Iceland pt. 1
The land of “Fire and Ice” has been high on my bucket list of places to visit. We visited in late September/early October. The solar activity around the solstice is usually a bit higher than average and the Sun’s activity is approaching its solar maximum (10-11 year cycle of increased activity). All this meant we would have a pretty decent chance at chasing the Northern Lights. This travel window is also coming off the heels of Summer, Iceland’s tourist “high” season. We were hoping for smaller crowds, warmish temperatures, and maybe Fall color.
The weather in Iceland can be severe and unpredictable. For this reason, we opted for a camper van. This gave us the flexibility and mobility in the event of road closures due to high wind or snow/ice. Luckily, we didn’t encounter any extreme weather. Our van-life experience around the country was my favorite part of the trip.
Before we even landed in Iceland, we were treated to a sneak preview of the Aurora on the plane ride from Seattle. If you’re headed to Iceland via Seattle, try to book your seats on the left side of the plane. Upon landing in Iceland, we loaded up on wine, beer, and a bottle of whiskey in the duty-free. In hindsight, we could’ve bought a couple more boxes of wine (alcohol is taxed heavily in Iceland). After picking up the camper vans, we loaded our fridge up with food from Costco and Bonus before heading to the “Golden Circle.”
We walked between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates and visited Bruarfoss (blue waterfall) before settling down at our first campsite of the trip. The skies were clear all day and all we needed was a modest kp2-3 for the Aurora to come out and dance. Almost one whole box of wine disappeared on our first night! The next afternoon was a bit fuzzy and we slowly made our way to Gullfoss (golden waterfall).
The Golden Circle was underwhelming (although there are some hikes that would be amazing during summer) and that campsite was probably our least favorite of the trip. Onwards to the south coast! We arrived at Seljalandsfoss as golden hour approached. This place was crawling with tourists. Lots of people were celebrating imaginary touchdowns for their Instagram feed and getting absolutely drenched by the waterfall.
We made camp at Skogafoss that evening. Unfortunately, the skies weren’t clear. The northern lights over Skogafoss would have been amazing (and no driving required). The next morning we hiked to the top of the falls where I met an entitled tourist who was landing his drone right next to a “no drone” sign. Pretty sure the reason you can’t fly drones here are to protect the nesting birds. But fuck it right? Your content and internet clout are more important. The entitled tourist is a huge problem in Iceland as it is back here at home.
Visited nearby Kvernufoss after camp breakfast. This was a very short walk, which would be the theme for most of the places we would visit. Next stop on the south coast tour was the black sand beach, Reynisfjara. Famous for its “sneaker” waves and basalt columns, this beach was more of a black pebble beach. The waves were not sneaky the day we visited and no tourists were harmed. I would love to see this place with bigger waves next time. Kirkjufjara and Vikurfjara are beaches nearby on my list for a future trip.
Made a quick pit stop at the N1 gas station for a hotdog. They panini press the bun, unlike the “famous” hotdog spot in Reykjavik. Do yourself a favor and at eat some food at a gas station while you’re in Iceland. We visited the Yoda cave before settling down at our campsite. Not sure what was going on there. Looked like they were breaking down some kind of set or something. Camp for the night was a little soggy, but thankfully there was an indoor cooking common area. There are so many campsites near Vik that look amazing. If it were a different time of year or drier, I would’ve stayed another day.
Check back later for story time on the rest of the trip.
