While staying at Grundarfjordur, I stopped by Kirkjufell to make some images. This is a well photographed location, but I prefer a different view of the mountain, captured shortly after sunrise.
Kirkjufell, No 1.
At low tide, a large area of flat muddy beach is exposed.
Kirkjufell, No 2.
Grundarfjordur is located on the Snaefellsness peninsula. This offers some really spectacular snow-covered mountains along the length of the peninsula.
Snaefellsnes Mountains, No 1.
Later that same day, I found a pasture where a herd of Icelandic horses were grazing. Stopping by the fence, these horses appreciate a meeting with touring visitors!
Iceland Horse Portrait, Alftafjordur No 1.
Among the herd, was one foal.
Iceland Horse Foal, Alftafjordur.
Soon the mother approached and moved away with the foal. This was one image that I made with the foal hiding behind the mother.
Iceland Horse, Mother And Foal, Alftafjordur.
Towards the end of the day, I stopped by one location, close to Grundarfjordur, where the road passes through a lava field. These lava fields are typically covered with bright yellow-green moss.
Moss Covered Lava Flow Near Grundarfjordur.
Moss-covered lava fields may be found in many parts of Iceland. However, the moss is very sensitive. Walking on the moss is not very forgiving and is not encouraged. It is easy to slip and get injured on the underlying lava!
After checking into to hostel, I headed out to capture the sunset. At a roadside parking lot, overlooking the sea, I made a silhouette of these two photographers (who were making some images).
Photogs At Sunset.
Looking towards Olafsvik, the sun was just setting over the horizon, so I made this final image in daylight, with the sky and clouds lighting up the long beach.
Sunset Near Olafsvik.
Often, I am asked if I saw the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). I did see them, over Canada, on the flight to Reykjavik. However, later after dinner, I looked out from the hostel and noticed some faint lights against clear skies. Heading out from Grundarfjordur, I stopped at one location that I had researched earlier, to make this image. This was the first time that I had seen lights that formed a loop!
Aurora Borealis, Grundarfjordur.
After making several images, I headed to the parking lot where I made the earlier silhouette. This location allowed me to include the sea. In this image, light from the aurora was reflected in the sea.
Aurora Borealis, Snaefellsnes, No 1.
In the distance, one can see the lights of the town of Olafsvik, on the left, some 15 kms away. Also, towards the center is the town of Rif, some 7 kms farther away. Some of the lights streamed out the right side. So I chose a horizontal orientation to capture this stream.
Aurora Borealis, Snaefellsnes, No 2.
I noticed that there is some blue light reflecting from the sea. Maybe this is from low cloud that started to form? Anyway, the lights lasted for another 15 minutes before fading away.
It was time to leave Dalvik for the trip to Grundarfjordur and Snaefelsnes. Leaving Dalvik, one has to join highway near Akureyri. The highway makes its way towards a mountain pass, where I made this image before sunrise.
Sunrise, Leaving Akureyri.
Here is another image, made several minutes later.
Sunrise, Leaving Akureyri, No 2.
From here the highway continued up to the mountain pass. At the summit, I turned off to make this image of the clouds over the nearby mountains.
Clouds At Mountain Pass Summit.
Coming down from the mountain pass, I stopped by a farm, where there was a large circular pen.
Farm Buildings And Sheep Holding Pen.
It turned out that this was a sheep farm with holding pens for the sheep. In the following image, I noticed several sheep looking back at me.
Holding Pen With Sheep, Iceland.
For the rest of the journey, the clouds lifted and moved away. In the late afternoon, I stopped at the edge of a fjord close to Grundarfjordur.
Entering Fjord Close To Grundarfjordur.
Here there is a small river that flowed at the roadside, eventually meeting the fjord.
River Entering Fjord Near Grundarfjordur.
From this location, I also managed to capture those distant mountains!
While staying in Dalvik, I made a trip to Husavik, where there is a harbor that offers popular whale watching tours by boat. Along the way, there was a farm with milk churns by the main entrance. I stopped and made a few images.
Tree Row Along Roadside.
Here are the milk churns that caught my attention.
Milk Churns Outside Farm.
Arriving at Husavik, I parked at the harbor. There was plenty of ice along the quaysides, so one had to be careful when walking!
Husavik Harbor.
There were several fishing boats moored in the the harbor.
Fishing Boat In Harbor, Husavik.
Wandering around the quayside, I made some images of the reflections of the fishing boats in the water.
Coils Of Mooring Ropes, Husavik.
Also, I found several maritime items, including these mooring ropes, located at various points around the quayside.
Mooring Ropes, Husavik.
These fishing nets, with colorful blue and yellow floats, occupied one corner at the quayside.
Fishing Nets And Floats, Husavik.
When I arrived at the harbor, one whale watching trip had just returned and was mooring in the harbor. There are several operators that offer whale watching tours in the sea to the north of the harbor. Here is one of the boats preparing for a trip.
There are many fjords on the east coast of Iceland. The road follows the coast for much of the journey to Egilsstaðir. At one location, I passed this very distinctive amphitheater in the mountains, covered with snow.
Amphitheater In The Mountains.
