Continuing with my trip to Iceland… During the trip to make images of the wild seas along the east coast, I stopped by one of the inshore lakes that served as a habitat for some swans. During previous trips to Iceland, I attempted to make some images of swans in the wild. Unfortunately the Icelandic swans are very skittish, so as I approached them, they either moved further away or flew away. For the following images, the lakeside was very close to the car. I could make these images without leaving the car, after rolling down the window.
As I wrote previously, gale force winds were pumping in the south and east of Iceland. In the image below, the swans were struggling to make headway against the wind. Looking at the surface of the water, one can see the waves created by the strong winds.
After shooting the rough seas, I headed back to the hostel. These seven horses had lined up near the edge of the farmer’s field.
This was my last day in the hostel at Vagnasstaðir, and the following morning I had to complete a 600km trip to Dalvik, in the north of Iceland. I was up before dawn and headed out after a quick breakfast. As I was driving a few kilometers down the road, the sunrise had started with red, orange and coral colors in the morning sky. In the distance is the Vestrahorn, with a tidal lagoon in the foreground.
On the far side of Vestrahorn, one passes “The Red Chair” that is attached to a rock outcrop along the road side.
Eventually, I arrived at the hostel in Dalvik late in the day. The east coast of Iceland contains may fjords, so the roads usually follow the coastline that is absolutely spectacular. The final leg of the trip between Egilsstaðir and Akureyri was on snow-covered roads. This was the coldest part of the journey where the temperature dropped below freezing (6˚F or -14˚Celsius). I passed several cars that were abandoned on the roadside, because their drivers chose to leave the firm road surface; those cars had become bogged down in the softer road shoulders!
During my two days at Dalvik, I made some trips to some close-by towns. Returning from Husavik, I stopped along the road close to the following treeline.
Looking back along the road from Husavik, I noticed a rainbow over the road. The morning air was really cold and laden with water vapor, ice and water droplets. These was the source for the frozen rainbow!
Later that evening, I returned to the hostel at Dalvik. The sun was setting behind the mountains on the western side of Dalvik, creating the most amazing sunset.
That concludes the images from my Iceland trip.