Hringvegur Plus #12: Back to the Familiar

We were on our way to a favorite spot

We headed down the east coast of Iceland toward areas we had visited (and loved) before. However, the morning was spent traversing new areas as we bid farewell to Austfirðir.

An abandoned building on Reyðarfjörður; Bottom photo: Scott Stevens

We were now firmly on the Hringvegur with only a few planned detours off the main road on our itinerary. The next few days, however, would be right along the Ring Road in some of the biggest tourist areas in the country.

The road never disappoints

The weather couldn't make up its mind. Would it be foggy and cloudy?

High fog on the highway

Or sunny?

Still a remnant of clouds lifting

Or both?

Rainbows are common

The morning’s drive passed around the last of the fjords we would be visiting. Here, the mountains aren’t as severe, most of the fjords are not as long as the ones to the northwest and there is more accessible shoreline. We passed farms …

A typical Icelandic farm with white buildings with red roofs 

Mountains ...

While the landscape is slightly less severe than Vestfirðir, it's still pretty dramatic

Fjords ...

A deep, deep blue fjord

Waterfalls …

There is a waterfall around almost every bend

Lighthouses ...

Two perspective on Vattarnes Light; Top photo: Scott Stevens

Some beaches with interesting greenish rocks …

The is a wide variety of rock compositions; these rocks were very green

Lots of seabirds ...

European Golden Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Common Redshanks, Black-headed Gull, Dunlin

And, as in all of Iceland, some very pretty scenery ...

Wow! Just, wow! Photo: Scott Stevens

On the route, we stopped briefly in Höfn, which we had heard was a charming little town. It was cute, but we didn't really take many photos, except of our delicious fish and chips lunch ...

That's Höfn through the window; Photo: Scott Stevens

... which could possibly have come from a fish farm we just passed ...

As we left the fjords, we also left the fish farms; the South Coast faces open ocean

Jökulsárlón

But, our destination for the next two days was calling. 

Jökulsárlón; Photo: Scott Stevens

A happy man

The prime goal was Jökulsárlón, the magnificent glacial lagoon on the South Coast that is one of Scott’s favorite places on Earth. 

I have written about it before, so I won’t go into a lot of detail on its geology or history. But, I will share lots of photos.

It’s a deep lake at the base of the Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier. 

Jökulsárlón in the sunlight

I identified the feeding glacier as the Vatnajökull in previous posts, which is not exactly right and not exactly wrong.

Breiðamerkurjökull feeds the lagoon; Photo: Scott Stevens

The glacier; Photo: Scott Stevens

Vatnajökull is a huge glacier with lots of sub-glaciers (including Breiðamerkurjökull) flowing from it. 

The Lagoon is on the southern border of Vatnajökull National Park (we visited the northern part of the Park several days earlier). 

Jökulsárlón was created by the calving glacier, which now fills the pools with icebergs every day.

Several varieties of icebergs; Photo: Scott Stevens

When the tide is out, they are hemmed in by an underwater moraine in the channel that passes out the ocean. When the tide comes in, the water rises enough for them to escape.

Icebergs waiting by the bridge for the tide

This is no small thing. Some of these icebergs are giant. 

One of the big ones; Photo: Scott Stevens

Breiðamerkursandur

After the icebergs escape, some go directly into the ocean, but many get stranded on the black beach that has come to be called Breiðamerkursandur (Diamond Beach). 

Looking across the beach toward the glacier

The source of the name is obvious.

The icebergs sparkle like diamonds; Photo: Scott Stevens

We have been there when the beach was completely covered in sparkling icebergs and when there were none. This time, there was a good mix of large bergs ...

These were fairly large

... small bergs ...

Smaller bergs floating out to sea

... bergs on the beach ...

A particularly "diamondy" one

... bergs at sea ...

The one on the left was already floating; the right was on its way out

... and bergs being pounded from large to small by the ocean ...

It's fun to photograph the splash

It's such a dynamic spot; see it here. This visit was certainly a good one.

 

The beach was even gorgeous in the early morning fog

Visit Strategy

In fact, the entire visit was spectacular.

I booked two nights there so that we could see the Lagoon in the morning and afternoon and so that we would have a better chance at pretty skies. That paid off. 

Over the time we were there, we saw fog ...

At times it was so dense, you could barely see; Photo: Scott Stevens

... overcast ...

Different light and different ice colors

... sunset ... 

We stayed close so we could see sunset; Photo: Scott Stevens

... and gorgeous sunshine ... 

A spectacular day

Heck, we even had a rainbow ...

Amazing!

That's why you go: to get photos

The variety was wonderful for photography. 

In addition to the main Lagoon, Jökulsárlón, there is another side lagoon called Fjallsárlón, which tends to have smaller icebergs, but plenty of them. 

Fjallsárlón

Fjallsárlón

Like Jökulsárlón, Fjallsárlón has a channel that carries icebergs out to the ocean under a bridge, but the bergs don't seem to pile up or strand on a beach.

The outlet to the ocean

Fjallsárlón is generally not as crowded as the more well-known Jökulsárlón.

Just a few fellow visitors; Photo: Scott Stevens

We went back and forth between the two to capture the ice and the mountains in different light.

When the light is good, it's very good

This trip did not disappoint.

Wildlife

While Iceland isn't great for wildlife (or for birds this time of year) we did have a few sightings, including a mix of Black-legged Kittiwakes, Black-backed Gulls and Common Gulls ...

