We arrived back in Reykjavik on October 28 and spent our first night back in the campground where our whole adventure started. We visited the flea market in Kolaportid and found two really interesting tables; one that had a lot of vintage Icelandic post cards and photos, and one with a lot of great bones and whale-tooth carvings. We spent the rest of the day doing a $14 load of laundry and re-packing everything and cleaning out the car.

The next morning we picked up our friend Grace at the airport, returned our rental car and picked up a new one and then headed back South on Route 1 to take her to some of our favorite spots before the music festival. We stopped in Hveragerdi to get Grace her first Icelandic hot dog then drove to Gljufrabui and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls. We hiked into the canyon to see the falls again then drove another 30 minutes to Skogafoss and then took a quick hike down the valley path to Kvernufoss. We stopped at the fish and chips truck for dinner and then made our way all the way across the Southern coast to Hofn to camp for the night. On the way we stopped again at the black sand beach outside of Vik, and this time the tide was low so we were able to see so many more of basalt columns as well as access the much bigger cave further down the shoreline.

The next day we took Grace out to Flaajokull glacier along the stone road in front, since that was our favorite of all the glaciers we had visited, then stopped at Jokulsarlon to see the glacier lagoon and the beach. It looked completely different than when we had been there before...there were almost no small pieces of ice and all the huge chunks were crowded together at the mouth of the river. The beach had none of the huge icebergs that we had climbed on the first time, and not even that many small pieces...I preferred how it looked the first time we got to visit it, but it was nice to see how it changes so we could better appreciate it.

We spent that night at Selfoss and then returned to Reykjavik the next day to pick up our wristbands for the Airwaves festival and scope out some of the venues. We visited the Iceland Phallological museum, where they house a collection of over two hundred penises from all the land and sea mammals found in Iceland (yes, even human) and the sperm whale penis was taller than Steve. We checked into our Air BnB that afternoon, and it was really nice to be indoors and sleep in a real bed after spending a month in a tent. It was a nice big apartment and only a 10 minute drive from downtown. The best part is $86 a night is way cheaper than any hostel bed in town, and infinitely cheaper than the cheapest hotel.

The Iceland Airwaves Festival started on November 1st and went through the 5th, and over those 5 days we saw over 30 different bands perform and numerous venues large and small all around the city. There were big famous names sharing the stage with little local bands, and we discovered a lot of great new music. Some bands we planned to see ahead of time, but many of them we discovered as we wandered around the city. In between shows we did some shopping and found some unique local places for lunch where we sampled whale steak, ate some fresh seafood and sampled a popular local fish stew. The final day of the festival we woke up to an insane storm with 50mph wind gusts that blew us sideways across the rain-slicked plaza in front of the Harpa center and we only saw a few shows before we went home to get dry. The final headline concert of the festival was Mumford and Sons, and they put on a fantastic live show.

​On the 6th we checked out of the Air BnB and met our guide Ragnar at noon for our Golden Circle tour before spending the night in the Bubble Hotel, our biggest splurge of the trip. Even though we had already been to most of the places he took us we appreciated getting to see them again, and we were finally able to ask all the questions we'd been wondering about the whole time. Our first stop was Thingvellir National Park where we had gone to snorkel, and he took us to a section of the park we hadn't been to and walked a path in between the tectonic plates (much warmer than swimming), in the same area they used to film the road to the Eyrie in Game of Thrones. We saw where Iceland's first Parlaiment met in 930 AD  and the hill where they used to read the laws to the people. Funnily enough, Iceland didn't impose the death penalty on people until after they adopted Christianity...apparently Vikings are more humane as pagans than Christians. 

We stopped at Geysir and stayed for several eruptions, and got a much bigger one on film than last time. Then we went to Gullfoss and I really appreciated getting to see it again because it looked so drastically different. It had done quite a bit of snowing by then, and the temperature had dropped considerably so it looked like a completely different place. The mist form the falls had frozen on the rocks and formed long, jagged icicle teeth framing both the upper and lower falls. The pathway to the edge of the falls was closed so it was possible to get some really great photos without hoards of people in them. We ate dinner around 5 at a local restaurant then went to the secret lagoon after dark. It was a nice hot spring that reminded me a lot of Orvis near Telluride Colorado...definitely a man-made pool but with a very natural vibe. They had poop noodles to use so we grabbed a few and had a relaxing float. The sky was clear when we arrived but then a big bank of clouds rolled in and dumped big fat snowflakes for about ten minutes before leaving as fast as it came. 

​When we got to the bubbles Ragnar showed us the grounds before leaving. There were 8 bubbles scattered throughout a small stand of trees  that passes for an Icelandic forest, and a small common bathroom/kitchen hut on a farmers land. They are basically clear plastic igloos on a wooden platform with a queen bed inside and two small lamps. There was a power strip and an electric blanket for extra warmth, but since they were inflated with a constant stream of warm air the temperature was fairly pleasant inside. There were two doors, an outer and an inner and you can only open one at a time or you'll let all the air out and the whole thing will deflate. We chose the one with the most trees surrounding it, and the lamps give off a soft yellow glow that makes the bubbles glow golden between the trees. With the lights off the bubble is crystal clear and we had a great view of the trees all around thanks to the almost full moon, and the clouds had cleared out so we slept under an infinity of stars. It felt like the bubble wasnt even there and we were sleeping in a big comfy bed in the middle of the woods. It was a great experience, and worth all the expense. In the morning Ragnar picked us up early and took us for breakfast at another local restaurant then dropped us back off at the campground. We spent the day packing our bikes back into the boxes and sorting out all of our luggage.

