Today, we are saying goodbye to the Westfjords and heading to the Troll Peninsula. Before we headed out of town Paul got to soak in a hot pot by the sea, just as he had hoped. He would like to move to Iceland just so he could sit all day in these types of natural hot pots (geothermally heated, no chemicals added, and outside).
The town of Drangsnes is situated in a lovely area looking over the sea. Grimsey Island and its famous orange lighthouse were in view out our bedroom window. The snow capped mountains of the Troll Peninsula are off in the distance, gleaming in the long hours of daylight, not unlike a lighthouse.
As we were leaving the town today, we were met by a group of Icelandic horses charging up the road at us. As they rounded the bend a bit more we could see there were cars behind them taking up both lanes of the road. We quickly realized this stampede was being wrangled. Every time the little herd slowed down, the drivers would honk and the horses would pick up their pace again. Figuring they were rounding them up to bring them home, we stopped the RV far ahead on the road to give them lots of room to keep them gathered up and not worry the horses and maybe cause them to bolt and scatter. We got some big smiles and waves from the wranglers in the cars as they passed.
So far, the weather has been great for us. Occasionally, a cloud drops an isolated shower of rain or else a mountain top cloud blows some snow on us. Temps have been in the 40 – 50 range. Flowers are blooming everywhere, lupins paint the lower lands with hues of purple, and their heads dance about in the mostly constant wind. The wind speed ranges from a light breeze all the way up to rip yourcar door off if you open it in the wrong direction.
The birds are back and nesting here again so the landscapes are a hive of activity. We’ve seen so many song & sea birds, swans, and many varieties of geese and ducks, many with little ones in tow. Most of their names are not known to us, but we enjoy watching them all the same.
In addition to the surprise horse roundup, we also came upon some seals resting on the rocks of one of the fjord beaches. There were a few babies in the mix and I could see a fluffy light coated one. They were a bit far off, but you could see them pretty well.
The landscape of the Westfjords started changing as we were driving away from them. The rugged mountains turning to softer ones, with more green pasture land and tilled fields, and the roadways weren’t hugging the sea so closely. However, there were still parts of the road that were hilly and curvy dirt and gravel, just to let us know we were not totally out of the area just yet.
As we entered the Troll Peninsula, the landscape changed even further. Some fields were so green they reminded us of Ireland. This area is famous for being horse country. It’s easy to see why. Lovely large valleys surrounded by large dramatic glacial mountains. The fields of sheep giving way to fields of the lovely colorful Icelandic horses. Field after field mares with young foals were everywhere. The little babies scampering about their moms, kicking up their little heals and testing out their legs running as fast as they could across the green fields were really fun to watch.
While on the way to our next camp site, located in a small town on the coast called Hofsos, we stopped at a famous landmark in the Troll Peninsula called Kolugljufur Canyon. We approached it by traveling down another dirt road and as we rounded a small flowing river we could see a gaping chunk carved out of the landscape. As we drove up to a bridge and we could see the same river flowing along the top of a field. Once in the parking lot near the bridge we could hear the force of the waterfall. The river made a sudden hard left and carved its way between some rocks, fell many feet to create deep blue pools of water a few more falls and finally at some point in the canyon which was out of our eyesight the force calmed down again to something like a normal little river.
We arrived early to the campsite and for a change had some dinner before 8:00 pm, with hopes of catching up on some sleep this evening. But we just heard from our young camp host that this is the best spot he’s ever found for watching the sunset this time of year. Which happens at about 2:00 am. And here I was thinking we could catch up on sleep. There is a famous Infinity pool here right on the water overlooking the ocean. I am guessing that’s how the day will start tomorrow morning. Our journey tomorrow takes us into the North part of Iceland.
