Iceland in January 7: The South Ring Road

Then, it was off for the long drive along the southern Ring Road to our furthest east stop. We passed Seljalandsfoss because the light was no better than the night before. We also passed some impressive cliffs, some sheltering sheds and troll houses.

Troll house

Skógafoss

Our destination was Skógafoss, a waterfall that plunges from the Skógá River down cliffs that used to be the coastline of Iceland. 

Skógafoss

Over time -- and as a result of multiple volcanic eruptions, the coastline has receded about three miles, leaving the former sea cliffs against a wide plain to the ocean. 

One of the biggest waterfall is Iceland

Skógafoss is 82 feet wide and 200 feet high. You can walk to the top (I did last summer), but after watching folks struggle up the icy hill, we opted not to. It’s much more impressive from the bottom, anyway. 

We were happen at the bottom

The spray also created an interesting base of ice-crusted snow that cracked and crazed as we walked across it.

Crusted snow

Crampons were a good choice

The spray created ice palaces.

Winter's creativity

And, here's the summer comparison.

Even in summer, it can be gloomy and chilly

Horses

Our next stop was a place where we could finally pull off the road to photograph some Icelandic horses. 

Pretty horses

These sturdy little horses can be seen in large number all over Iceland – summer and winter. In the winter, they grow thick coats that compliment their long shaggy manes and tails. They come in all colors and seem to be able to take the wet cold weather rather well. Icelandic horses are said to be descendants of horses brought to the island by Vikings, who allegedly brought only their best steeds to navigate the tough rocky terrain. 

Walking across the field

They are the only type of horse allowed on Iceland, which is highly protective of them. Visitors cannot bring any gear that has been used with other horses and any Icelandic horse that leaves the island cannot come back. There are numerous stables that offer horseback riding for tourists, but it appears there are many more horses than actual occupations for horses. 

They are friendly

I suspect that horses are often fed by humans, although I would never presume to feed someone else’s animals. Still, if you approach their fences, they will come to you and tolerate (or beg for) petting. The ones we stopped for had two foals and were very friendly.

Posing with a new friend

Black Lava Beauties

Next, we headed for Dyrhólaey, a small peninsula west of Vík, where you can see the black lava columns of the Reynisdrangar, black beaches and a gigantic black arch of lava standing in the sea. The arch gave the peninsula its name (Dyrhólaey means "the hill-island with the door-hole"). We missed the first road that goes to the arch because it isn’t really marked and, so, first went to see Reynisdrangar. These basalt columns look very moody in the mist and seaspray. 

Iconic arches

You can see the arch from a distance at the Reynisdrangar beach.

Wild winter sea

The weather had turned misty, which added to the otherworldly look of these giant basalt stacks that were being pummeled by a very angry sea.

Mystical looking

The tide was much higher than when I was there last summer, so we couldn’t go as far down the beach. We had to keep an eye out to make sure the surf didn’t trap us in the cave, which was hard to photograph because of a guy with a tripod who seemed to think the area was his and his alone. The icicles in the cave were very cool, but dangerous. They were dropping to the cave floor on a regular basis.

Basalt cave

The white surf on the black beach ...

Good contrast

... the violent gray ocean ... 

Wow

... and black basalt crusted with white icicles makes the whole area look like a black-and-white photo. It was also weird to see ice on the beach.

Icy rocks

After lunch at the Black Beach Café (a very spare veggies sandwich for me, a tuna sandwich for Caty and yummy onion rings), we doubled back to Dyrhólaey to see the arch and a different view of the Reynisdrangar.

Sea stack

Legend says that the stacks originated when two trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully and when daylight broke they became needles of rock.

Looks like a ship

We had some wind and little snow and couldn’t get a great view of the arch. But, we did get a close-up view of the beach below.

Stunning

We think many photos are taken from a boat and some are taken from a road that we couldn’t access. When the roads are too narrow to turn around on and icy, you do get a bit less adventurous. Plus, one route was closed off.

Someday I would like to see the arch in the sunlight because photos on information signs and in tour books show a brilliant turquoise ocean.

Photo: Paneramio

What we did see

Moving On

Following that stop, we made our way over a small mountain and through Vík, headed for our evening’s destination, which was on the other side of the glacier lagoon. It was a long drive in a rapidly darkening day. After we passed Vík, we had some dry road, followed by ice that required us to cut our speed in half. So, it was a long drive to the Skyrhúsid Guest House in Hali. 

We passed Skaftafell National Park, but it was too dark to stop. It turns out that were never made it there on this trip and were, thus, unable to hike to Svartifoss ("the black waterfall"). This is a photo from last summer.

Too icy to hike this time

I think the 1.5-mile hike would have been pretty miserable in the wind, although I am sure our crampons would have handled the ice.

In this part of Iceland, the road is straight, narrow and has many one-lane causeways and bridges. 

Fortunately, there is little traffic so the bridges are no problem. Near Skaftaell, there is a turnout with a modern sculpture made of twisted remnants of a former bridge that was destroyed by a flood caused by a volcanic eruption in 1996. Because many of the volcanoes sit under the Vatnajökull ice cap (including the currently erupting Bárðarbunga), the outcome is often a surge of melted glacier in the form of mud, ice and water instead of the expected ash and lava. The sculpture shows just how violent that can be.

Twisted bridge

Next, we passed our objective for this long drive, Jokulsárlon, the glacier lagoon that Scott and I had fallen in love with last year. But, it was dark and the wind was picking up. 

Lodging

As we neared the Skyrhúsid, it got pretty nasty again. We pulled in, trying to figure out which building was the guesthouse. There was a building that had what looked like giant books along the side that turned out to be a museum and restaurant for the Hali Country Hotel. 

Photo: TripAdvisor

Hali is actually a farm that sits at the back of the property and provides fresh fish, lamb and produce for the restaurant. We drove past the guesthouse and I made a quick turn that reminded me NOT to make quick turns as I slid across the drive (ironically in front of the snowplow garage). The front lot was full, so we had to park in the icy back of guest house in a spot that was so dicey to back out of, we changed our parking angle later just so we could get out in the morning.

The Skyrhúsid is a bit more like a hostel: spare, shared baths, no food services, community coffee room where you can prepare your own meal. It was clean and convenient to Jokulsárlon, plus much less expensive than other accommodations. 

Our room

We had a delicious dinner at the Hali Country Hotel – char for Caty and a veggie patty for me. The food was hot and well cooked and the staff was friendly.

After dinner, we went back to the room and made our last itinerary change – our long drive had convinced us that trying to make it to the airport from our last night’s accommodations would be a stretch if we had weather issues. So, we switched to the Ranga, making the long drive on a day where we didn’t have a deadline rather than risk missing our plane. This was the one change we made too late to not be assessed a cancellation fee, but the peace of mind was worth it.

That night, we had no aurora, but we did have wind – gale force, I believe. I was afraid that we would find our car tipped over in the morning. We didn't.

A good day!

Trip date: January 16-27, 2015