November 8 was our last night in Iceland and we were treated to one more northern lights spectacular before bed. We woke in the morning to our tent covered in frost with sleet and heavy winds, a perfect day to think about heading for home. For our last meal in Iceland on the day of our departure we found a local place serving puffin, one of the only Icelandic foods we hadn't run across on our journey. It snowed to see us off on our way to the airport, and we departed the country as the sun was setting.

When we planned this trip we had expected to be biking the majority of the time, and perhaps rent a car for the last two weeks. With our change of plans and spending much more time in a vehicle than we anticipated we ended up having a lot of extra free time on our hands. Iceland is not that big of a country after all, and even with all of our side routes and exploration we still found ourselves with a full week of extra time before we needed to be in Reykjavik for the Iceland Airwaves music festival, so we decided to spend it in a beautiful little campsite outside of Borgarnes that we first found when we were traveling on our bikes. The campground is closed so there was no fee, which helped us save since our budget tightened up a lot when we had to rent the car.

We left Selfoss around noon and drive 18k to Hveragerthi to hike along they Reykjadalur valley to the hot water river. It was about an hour long hike with some fairly steep sections, although the trail was wide and smooth the whole way. We passed a lot of steaming vents and boiling hot pools taht are well over 100 degrees celcius before we came to the river. There was a boardwalk along a stretch of the river to keep you out of the mud, and little rock dams have been build every 25-50 feet along the shallow river to make sections deep enough to submerge in if you lay down. The first spot we chose was warm, but not hot and was pleasant enough while we were in the water but made getting out into the cold air tough. We finally gathered up the courage to brave the cold air and moved a few hundred yards up stream and the water there was so hot that it was more comfortable to sit half-in and half-out. We soaked an hour or so then hiked back to the car as the sky was beginning to turn pink and purple with the sunset. 

​Our first night in Borgarnes we set up our tent right on the water and we were treated to another spectacular show by the northern lights. We stayed up late with our camera and got some great shots of the lights reflected on the water behind our tent. We could tell fall was rapidly coming to and end, as the temperatures had been dropping steadily for the last few days and the moisture on our tent from the rain in Selfoss froze almost immediately as we set it up.

We spent a lot of time that week relaxing in our tent, visiting the local swimming pool, cooking luxurious meals overlooking the water and watching the northern lights dance almost every night. It seems like the aurora is making up for a whole months worth of shows that we missed due to the clouds. We both bought some local supplies and started learning new crafts...Steve is learning to knit and I took up felting with wool rovings from the shaggy Icelandic sheep. 

One day we drove to Hraunfossar waterfall, which is actually long section of cliff where countless springs of water emerge from the edge of the lava field Hallmundarhraun and flow into the river Hvita. Surface water and glacier melt water filter down into the lava field and come out along a 1km section above the river. In some spots many springs come out close together and run down the rocks creating a braided-waterfall effect. Its not very tall, but its visually very interesting. Just up the river we visited Barnafoss where the river carved out a lot of natural bridges, holes and arches. On the way back to Borgarnes we stopped at Stedji, a farm and brewery that has a tasting room. We got a 5 beer sampler and then three bottles to share. Its the first brewery we've found in Iceland that does more than just a standard pale, IPA, porter etc. Almost all their beers had some sort of special element like ginger, cinnamon, seaweed or our favorite...whale testicle smoked over sheep dung. WE didn't try any beers there that we didn't like. For dinner we went to the restaurant at the settlement center in Borgarnes and ordered a horse fillet, which tasted like a really tender steak and was served medium-rare in some sort of amazing sauce. Checked one more off our list of new things to eat.

​The Settlement Center in Borgarnes is a museum with two exhibits, one about the first people to discover and settle in Iceland and one dedicated to the Saga of Egill who lived at the farm Borg, which is what the town is named for. It was nice to learn a bit more history about Iceland since we didn't know much about it at all. It was settled by Vikings, and the coolest thing is they don't just know who and when, they know exactly where people landed, lived, stored their boats...so much detail. In America we only know that history of a place starting with colonization or white expansion, but nothing about the original settlers or inhabitants. Egils saga was a bit more of a fairy-tale type story with a lot of embellishments (pretty sure his grandfather wasn't actually a werewolf...) but it was rooted in fact and the characters depicted were really the first settlers in that area.

We made the campground in Selfoss our home base for the next few days while we spent some time exploring the Golden Circle, a 300k loop from Reykjavik into the Southern uplands and back. Its one of the most popular tourist routes in Iceland as it can be done in one day and there's a little bit of everything from waterfalls to geothermal activity. We saved it for later in our trip hoping to avoid some of the worst of the crowds. On our first day we slept in until almost noon and then set out for a 40 minute drive to check out Gullfoss and Geysir.

Gullfoss is a waterfall on the Hvita river and it was beautiful but quite busy, and it made me appreciate our opportunities to see other equally impressive waterfalls in more remote locations in Iceland. Gullfoss has an upper section of tiered rocks that the river cascaeds down before turning a sharp corner and plunging 105 feet to the valley below.

A short distance down the road is Geysir, a geothermal area with several vents, hot pools and geysers. The only on actively spouting is Strokkur, and it erupts fairly regularly every 6-8 minutes so we watch a few eruptions before taking a walk around. We didn't do too much exploring at either place because we had accommodations booked for later in our trip at he bubble hotel, and it included a tour of the golden circle with a guide. We finished the day at Hveragerdi to visit the Olverk brewery for dinner. Its unique in that its a geothermal powered brewery, although that doesn't actually do anything unique to the beer. I had a pint of their blueberry wit, and it was pleasant although not something i would pay $14 for a second time. All of the beer here in Iceland is incredibly expensive, so we've been pretty sober on this trip. We shared a pizza for dinner and then went to Isbud Huppu, an ice cream shop in Selfoss for dessert.