The icebergs provide roosts for gulls

... a Harlequin Duck ...

The only Harlequin I have seen in Iceland

... Black-headed Gulls ...

All the Black-headed Gulls we saw were young and did not have black heads

... White Wagtails ...

One of Iceland's most common birds

... Black-legged kittiwakes ...

The Kittiwakes were actively fishing

... A Parasitic Jaeger ...

Just a quick fly-by

... and Harbor Seals ...

They generally swim around the icebergs

More on Jökulsárlón 

Of course, we made a mistake we seem to make too often. When we left after sundown the first night, it was cloudy, so we didn’t check for aurora. 

This didn't look promising for aurora

The next day, Scott spoke with someone who said it was raging around 2 a.m. Drat. Getting aurora over the Lagoon is a dream. We did it once, but it was fairly weak. 

I took this in 2017

We need to stop sleeping!

We noticed while at Jökulsárlón that Iceland seems to making improvements at its popular tourist areas. Indeed, we were now off the unbeaten path and back to where most people who visit Iceland go. I mentioned earlier that one-lane bridges were being replaced. 

The bridge over the lagoon's outlet is still one lane

The main parking lot

Breiðamerkursandur was getting much improved parking lots (one side of the channel was actually closed because of construction). This included some rubber mats that looked like they would improve ice traction in the winter. 

No ice problems this day

The main parking lot, however, was still just as filled with potholes as ever. 

I have seen it completely iced over, so if you go in winter, take crampons (Caty and I actually saw a woman being blown across that lot once, her smooth shoe soles skating across the ice). 

This time, there was no ice, but being so close to the glacier, it was still cold. 

Jackets, hats and gloves are always needed. Fortunately, the ever-present Icelandic wind was calm this time.

In addition to looking at the icebergs, we also marveled at how strong the current was as the icebergs passed under the bridge.

And, speaking of the bridge, when it was foggy we saw an really interesting phenomenon – a white rainbow, also known as a fog bow or snow rainbow!

The first real fog bow I had seen; Photo: Scott Stevens

Because of the small size of water droplets that cause fog (smaller than 0.05 millimeters), the fog bow has only very weak colors, with a reddish outer edge and bluish inner edge. When the drops are super tiny, there is no color at all. Its outer radius is slightly less than that of a rainbow.

 

The droplets must have been tiny, tiny when we were there

A fog bow seen in clouds, typically from an aircraft looking downwards, is called a cloud bow. Mariners sometimes call fog bows sea-dogs. When a fog bow appears at night it is called a lunar fog bow.

Lodging and Food

While at Jökulsárlón, we stayed in a duplex cabin at the Guesthouse Gerði, which is the closest accommodation to the Lagoon. The guesthouse is situated on a big farm with several other hotels and a hostel. Caty and I had stayed at the hostel, Skyrhúsid Guest House, when we visited and Scott and I had stayed at Gerði’s hotel when we went on a tour from Reykjavik.

Our digs for two nights

The cabin was OK, but not a secluded as we had hoped. And, because it sat in a depression on the property, it was not good for looking for aurora. But, it was convenient.

What was NOT convenient was that the people who were staying in Cabin 1 (which was on the left) parked in our space next to Cabin 2 on the right instead of the space on the left. So, we had to park in space 1. I wondered if we stomped our feet too much when walking right by their door to our cabin.

A modest cabin with allegedly convenient parking

As I recall, Gerði’s restaurant was so-so. While we were there, their menu wasn’t too appealing (not a fan of lamb soup), so we went to the restaurant associated with the Hali Country Hotel, the other hotel on the property. I had eaten there several times and it was as good as ever. We ended up eating there both nights.

The restaurant (which houses a small museum) looks like a giant bookshelf: Photo: Kayak.com

While on this part of the South Coast (now in the region of Suðurland), we zig-zagged a bit between Jökulsárlón and the other popular locations to the west: Vík í Mýrdal, Reynisdrangar, Dyrhólaey, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss. I am not going to cover these with a “we went here and then we went there approach,” rather I will just talk about each location in my next post.

Svínafellsjökull

However, I will mention one other stop. Just a little further down the coast is the Svínafellsjökull Glacier near Skaftafell National Park. 

Svínafellsjökull

Svínafellsjökull is a sub-glacier that flows from Iceland's largest glacier, Vatnajökull. 

The BIG glacier

You reach Svínafellsjökull (meaning "Pig Mountain Glacier") via a short hike to a hill that faces the glacier tongue. Before 2018, it was a popular glacier trekking area, but a fracture in the mountain has made it too dangerous to walk on. I just found out that people are advised to stay away from the area in front of the glacier. Oh,well!

Scott in imminent danger with the mother glacier, Vatnajökull, in the background

What a Visit!

Suðurland has many gorgeous places (I will cover more in my next post), including magnificent glaciers …

A head-on view

... glacial lagoons …

Fjallsárlón and Jökulsárlón

... icebergs ...

A variety of icebergs

... and diamond beach …

A sight you don't see every day

If you visit Iceland and have limited time, make sure you go as far as Jökulsárlón and stop to see everything along the way (if you have limited time, you will be approaching from the west rather than from the east as we did on this trip).

It will put a smile on your face

Trip date: August 13-September 1, 2021