June 21, 2019 - Eglistaddir to Husavik, Iceland

Happy Summer Solstice!  We are in the land of the “midnight sun” so there is no sunset today … of course, it was cloudy most of the day so we probably wouldn’t know anyway!

We started off the day heading north from Eglistaddir.

We stopped at the Rjukandi Waterfall

then a Torfhusin (turf house).

We continued north and passed through miles of black lava fields.

We also started to spot several cairns along the road on our way to Mývatn. The cairns were used as road markers before the paved Ring Road was built.

We arrived at Hverir. This large geothermal field of Hverir is a unique wasteland in which pools of boiling mud, hot springs and hissing chimneys give life to a desolate Mars-like scenery. Not that we’ve ever been to Mars, but the metaphor gives you the idea of what is waiting for you in here. Actually, it is like a condensed version of Yellowstone, without the wildlife! We spend some time walking around the area before continuing to Dimmuborgir.

Dimmuborgir is a large area of unusually shaped lava fields east of Mývatn.  The Dimmuborgir area is composed of various volcanic caves and rock formations. We took a short walk before the rain started and we made a dash to the car!

This is the area where the “Yule Lads” are supposed to live. The Yule Lads live in Iceland, way up north in Mývatn at Dimmuborgir - Dark Fortress or Dark Cities, and there you can find their caves hidden away. Thirteen days before Christmas the first Yule Lad comes to inhabited areas and then a new one arrives every day until the last one arrives on the 24th of December. The original Yule Lads were pranksters and all of them have their special name, which describes their mischievous conduct. Lucky for us (I think) we didn’t run into any of them on our visit!

We continued our drive around Mývatn Lake and headed through Jökulsárgljúfur / Vatnajökull National Park. This canyon is 25 km long, 500 m wide and in many places 100-120 m deep, making it one of the deepest and most breath-taking canyons in Iceland. Jökulsárgljúfur is also known for its series of waterfalls: Selfoss, Dettifoss, Hafragilsfoss and Réttarfoss. We stopped and hiked out to see Dettifoss and Selfoss.

Our last big stop was Hljóðaklettar.  The ‘echo rocks’ or Hljóðaklettar, are a collection of basalt columns lying in every direction which create unique formations and arched caves that are supposed to create eerie echoes and reverberations. It was about a 2km drive up and down a one-lane dirt road, followed by a 1 mile hike, but well worth it!

Back out to the “main” road – also gravel, we continued to connect back to the road to Husavik.
We stopped at a couple overlooks along the ocean, but it was foggy and rainy. We are staying at the Hofdi Guesthouse, an old seaman’s house built in 1895. It’s pretty cool. We had dinner at Naustid and shared the Atlantic catfish and seafood soup.

Both were good. We have another busy day on tap for tomorrow, so that’s it for today!