On October 19 we booked an excursion to go Snorkeling in the Sifra fissure, between two tectonic plates. On this trip we've opted not to do many paid activities since Iceland is a fairly expensive place to be and we wanted to be sure we saved enough money to do the few things that we can't do anywhere else. We can walk on glaciers any time we want in Alaska, but this is the only place in the world you can swim between tectonic plates.

We met our guide Carlos at Thingvellir National Park information center and followed him out to the dive site. There were only four other people in the group and everyone was around our age. We got geared up with a warm onesie, a dry-suit, gloves and a hood, then carried our fins and masks three minutes down the trail to the beginning of the fissure. We entered the 34 degree water two at a time down a set of wide stairs and had to show we could roll over onto our backs before we got started. The dry suits were bouyant and there is a current flowing through the fissure so we didn't need to do much swimming, we just floated through the crystal clear water and enjoyed the view. The fissure is quite narrow in parts and ranges from a few feet deep to over 100. I could even see a few caves and crevices further down that you'd definitely need scuba gear and a small body to squeeze into and explore. We explored the four main sections; the big crack, Silfra hall, the cathedral and Silfra lagoon and then had some time to swim around on our own. We were in the water about 40 minutes but the only part of me that really felt the cold was my hands. 

The Silfra fissure is formed where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. The water is melted glacier water from the Langjokull glacier and it filters through the underground lava rocks for about 30 years before it emerges crystal clear into the crack. The water doesn't look all that special from above, but once inside you're surrounded by fabulous shades of bright blue and you could almost imagine it was tropical if it wasn't so cold...

The day after our snorkel adventure it was raining lightly as we set out from Selfoss to go waterfall hunting. Steven did some research and found three waterfalls in the area that you can hike behind, so we put on our raincoats and planned to get wet. The first waterfall we explored was Gljufrabui, its 40 meters tall but the only way to see the whole thing is to hike up the stream coming out of the narrow fissure in the cliff face. 50 feet upstream the space opens into a large chamber with a huge boulder at the center, and the waterfall flows from the top of the cliff into a shallow pool behind the boulder. It spreads out to cover the entire back wall and the room is filled with the sound and the spray. We were both thoroughly soaked when we left, but it was totally worth it to visit such a magical little spot.

From Glufrabui we walked half a kilometer along the cliff band and past several smaller waterfalls to Seljalandsfoss which is larger and taller (65 meters) but a major tourist stop. There was a trail behind the waterfall so you can see it from all angles so we hiked up the stairs on one side and through the mist to the relatively dry overhang behind the falls and then down the stairs on the other side. 

Our last waterfall of the day was Kvernufoss, right next to Skogafoss although we didn't know it when we were there the last time. WE drove past the museum and then parked next to a warehouse. We had to climb a ladder over a fence and into some pastureland, but it was easy to find the 1/2 mile trail down the canyon to the falls. The hike took us along the edge of the river surrounded by high rock walls covered in impossibly green moss. We couldn't see the falls until we were almost there and rounded the bend past a large boulder. This was our favorite waterfall of the day because it was so secluded it felt like our own secret spot, and the view from behind the narrow waterfall looking back down the narrow valley was amazing. 

Our plan was to leave Selfoss the next day and head back North of Reykjavik to better explore the area up there that we had biked through so quickly the first time.

Hofn is a small waterfront town that sits right on the Southeast corner of Iceland, and it was a great place to re-group and make a plan for exploring some of the the more well-known and popular tourist destinations along the South Coast.  From the waterfront in town we could see the tongues of four glaciers reaching down to the water, and we were looking forward to spending some time exploring all that ice. The visitor center in town has a nice display about the local birds and a really interesting movie about the eruption of the Katla volcano. We treated ourselves to lunch at Humar Hofnin and shared a plate of duck and langoustine (Norway lobsters). A large percentage of the Langoustine that are caught in Iceland come from Hofn so we figured it would be a good place to try it, and we were not disappointed. Our second evening in Hofn we were treated to our first show from the northern lights on this trip. We had been in the country nearly a month at this point, but this was the first night that the skies were clear and the kP index was high. There was a strong green river of light running straight through the sky that waved and danced for 2-3 minutes before the lights faded a bit and spread out across the sky. They got pretty faint for a while and then came back in full force as a curtain of light, twisting and swirling right above us in greens and reds.

​We spent two nights in Hofn before striking out West on the Ring Road along the South Coast of Iceland. On October twelfth we struck out for the Jokulsarlon iceberg lagoon, but it took nearly all day to make the hour-long trip because we couldn't resist taking several side trips down gravel roads to visit all of the glaciers creeping down the mountains from the Vatnajokull icefield.

Our first side trip took us to the Hoffellsjokul glacier where we hiked a short distance to an overlook with a view of the glacier spreading out into the valley from its narrow mountain pass, and a grey lagoon filled with chunks of ice at its foot. Our next detour took us down another gravel road for a view of a much larger glacier. The road narrowed to one land after about 8k and crossed a man-made land bridge of gravel about 15 feet tall out in front of the glacier. The further down the road we went the more ice came into view, and when we stopped for some photos we noticed two reindeer to the right that ran along the edge of a pool before disappearing from sight. 

We had hoped to find a campground reasonably close, but ended up having to drive another 3 hours to Vik before we came upon another campground. In the end we had to pay $138 for two beds in a hostel because a storm blew in and the only campground was completely flooded...a drastic difference from the morning when the weather was perfectly clear.

