Day 10: Höfn to Foss Glacier Lagoon Hotel
As we entered the South coast of Iceland from the north we were hopeful that the weather would improve. The South is known for spectacular sites and we were growing weary of the rain and wind. The first stop for the day was Diamond Beach, which gets its name from chunks of ice that wash up on the beach after being washed out of Jökulsárlón (glacier lagoon). The presence of ice on the beach is difficult to predict, but reports are that it tends to be better at low tide. Some people also plan to visit the beach at sunset or sunrise. I think we would have given that option more thought if the weather was nicer. As it was we were just hoping that it wouldn’t be too rainy and that there’d be some ice on the beach. Low tide was at about 11:00 am so we planned our morning accordingly.
From the beach we went over the bridge and across the road to see the Glacier lagoon. Jökulsárlón is a large lagoon at the base of Breiðamerkurjökull,
a large outlet glacier of Vatnajökull. When the glacier calves, the ice floats around in the lake and is carried by wind and currents the glacier ice melt heads to the ocean. Some of that floating ice is eventually carried out of lagoon and depending on tides and currents then washes up on Diamond beach. The color of the ice seemed to be constantly changing and was very vibrant when the sun peaked out from the clouds. Just after leaving the main parking lot, the sun came out so we stopped at the far end of Jokulsarlon and walked out to anoher viewpoint. We also stopped at the smaller Fjallsárlón lake at the base of Fjallsjökull another tongue of Vatnajökull. It had clouded up again and the walk was quite cold and windy. We were a bit closer to the end of the glacier at this lake though that view of the glacier was also obscured by clouds.
After getting our fill of icebergs we got back on the Ring Road and headed south. The weather changed rapidly with rain showers and sun breaks. We saw several rainbows and made several short side trips down rocky dirt roads .
Our last stop of the day was Hofskirkja church, one of six remaining turf churches. By this time the wind had really picked up so we didn’t stay long and shortly made our way to our lodging for the night FossHotel Glacier Lagoon. This was the nicest hotel we stayed in and were pleased when they told us they had complimentary hot tubs and a sauna downstairs adjacent to the exercise room. A soak in hot water sounded good to me, but I was surprised to find the hot tubs located on a outside patio largely unprotected from the wind. The water was a nice temperature, but it grew tiresome getting pelted by rain and water blowing off of the adjacent hot tub. So we returned to our room where the entertainment was watching people struggle against the wind when walking from the parking lot to the front door.
Day 11: Foss Glacier Lagoon Hotel to Skogafoss
Today’s itinerary a couple of waterfalls, moss covered lava fields and Iceland’s famous basalt rock wall and black sand beach at Reynisfjara. We stopped for the day at Skogafoss, a popular waterfall.
Day 12: Skogafoss to Kefalvik
Our last full day was a busy one. It included several short hikes, waterfalls, a glacier, and two geothermal areas.
I woke early and went for a little hike up to the top of Skogafoss and a bit beyond to see the river valley and several other smaller waterfalls.
After Skogafoss, we backtracked a bit and drove the short way to the parking lot for the Sólheimajökull glacier. We had cancelled a prebooked tour that walks a short ways onto the glacier because we wanted the flexibility to arrive on our schedule and to do things at our own pace. While we didn’t get walk out onto the glacier, the basic tours don’t venture far and we were quite happy being on our own.
There was a sign at the hill overlooking the glacier and glacier lake that described how much the glacier had receded in recent years and that it was currently receding about 100 meters every year.
After the glacier we drove by but decided to skip walking up to and behind Seljalandsfoss – a popular attraction because you can walk behind a picturesque waterfall- because it was crawling with people. We then made a short detour off the ring road and did a short walk to a geothermal area at Reykjadalur Hot Springs. We didn’t go all the way to the hot springs because it was further than we desired and from the number of people we saw on the trail, it looked like it would be quite crowded.
We then departed from the Ring Road and took a backway to Keflavik that revisited a few places from our prior trip. I remembered things pretty well and they seemed pretty much the same with the addition of a paid parking lot at Seltun geothermal area
From Seltun we made our way to Keflavik, fueled up the rental car for the last time, and found our lodging at Kefalvik micro suites. It was the perfect place to stay before our flight the next morning as it was spacious, clean, and just a 10 minute drive to the airport. Unlike our prior Iceland trip, checking our bags and getting through security and passport control was a breeze. We got to the airport plenty early expecting crowds and ended up with a wait before our gate was announced. We were pleasantly surprised that our Iceland Air flight was about 1/3 full in economy. People were able to spread out. Angie and I found seats in an exit row and then Angie eventually moved up a row so she could have all three seats and lie down. At least in our unscientific observation, flying on September 11th had the benefit of fewer crowds. The rest of the way home was smooth. I was tired and glad to be home after 4 weeks in Iceland!
