loud. Here his feet reacquaint themselves with their nerve endings:

First big hike, part 3

On the other side of this fjord you can see the glacier Drangajokull, the only glacier in Iceland that is not shrinking. It is even growing, due to the cold winds from Greenland.

A fulmar follows the boat on the way home:

Hornbjarg, part 1

We took a longer but mercifully calmer boat ride to the Hornbjarg, a rocky peninsula just five or so miles short of the Arctic Circle. Here's a map from the GPS system in the boat:
Vast meadows of flowers:
The charming Arctic Fox in his summer coat puts in an appearance. This one was not much more than cat-sized, and was clearly unafraid and curious.
Here you can see ear-tags, put there by a biologist working in the area:
View down the bird-cliff. A long way down.
Best picture of us.