​The storm had mostly blown itself out by next morning, and we took advantage of access to a shower before we checked out. We decided to explore Vik a bit before heading back East to see the stuff we had missed driving in the dark the night before. We started out the day looking for the wreck of the US Navy DC-3 super bus plane on Solheimasandur beach. We found the parking area full of cars and joined a steady stream of people hiking out to the beach. It was about two miles out through a desolate and otherworldly landscape of black sand and lava rocks. The plane crashed on the beach on November 21, 1973 and everyone survived, but it must have been a strange and lonely place for the crew to find themselves stranded in. The tail section and wings are all missing, and the inside is completely gutted, so its just the shell of the fuselage with the cockpit destroyed. There were a lot of people at the plane, but we walked 200 yards to the shore and we were all alone. I am constantly impressed by the violence and power of the massive waves on Iceland's South coast. They pound the shore with a fury that would pulverize even the strongest swimmer.

We walked back to the car and drive back East towards Vik, stopping outside of town at Reynisfjara beach. The waves were even more ferocious here, and there were signs warning of dangerous "sneaker waves"that could be much larger than the other waves and catch people off guard. Several tourists have been killed by them, but it didn't seem to stop the other tourist from getting ridiculously close to the water to get that perfect selfie. At one end of the beach there was a large "cave" (more of a big indentation) of basalt columns and a long cliff of the hexagonal columns stretching parallel to the ocean. The tide was high so we couldn't walk along the cliff, but we had a good view of Reynisdrangar, the two tall rock formations rising out of the sea that are supposedly trolls turned to stone.

The next morning we pack up our tent and left Hofn for good, with one more stop at Jokulsarlon on our way West to see what we had missed driving in the dark. We took a longer walk around the lagoon for our last visit there. Its amazing how crowded it is near the parking area, but no one bothers to walk ten minutes down the shore so we had it all to ourselves. After seeing the crowds at these popular destinations in the "off season" I would never recommend visiting Iceland at the height of the tourist season. 

About halfway between Jokulsarlon and Vik starts a huge lava field that extends as far as you can see. The jagged sharp rocks are covered in an incredibly soft-looking green moss that smooths and rounds the edges into indistinct lumps. It looks like a magical other world, and I can completely understand how legends of hidden people can persist here. We decided to stay in Vik that night since the campground had dried out significantly. We pitched our tent high on a hill at he base of some tall cliffs with a view of the ocean and reynisdrangar in the distance and had a good nights sleep listening to the waves crashing on the shore and protected from the worst of the ever-present wind. 

We started off the next day with a stop at Skogafoss waterfall, which is fed by the Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull glaciers. The main falls is 15 meters wide and 62 meters high and quite impressive, but there are over 20 waterfalls on the Skoga river so we hiked upriver (and uphill) a ways to see more. As with most places on the South coast the waterfall was very crowded, but once we started walking upriver we left the crowds behind. On the way back to the ring road we stopped at a little food truck in someones front yard and shared a delicious order of fish and chips, then we went in search of the oldest swimming pool in Iceland. We took road 242 out towards Raufarfell and hiked about 15 minutes down the valley from the end of the road. Right next to the river and hidden around a bend in the trail is Seljavallalaug, built in 1923. Three concrete walls and the side of a cliff make up the 25x10 meter pool and the water comes from a pipe running from a hot spring. Although the water from the pipe was quite hot, it didn't do much to warm the pool, even right next to the source. IT wouldn't be a great experience on a cold rainy day, but since we had a bit of sun we found it quite refreshing, and the less-than-warm water kept most people out so we had plenty of elbow room. The algae on the bottom of the pool made it so slippery it was a challenge to walk, but standing still in the shallow end we slowly slid towards the deeps until our feet were no longer touching. 

We spent more time in the pool than most of the people who were just there for a photo op, and had a nice hike back to the car. We had no other stops planned, but we ran into a small cave next to the road and decided to have a quick look. Steinahellir cave was used by farmers to house sheep, and became the areas parlimentary assembly site from 1818-1905. Supposedly the cave is haunted, but we didn't see any ghosts. There is a wooden wall covering the cave entrance and when we stepped inside we were amazed to find the ceiling and walls covered in tiny bright green ferns. It felt like a really magical place. We spent that night in Selfoss, on the Southwest corner of Iceland at a campsite we had stayed in while we were still on our bicycles, and one of our favorite campsites in Iceland so far.

After shaking the frost off of our tent early in the morning we drove through mountains and lava fields from Modrudalur to Egilsstadir and set up camp in a secluded grove of trees at the city campground. Despite holding the honor of the largest town in East Iceland the population is just over 2,000 residents, and besides being a good jumping off point for a few of the things we wanted to do in the area there's not much going on. We took a quick lap around town and then headed out to find Hengifoss, the third highest waterfall in Iceland at 128 meters tall.

​There was only one other car in the lot when we arrived, and shortly after we started the 2.5km hike we passed the owners on their way back down. We loved having the trail to ourselves after the massive crowds we encountered in Myvatn, and we stopped often to admire the view as we followed the rather steep trail next to the river. About halfway up we came to Litlanesfoss, a 30 meter high waterfall surrounded by hexagonal basalt columns. The columns are formed by lava as it cools, and always lie at right angles to the cooling surface, meaning the columns can range from completely vertical to nearly horizontal, depending on where the lava was flowing from. At Litlanesfoss the lava filled a stream bed and cooled slowly, and the tallest columns are slightly curved at the top, indicating that the lava was still slightly in motion when they began to form.

With all of our stops it took us about 40 minutes to get to Hengifoss and there was a little rainstorm along the way, but right about the time we got to the end of the trail the sun came out and lit up the top of the falls and made the red clay strata glow. The cliff face shows the cross section of all the different layers in the rock; red sandy clay, black lava layers, sandstone, grey ash and brown soil. It makes for a striking image with the bright white of the water, and gives you a glimpse into the geological history of the area. We stayed for nearly an hour just drinking in the solitude, and just as we started back down the trail another group of people arrived...perfect timing!

