Snæfellsnes, Sun, 8/14/22

 

Sunday!  Our final full day in this magical land ... and our last private tour.  We were picked up by Andres of Mercury Grail Travel as scheduled at 10am (wish it had been earlier), for the fairly long drive into the heart of the Snæfellsnes peninsula -- not Snuffleupagus as we initially called it, haha --  on Iceland's West Coast.  We'd heard such good things about this area of Iceland, its dramatic landscapes, moss-covered lava fields, waterfalls, sheer cliffs, all crowned by Snæfellsjökull -- the glacier-topped volcano.

We thought the drive through the peninsula was pretty neat with its varied landscapes, as you can see in my pictures.  The ever-changing scenery kept us glued to the car windows.

And sometimes we'd come upon these moonscapes of solidified lava.

Cotton grass in the foreground, a farmhouse in the back, lorded over by a red cinder cone.

Pinnacles and Peaks,

blue skies peeking out.

Everywhere in Iceland we saw fields of marshmallows!

Or perhaps they're hay bales?

Check out this waterfall!  Cars in the parking lot mean people are stopping by to walk up to a bridge over the water.  Each cascade is prettier than the last.

We've arrived at the tiny Black Church in Búðir, aka the very photogenic Búðakirkja!  As we were getting out of the car, a busload of tourists followed us in.  The church and a hotel is all that remains of a village ... there's history if you want to Google it.  Búðir sits within the Búðahraun lava field, where we four migrated after taking church pics.  Here was an expansive environment of torn-up earth grown over with grassy flora.

It's a very unique place with jagged rock formations and sinkholes, a jumbled mess of rocks.  130 different plant species can be found and we saw many.  Birds, too.  We walked lightly over the paths, such as they were, minding our feet that we didn't slip into a sinkhole.  Was there water at the bottom?  How deep?  This place was just a ... hard to find the adjective, but I guess the closest I can get is, wonder.  We could've hiked oer these grassy fields all day. 

We heard its call before we saw it.  I'd describe it if I could, but it was strange sound.  We saw two adults, one obviously a mama with a few young'uns.  Ptarmigan!  A first for me, I think.  Very cool.

Brown sand and black rocks make for darker camera shading, but this is Nannie's "I am here!" photo.  As we neared the ocean, sand appeared and flora disappeared. 

Lots of elements in this pic!  Yes, there's a cemetery beside the church.  What you can't see is the wind whipping through our hair. 

Andres recommended a lunch stop at Samkomhusid in Arnarstapi for some yummy Icelandic home cooking. We enjoyed our meat soup (lamb, it's served all over the country), with warm bread straight from the oven, and served by smiling women.  Nice stop.  I sat near a window, too bad about the spider in the window (outside) spoiling my view! 

If you stood on this side of the statue, the wind took your breath away.  If you stood on the lee side, you missed the face of Bárður Snæfellsás - the Protector of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.  You know there's a saga about this, too, if you choose to Google it.

After lunch, we made our way to Hellnar (not far from Arnarstapi).  Hellnar was among the largest of ancient fishing villages beneath the Snæfellsjökull ice cap, and there's not much left of Hellnar today. After a short walk down a hill, we were rewarded with this view of the remarkable basalt rock formation known as Valasnös ... and caves.  We didn't walk down into the caves, but others have (above).  Using binocs, we watched birds fly into the big  cave on the right.

It wasn't a far piece to get to Djúpalónssandur Black Beach with its muddled piles of lava and fantastic huge mossy towers.  We clambered down the footpath to the rocky beach, admiring all that we saw.   I wish I could show you a long shot -- the entire area was wild.

At the arch was a marvelous view of Snæfellsjökull.  I could see it from my perch, but camera man wasn't in the correct spot to capture me, the arch and the glacier.  So, just trust me on this one.

But you CAN see Snæfellsjökull above!  It's a 700,000-year-old glacier atop a volcano at the tip of the peninsula, and it's famous for being featured in Jules Verne's novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth."  We had quite a view of the glacier from the Black Beach.  The mountain is actually called 'Snæfell' (Snowy Mountain), though the 'jökull' (glacier) is often added to help distinguish it from other mountains of the same name.

I'm sorry to say that for the first time in recorded history, Snæfellsjökull had no snow or ice at its peak in August 2012, causing concern among locals that climate change is threatening the nature of the mountain.  By now, I'm sure everyone is convinced climate change is threatening our planet.

(Many rock formations on and around Snæfellsjökull are said to be trolls petrified by sunlight or else homes of the hidden people.  Hmmmm ....)

Icelanders dote on elves and trolls -- probably because they live with so many outlandish sights like these. Only an elf or a troll could live in these rocks.

One of two freshwater lagoons -- these lagoons are held in high esteem by locals because they're thought to possess healing properties. 

 

Imagine yourself standing close to the water, but not too close, and hearing the soft clackety-clack whoosh as the waves sweep in over the rocks and then retreat, over and over.  It's a good sound, maybe even a healing sound.  These glistening pebbles that make up the beach are known as Djúpalónsperlur, or “pearls of the deep lagoon.”

We left Djúpalónssandur Black Beach reluctantly.  I swear we could've spent all afternoon cruising the beach and rocks.  Nannie and Bubba hiking up the hill.

Iceland has so many waterfalls, most of them named and all of them grand, so here's another one, but I'm not sure of its name.  That might not matter.

These dudes were standing by the edge of the road.

Waiting for the cars to pass so they could cross?

As the afternoon wore on and we started looking at our watches, we ended our tour with Kirkjufell, or "Church Mountain." Standing tall above the small fishing town of Grundarfjörður, this is apparently the most photographed mountain in Iceland, one of the top 10 most beautiful mountains in the world, and yet most recognized as being “Arrow Head Mountain” on Game of Thrones. Search me, I don't remember seeing it in the series, so maybe I need to rewatch it? 😀 Maybe not.

At its base is Kirkjufellsfoss (waterfall), a really pretty cascade.  You wouldn't believe how many people were milling around with cameras and phones and tripods, all aiming to get a pic of the falls and the mountain, like I did in the pic above this one.  I wasn't aware of any special significance, I just really liked what I saw.

I'll end the long day with Nannie and me filling our water bottles from the side of a mountain.  Mind you, this was not as easy as it looks.  The rocks beneath our feet were slick and the cascading drops did not fall in a straight line!  Nannie got a soaking.  I'll tell you true, Iceland has the purest, best drinking water in the world.

Positively.  Wonderful.  Day.  We didn't get back to our hotel till (can't recall exactly) seven or so in the evening.  Dinner was Skyr yogurt and popcorn again, delicious and nutritious.  Jimmy and I eyeballed our luggage and said, "whew, okay, let's do this."  Our flights out of Reykjavik on Icelandair tomorrow are early, we'll catch a 6am shuttle.  See you tomorrow.