At Streitishvarf, I passed a lighthouse that is not orange! This one also appeared to have antennae that serve as a beacon.
Just A Plain White Lighthouse.
Farther along the coast is an abandoned farmhouse by the fjord.
Abandoned Farmhouse By The Fjord.
Here I found another orange lighthouse! Looking at the image above, just to the right side of the house, one can make out the shape for the lighthouse.
Lighthouse Near Abandoned Farmhouse.
The path to the lighthouse crossed through a puddle formed by a small creek. An orange reflection of the lighthouse was just visible in the pool of water.
Lighthouse Reflection In Puddle.
Returning to the farmhouse, I passed by some fence posts, with a view of the distant mountains and the fjord. Time to move on!
Fence Posts On An Abandoned Farm.
I reached Egilsstaðir and moved into the hostel just after the sun had set. The following morning, I made a side trip to Unaos to explore the area. Along the roadside, I stopped to make this image of the farm buildings that were located close to the foot of the mountain range.
Farm And Mountains, Along Route To Unaos.
Continuing on, the road climbed up the mountain side to a viewpoint that offers a great view of the long bay and coastline.
Bay Near Unaos, Northeast Coast.
At this point, I turned back so that I could make the rest of the trip to Akureyri during daylight hours. There were several kilometers (or miles) of snow covered roads during this journey. I stopped at Myvatn, where I could make some images of the spectacular Hverfjall crater that were located in the distance.
Rock Wall With Hverfjall Crater In The Distance.
Continuing on to Akureyri, after cresting a mountain pass, I reached the fjord where the city is located. At this point, there was a magnificent sunset with clouds dropping snow on the mountains.
Sunset Over Mountains Near Akureyri.
Here is another view along the fjord towards the open sea.
Overlooking Fjord Near Akureyri.
On the far shore it the town of Dalvik that was to be my destination for the night!
While staying in Höfn, I made trips along the southeast coast of Iceland. At one location, is a lagoon that is separated from the sea by a beach, several kms long. This lagoon has many waterfowl, including these Whooper Swans that passed me on their flight out.
Swans In Flight, Southeast Iceland, 2024.
There are several lighthouses and other maritime warning beacons located around Iceland. Most of the lighthouses appear to be painted a bright orange color.
Lighthouse And Beacon, Southeast Iceland.
The front door area was one of the few non-orange parts of the building!
Orange Entrance Doorway.
When leaving Höfn, I stopped by Stokksnes to make some images of the black volcanic beach sands and low clouds adorning the mountains.
Stokksnes And Vestrahorn, Under Cloud.
From the overlook, the incoming waves as the surf broke close to the beach. The wind just picked up enough strength to cause spray to be thrown up from the surf.
Stokksnes Beach And Waves, 2024.
Further up the coast, there is one location where the wind strength increased significantly. Here there are spectacular waves, surf and wild seas that are caused by the wind.
After spending a couple of days in Vik, it was time to move to the next destination. Just after sunrise, this was one scene that I found leaving Vik.
Leaving Vik, After Sunrise.
Many areas of Iceland are covered by lava fields. These fields are typically covered by moss.
Moss On The Lava Fields.
As I made way towards Höfn, I stopped at the Skaftafell Glacier. Hiking from the parking lot, I headed up the the foot of the glacier.
At The Foot Of The Skaftafell Glacier.
Later during the day, I stopped at the Fjallsarlon Glacier. From the parking area, there is a one mile hike to the lagoon, where the glacier melts as it flows into the lagoon.
Glacier Flowing Into Lagoon, Fjallsarlon.
I captured several images of icebergs floating in the lagoon.
Icebergs In Lagoon, Fjallsarlon Glacier.
The size of the icebergs pictured here are deceptive; the ones above and below are about 1 to 2 feet in height above the water. Of course this represents some 10% of the total size of the icebergs, since 90% of the mass of the bergs are below the waterline.
Iceberg In Lagoon, Fjallsarlon Glacier.
While at the parking area, I was fortunate to find a Rock Ptarmigan that was strolling along the edge of the parking lot.
Here are some images from a trip to Iceland, made in October 2024. Soon after arriving in Iceland, I made my way to Reykjavik. Here are some of the images from the waterfront area.
Sun Warrior, Reykjavik, 2024.
The Harpa Concert Hall is located adjacent to the harbor.
Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik, 2024.
The dry dock at the harbor always seems to be busy whenever visiting Iceland. Here, the Steffano is getting plenty of work done to the ship.
Steffano In Dry-Dock, Reykjavik.
After leaving Reykjavik, I made my way towards Vik. There are several waterfalls along the route, where I made several images.
Waterfalls Near Seljaland, 2024.
Here is a waterfall set back a long way back from the road.
Waterfall, Asolfsskali.
While in Vik, I visited some of volcanic sand beaches. The day that I got there, the wind was really pumping, so there were the wild seas.
Wild Seas, Reynisfjara.
At Dyrholaey, one gets an elevated view of the seas and the offshore rock islands.
Offshore Rocks, Dyrholaey, 2024.
In this final image, I managed to capture some of the wild surf conditions in the following image.