The next morning we woke up early to drive out to Husey farm to do some horseback riding. Neither of us are really horse people (Steve had never been on one and I'm super allergic), but horses are a big part of the culture here in Iceland so we decided it would be a good idea to give it a go. Icelandic horses are their own distinct breed, and no horses are allowed to be imported into the country in order to keep the bloodlines pure. Even horses that are exported from Iceland aren't allowed to return. They're much smaller than the horses we're used to seeing, almost pony size, but incredibly hardy with a double coat to withstand the cold and they're incredibly sure footed. Some are bred as work horses, some for riding, and quite a few farms breed them purely for their meat which is consumed in Iceland as well as elsewhere in Europe.

We arrived at the farm at 10 and met our guide at the stable. One of the perks of being completely inexperienced is that we got our own guide, and she had us comfortable in the saddle and trotting in no time. We rode out across the farm, nestled between two rivers, and down to the edge of the larger river where we could hear the ocean waves crashing in the distance. We appreciated being able to go our own way, rather than having to ride nose to butt in a line like most horseback tours in the states. We stopped on the bank of the river for a little while to give the horses a break and a bunch of curious seals swam over to check us out.

We spent about two hours out on the horses enjoying the view of snow dusted mountains and having fun bouncing up and down in the saddle before returning to the barn and treating our horses to a few slices of bread (apparently they go nuts for it). We got back on the road just after 12:30, and on our way down the road from the farm we spotted a beautiful white fox on the side of the road who kindly posed for us for several minutes before going about his own business. We drove down the East coast, intending to make our way to the South of Iceland down the most remote section of the ring road. Route 1 cuts straight south from Egilsstadir for a little while before turning to gravel and descending steep switchbacks at a 14% grade and finally veering to the East and hugging the winding coastline. The views were absolutely spectacular and we stopped at a beach covered in billions of minuscule pebbles about 30 minutes outside Hofn to watch the powerful waves battering the shoreline before heading into town to set up camp for the evening at the city campground.

This is going to be a very photo heavy post because the Myvatn region, near the town of Reykjahlid, had so much beauty packed into such a small space! After half a day in Akureyri, the largest city in the North of Iceland we headed East on the ring road towards the geothermal wonderland of Myvatn. We stopped at Godafoss waterfall on the way, and we were a bit overwhelmed by the number of people. Up until this point we have spent most of our time in Iceland off the beaten track, in less traveled areas, so seeing crowds of people was a bit of a shock for us and was the one thing about the Myvatn area that we really did not enjoy. 

Just outside of Reykjahlid we stopped to see Grjotogja, the hotspring inside a cave that they used to film Jon and Ygrittes love scene in Game of Thrones. It used to be a popular bathing spot, but volcanic activity in the 70s spiked the water temperature and although its been cooling off in recent years its still too hot to be safe. The cave isn't nearly as spacious as it looks on TV (not surprising), but we managed to get a nice vantage point for some photos at the end of the pool and then crawled through a small gap in the rock to get out on top of the cave and scramble down to our car. 

​After setting up our tent at the campground we took a trip to Myvatn Nature Baths, often referred to as the "Blue Lagoon of the North." The Blue Lagoon is a world famous man-made hot pool outside of Reykjavik, but at $85 a person and often overcrowded we decided it was a "must see" that we wouldn't mind missing. We were told that Myvatn was half the price and twice as nice, and we weren't disappointed. Several large man-made rock pools with a gravel bottom are filled with water from the National power company's bore hole in Bjarnarflag. The water contains all kinds of beneficial minerals that give it a cloudy bright blue color, and it comes out of the ground at 130 degrees celcius so it has to be cooled down a lot before its pumped into the pools. There was a nice view over the valley of the mountains in the distance, and we stayed until after dark so we could enjoy the sunset and the stars.

They weren't formed by eruptions like most craters, instead they were caused by explosions of steam from under the surface as lava flowed over the wetlands and lake. The steam vents caused rock and lava to build up around them forming small circular and semi-circular craters along the lake shore.

There were massive clouds of steam and sulfur rising from the ground and streaming out of the mountainside in the distance. The crust is very thin in spots and the soil temperatures could reach 100 degrees Celcius, so we stuck to the marked paths as we walked through the hellish landscape.

Our next stop was Viti crater, about 300 meters across, filled with deep blue water and surrounded by a geothermal area with steaming mountains in the distance. We hiked up to the rim, then all the way around the crater for views of the multi-color mountains ranging from deep black to green to tan and white. On the side of the road on the way back to the ring road was a continuously running hot shower, right out in the open. We have no idea what it was meant for, but we used it to wash the sticky mud from our shoes.

Since we didn't want to spend another night at the crowded campground in Reykjahlid we planned to drive all the way to Egilsstadir, but we took a chance on an 8k detour to Modrudalur when we saw a camping sign, and ended up finding our favorite campground in Iceland so far. We followed the signs and pulled into a field full of goats (local landscaping crew I guess...), and then down past a small turf building into a level field with campsites divided by turf walls. It was the first time on our whole trip the sky was clear enough to see the stars, and we cooked dinner in the quaint little turf house, joined by the resident cat. Modrudalur is the highest inhabited place in Iceland at 1,539 ft in elevation and it made for a cold night and a heavy layer of frost on the tent in the morning. We had planned on getting out to look for the northern lights, but neither of us could bear the thought of leaving our cozy sleeping bag in the middle of the night!

 After we left Hvammstangi we drove North out of town on Road 711 to go to Hvitserkur, a 45 foot tall rock formation just off shore. The legend is that the arch is actually a petrified troll that got caught by the sunlight and turned to stone. There was a deck overlooking the beach and a rather steep muddy path all the way down to the shore line. When the tide is high the base of the rocks is submerged, but we arrived at low tide so we were able to walk out onto the black sand beach and right up to the arch. Legends aside, the rock is actually what is left of an old volcanic plug. The crater has been eroded by the ocean and the plug in all that is left behind, although we noticed the bottom had been reinforced with concrete so the ocean seems to be working pretty hard to erode this bit away as well.  We spent some time taking photos and admiring all the beautiful jellyfish washed up on the beach before heading back to the car to escape the cold wind.

We cut back to the ring road on the 717, a dirt road around a gorgeous lake with snow-capped mountains in the distance and then made a beeline for Saudarkrokur to visit the Tannery there. Its the only place in Europe and one of very few in the world that makes leather from fish skins. It was the wrong time of the year to take a tour of the factory, but we enjoyed looking around their shop and reading about the history of tanneries in Iceland. Its amazing how strong and soft they can make the fish skins, and they had everything from wallets and handbags to jewelry and throw pillows made from the leather. Apparently a lot of high fashion designers like Gucci and Prada purchase fish leather from them. They use many different types of fish, including salmon and wolf fish, and a variety of dyes to create leathers of every texture and color under the sun. I bought several scraps of fish leather as well as a small sheep hide with long silky wool in a beautiful auburn color. 

​ At Glaumbaer there was an exhibition of artifacts in an old yellow wooden farmhouse, and a nice tearoom on the first floor called Ashus. We each had a traditional Icelandic "pancake" that was more like a crepe, served with rhubarb jam and cream, and a pot of tea. We ended up spending several hours there and had a nice conversation with the woman who ran it. She convinced us to drive the coastal road 76 rather than go straight across the ring road to Akureyri, so we turned back North and spent the evening camping in Hofsos.

​We drove north from Saudarkrokur in search of he Grettislaug hot spring, and when we arrived we realized it was also a campground so we decided to stay and spend the night. After setting up our tent we had a nice long soak in the hot pool to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks and the sight of snow-capped mountains on two sides. In the morning we had another nice long soak with a light rain coming down before getting back on the road. We stopped back a the Tannery on our way through to have another look around and ended up buying a bit more fish leather (who knows when we'll find it again!) for some projects we have in mind when we get home.

The next day we drove North to Siglufjordur on a beautiful coastal road that rose high up on the mountainside and traveled through a rather sketchy one-lane tunnel. The town is a little fishing village right on the ocean, about 40km from the arctic circle, surrounded on three sides by tall mountains covered in snow. We got some great fish and chips at a small local fish shop and then relaxed for several hours at Adalbakarinn, a nice little cafe with some world class pastries. We decided to head back south to Hofsos in the afternoon so that we could go for a swim in their famous swimming pool, located on the edge of a cliff with views of the ocean and mountains on three sides.

​Just outside of town we passed a huge inlet with water so still it created a perfect mirror for the mountains surrounding it. We drove the car down a small rocky road and hiked out onto the strip of land separating the inlet from the ocean and enjoyed amazing views of the calm water while listening to the huge waves crashing just on the other side. We enjoyed the sunset over the ocean from the warm water of the heated outdoor pool and made the rest of the trek to Akureyri in the dark.

We both agreed that the scenery in Northern Iceland has been some of our favorite so far...we just can't get enough of these mountains!

After our time on the Snaefellsjokull Peninsula we headed north to explore a little bit of the Westfjords, one of the more remote parts of Iceland. Our first stop was to visit the Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft in Holmavik, where we learned all about the history and culture of pagan activity in Iceland.

​The Westfjords was one of the biggest holdouts for witchcraft after the country was "christian-ized," and most of the people who were burned alive for witchcraft were from the area. It turns out, in Iceland the people accused of witchcraft were mostly men and only one woman was ever burned at the stake. We learned a lot about the various lore and superstitions and for such a small museum it was really well done. All of the exhibits were in Icelandic, but we were given a translation book in English so we could understand everything. The craziest thing we learned about were the Necropants...apparently a spell for making money involves getting a friend to agree to let you skin them from the waist down after they die so you can step, bare bottomed, into your very own pair of skin-pants. If you keep a coin in the scrotum along with a magic rune symbol, then as long as you never remove the original coin the scrotum will always be filled with money. Good for those who are short on cash, and presumably don't mind jingling with every step.

After our journey through the Icelandic Occult we drove out along route 60 that hugs the coastline of the Southern part of the fjords in search of a hot pool right on the edge of the ocean. It was a long and winding dirt road that made me grateful to be in a car rather than on bicycles as we periodically climbed over one mountain and descended down the other side to the next fjord at steep grades of 10-15%. The entire drive offered magnificent views of the ocean and the occasional quaint little farmhouse set next to its own private waterfall. 

We found Hellulaug hotspring in the early afternoon, and it was completely worth the long drive. Hot water was piped down from a spring on top of the cliff into a 12x9 foot pool about waist deep. It was made by blocking up the entrance to a natural crevice in the rock with a wall of stacked stones, and it was so close to the ocean that I could imagine getting sprayed by waves if the tide was high and the seas were rough. The clear blue water was slightly aerated and if we sat still for a moment or two we ended up covered in tiny little bubbles. Since we had no other plans for the day we stayed for several hours as various other groups came and went. As the day wore one we decided not to continue out into the fjordlands, and retraced our route and cut north to the little town of Hvammstangi to a campground we particularly enjoyed while on our cycle tour. On our way back a juvenile white tailed eagle raced us along the road for a couple hundred meters, giving us a chance to marvel at his nearly 6 foot wingspan.

​We spent two nights in Hvammstangi so I could take advantage of the internet there to do a Skype interview for a position at Schweitzer for this winter (spoiler alert, I got the job!!). It was nice to take a full day to relax, organize all of our photos and footage and catch up on sleep. We've been on the move constantly since we arrived in Iceland and this was the first time we spent more than one night in the same place. In the evening we went down to the grocery store for some veggies and were surprised by a huge whale dragged up onto the boat ramp down by the dock. It was a Minke whale that had stranded itself in the next inlet and died as they were trying to get it back out to deep water. 

We are continuing our travels to the North and East, come back soon to hear about our adventures in North Iceland!

Since the severe weather is still raging in South Iceland, with major roads on our proposed route being closed due to flooded rivers we decided to head North with our new rental car, retracing our route on the bikes but this time with the freedom to take all the side roads. We arrived in Borgarnes around 1pm to check out their local craft market and stock up on groceries, then used the rest of our daylight to make a short side trip down Road 52 to the east. We planned to follow the dirt road all the way to the border of Western and Southern Iceland, and search for a hidden hot spring along the way. One of the things we were looking forward to the most on this trip was all of the geothermal activity and the numerous hot pools hidden all over the country.

About 1/3 of the way down the road there was a little pull off, and a short trail through some trees led us to Krosslaug hot pool, a small hot spring feeding a stone depression big enough for maybe four people (if they knew eachother well). We had it all to ourselves, and it was late enough in the day and far enough off the beaten path that we didn't expect any company. After a short soak we followed the dirt road all the way to the boundary line on top of a knoll with a gorgeous view, then drove back to Borgarnes to camp for the night. 

​The next morning we drove north out of town to spend the day on the Snaefellsjokull Penninsula. Our first thought was to look for the Landbrotalaug hot spring but when we found it there were several cars there, and as its only large enough for two people we decided to pass. We did explore an abandoned farm house on the same road that had some amazing grafitti art inside, so the detour was still worth it.

The next morning we continued around the road, driving through intermittent rain and clouds so low we couldn't see the glacier. We stopped at Saxholl, a 109 meter tall crater that last erupted 3,000 years ago and took a short hike up the steps wrapping around the crater to enjoy the view from the top. When we arrived back on the South coast we stopped at the National Park Visitor Center that had some great information about the surrounding environment and the culture and lifestyle of the people that first settled the area. We took a nice walk along the beach towards some towering rock formations in the distance and then took a few turns on the playground zipline before getting back in the car to finish the loop. ​When we joined back up with road 54 we crossed back North over the mountains and this time turned right to head back East towards the mainland. We stopped to hike to Raudfeldar canyon, a giant fissure in the cliff wall with a stream running out of it, and we hiked in and up the stream as far as we could go without getting wet.

The end product is a white meat with the consistency and smell of the sort of fancy cheese that no one likes to smell. We got to sample a few pieces of the fermented meat, which is usually eaten as a snack or delicacy, not as a full meal. Surprisingly we both liked the taste, although we were careful not to breath too deeply when eating it because the ammonia smell can still make your eyes water.

​We left the peninsula and finished out the day with a visit to the Gudrunarlaug hot pool, located on a beautiful hillside with a nice view of the valley, a waterfall nearby and a little turf building to change in. We had company, but the pool was big enough to share and we stayed until nearly sunset before driving North to Holmavik to spend the night

 The first characteristic that makes up an adventure is not everything goes as planned. That can certainly be said for our adventure here in Iceland so far. We are having an amazing time in the Land of Ice and Fire, but our cycle tour didn't quite go as expected. Maybe we'd better start from the beginning...

When you work seasonal jobs like we do, you are often long on time but short on money. We decided early on this summer that we would spend part of our our off-season (October/November) "honeymooning" in Iceland. Since we had lots of time on our hands, but not a long of expendable income (we are saving to buy property after all) we decided to us bicycles as our mode of transportation while we were overseas. It had worked well for us in New Zealand, and we find cycle touring to be a fantastic way to really get to know a country as you move much slower and encounter so much that you would never see zooming by in a car. We did our research, and it seemed as though we would be able to see a good deal of the country by cycling Route 1, also known as the "Ring Road" because it runs in a circle more or less around the circumference of the whole country. The internet assured us that many of Iceland's fantastic waterfalls, black sand beaches, volcanoes and glaciers were right off the ring road and with over 5 weeks to bike we should be able to cover the majority of the 900 or so miles. Further research on the weather gave us hope that although it would be a bit chilly, and a bit rainy October is by no means Iceland's wettest month, and the temperatures hovering between 40 and 55 degrees were similar to what we had experienced in Skagway for most of the summer. 

​We arrived at Keflavik International airport at 11:30pm on September 20th and spent the night at the airport before taking a bus with our bikes still in boxes to the City Campground. We assembled our bikes and paid $30 each to store our boxes at the campground for the duration of our trip, then set out to a local grocery store to load up on supplies. We were told Iceland is very expensive, but coming from Alaska we found the food prices to be very reasonable, the difference being the produce here isn't half rotten when it gets put on the shelves like it is at home. The next morning we loaded up our bikes, road to the main bus station at Mjodd, and boarded a bus to take us to Selfoss on the South coast to begin our journey.

Selfoss is the largest town in the South Iceland with almost 7,000 people. At first glance there's not much going on, but we found a nice little path to walk along the Olfusa river, which is the most volumnous river in Iceland, but only 14 miles long. The bank of the river is an old lava flow, and its pockmarked with perfectly round little holes caused by gas bubbles in the lava. Steve stood in one and it cam up to his waist, and was about the diameter of his wingspan.

The next morning we awoke to heavy rain and forecasted 20mph winds, and it turns out we had come to the South in the midst of a terrible gale that was predicted to last for days. Sections of the road further down were under a travel advisory even for cars, but the short section we planned on riding to Hella seemed in better shape so we loaded up our bikes and took our chances. It took over an hour to go just 6 miles, pedaling hard into a headwind even downhill, covering 25 miles took all day. Strong gusts would catch us by surprise, causing us to swerve towards the edge of the road. Despite the challenges we were in relatively high spirits, and our rain gear kept us reasonably dry and fairly warm. Steve got a flat halfway through the day that we aired up several times before a break in the weather gave us the opportunity to change it. Turns out the tube had torn at the base of the valve stem, but we had picked up two spare tubes in Reykjavik so we were ok. The wind really picked up for our last two miles into Hella, and it was so strong we struggled to even push our bikes over the bridge into town. 

We woke up the morning of September 24th with some big decisions to make. The forecast for the next two weeks in the South showed heavy rains, dangerous gusting winds up to 60mph and a significant chance of misery on the bikes. After fighting the headwind at the end of the day we realized we had little chance of making much progress and we wouldn't be seeing any of the sights through the rain. We debated taking a bus all the way to Hofn, on the East coast in hopes of turning the headwind into a tailwind, and riding back towards Selfoss, but realized there was no way to guarantee the wind wouldn't change direction. After checking the weather all over the country we decided to abandon the South and take a bus back through Reykjavik to Borgarnes, just North of the city, to try our luck on the North West section of the ring road.

We began the morning riding through rocky fields with big mountains in the distance, but by late morning the landscape had changed to black lava fields with bright green moss growing on the rocks. We stopped in Bifrost for provisions and went on a short hike just outside of town to the rim of an old volcanic crater where we ran into friends of Steve's on their honeymoon as well (small world!). About 20 minutes past the crater the scenery changed again and everything began to look a bit prairie-like with golden grasses and rolling hills and lots of little streams and waterfalls. The road wound next to a small river and we made camp on a plateau just off the road.

​On September 26 we had another successful day covering lots of ground. It had been incredibly windy and our campsite the night before, making us grateful for our expedition-grade tent, but it had blown itself out by morning and dried out our wet gear as well. We started the day with a short downhill followed by four big hills with short plateaus in between. The final hill was an 8% grade, but although it was difficult neither of us needed our lowest gear and we were rewarded with a nice long downhill stretch into Hunaping Vestra. After a stop at the gas station for one of the famous Icelandic hot dogs we got back on the road. There was another smaller climb out of the valley and then rolling hills along a high plateau with beautiful views of the ocean and mountains in the distance. We turned off the ring road for a 6k detour to Hvammstangi, a town of around 500 people right on the water and stayed at the local campsite with a great view of a waterfall.

The next day we managed another 50+ kilometers to the town of Blonduos. We visited the Seal museum in Hvammstangi in the morning, so we got on the road late and the 6k back to the ring road was mostly uphill and partly into the wind but by the time we got to the highway we felt pretty good. The route was mostly rolling hills through grasslands full of sheep. There were huge mountains to our right and the ocean to our left for much of the way, and it was a beautiful ride. The wind was light and behind us most of the day with light rain off and on and temperatures between 45-55 degrees. We stayed the night at the campground in Blonduos and splurged on dinner at a restaurant...significantly more expensive than cooking for ourselves.

September 28th was a really grueling and slightly dangerous day that ended up changing everything for us. We woke to a fairly steady rain, but no major wind. In fact, it was the first calm night we had experienced as the excess condensation in our tent proved. The ride started with a moderate but short climb out of town followed by some rolling hills that felt harder than than they should have because we weren't warmed up. The temperature started around 38 degrees, but combined with the rain it made it too cold to stop for more than a few seconds. It was raining where we were, but just a few hundred feet above us on the mountains it was already snowing. We felt warm enough while riding, but our hands were rarely comfortable as our "waterproof" gloves did not perform as advertised.

​About an hour into the ride we reached a long sustained climb out of the valley we were in and over a low mountain range. It took over an hour and a half of hard pedaling in our lowest gear to conquer the hill without any rest breaks, and by the time we got to the summit we were both drenched in sweat. The rain had turned to wet snow and without the exertion of pedaling uphill we both cooled off rapidly on the descent, making it miserably cold. We made a beeline for the gas station in Varmahlid to warm up and it took over an hour for us to both stop shaking. We bought two burger meals for $17 each and tried to look at things objectively.

There's a certain amount of pride and stubbornness that comes along with cycle touring, and neither of us liked the idea of giving it up, but we didn't want our pride to stand in the way of enjoying our experience. We spent several hours going over weather reports, potential routes, financial costs and emotional happiness and came to the conclusion that cycle touring was not going to be the best choice for us this time in Iceland. Despite making fairly decent progress on our bikes we were missing out on so much. Everything that was advertised as "in" a town, or "on" the Ring Road is in fact a 10-25 kilometer detour one way. In the conditions we had experienced that could easily mean spending ALL DAY to take a few pictures of one waterfall, biking over gravel roads and extreme hills to get there. We were constantly missing out on places and experiences because we needed to move on before the weather got too bad. We were also spending quite a bit of money on food at places like gas stations, not to mention bus fares to avoid busy sections of road where cycling is discouraged. Looking ahead we had a two-day minimum ride to Akureyri, and another too-dangerous-to-ride section after that. With no major attractions on our way and nothing being close enough to the ring road to get to in the foreseeable future on our route we decided to bus back to Reykjavik to rent a car.

We found out we could rent a small car for $30 a day, which would be less than what we just paid for the two hamburgers we had to eat because we were too cold and exhausted to cook. In the long run, we would be able to save money, see more and be less miserable and so we put our bikes on a bus one last time and paid $45 each to get back to Reykjavik. We arrived in Mjodd at 1130 pm and made one final bike ride back to the city campground. We were sorry to end our cycling tour earlier than expected, but after careful consideration we both decided we were making the right call. We don't know if we'll ever get back to Iceland, and we don't want to leave feeling like we missed it. In hindsight it would have been better to plan a very thorough bike trip through just a small section of the country, giving us time to make all of the detours and get to know an area really well. Who knows, maybe some day we'll come back and do just that!