We Went Chasing Waterfalls

The sun was up when we went to sleep, and it was still up when we woke up the next morning.  The entire time we were in Iceland, the novelty of constant light never wore off.

This was the view that we left as we checked out of our hotel and climbed into our trusty steed of a Campervan, set-up the GPS and set-off...to the grocery store.

Our home for the next 10 days

The population of Iceland is right around 330,000, with 200,000 of that population living within the city limits of Reykjavík.   That leaves a lot of (beautiful!) empty roads between us and the next destination, so we stocked up on provisions: bread, cheese, jam, vege, apples, skyrr, cereal and instant coffee.  Our wee-van was equipped with camp stove, pots and pans - but we ate very simply throughout the day, with our food stored in a convenient icebox in the back. Almost every night we would treat ourselves to dinner out.  More on the delicious food we ate later.

After the icebox was stocked, we hit the road.

I had plotted out an ambitious route for us, going counter-clockwise around the island, marking all the waterfalls that I wanted to stop at. First one on the list was Seljalandsfoss.  It's a popular stop for tourists because it is such a short distance from  Reykjavík.  While this was a spot where there were certainly lots of tourists (including us of course) it really didn't feel like that many, and I never felt jostled or uncomfortable or bothered.  You can walk behind this waterfall, and though the rocks we walked on looked like they were slick and slippy, they actually had lots of grip.  I still took each step very carefully, and was mildly terrified the entire time.

The view from behind the waterfall.  We were both thoroughly damp from the mist

Our next waterfall stop was Skogafoss.

You could walk right up to the waterfall, and from every angle, you could see rainbows in the mist.  

The scale of this waterfall was incredible. Water crashing, from 200 feet up,  We climbed the stairs to the top and were able to look down on it as well.

I was super excited for the next stop; the black sand beach at Vik captured my imagination when I first saw the video for Bon Iver's song Holoscene.

It is all shot in Iceland,  and it wasn't until we re-watched this video that we realized we had been to all of these places. I didn't believe so many different scenes could all be shot on one small island, but I was mistaken.  The landscape changes so quickly as you travel, it's remarkable.

Cave formed out of the basalt columns.  It was about 50 ft tall.  

Spying our first puffin of the trip. 

Not having started out as early as we would like, it was getting late (though it was still stunningly light out)  and we still had to find some dinner and make our way to our campsite.

We found a restaurant called Sudur Vik, where we squeezed in and had a delicious dinner while watching the final soccer game between Iceland and France. Everyone was very involved in the game - and I heard it said that everyone who lives in Iceland knows at least one of the team members personally.  I wouldn't be surprised it that was true.   Unfortunately, Iceland lost that match, but it was still great to watch it all play out. 

The sun was finally getting a little low on the horizon as we made our way to our first campsite, Pakgil.  The super rocky, twisty, narrow, cliffside road was slow going, and visibility was close to nil as the sun shone right into our eyes most of the drive.  Daniel maneuvered it like a pro, but I am not ashamed to say I was ready to turn back at any moment. 

En route to Pakgil.  Our home for the night was just past the rocky dome in the distance.

So many sheep, everywhere.  Heaven.

When we finally arrived, the sun was still up, but behind the surrounding mountains.  It was dark, but we still explored around a bit.   There was a cave filled with candles for cooking and eating, and a fresh stream that babbled right by our camp spot.  It was beautiful and peaceful, and only 6 other people at the campground.

The next morning, over my morning cup of (instant, but serviceable) coffee, the beauty of the spot really impressed us.

Panorama from our van

If I was to go back, I'd be happy to stay at Pakgil for much longer.  There were lots of hikes that started at this point.  I had a great conversation with an Icelandic woman at the dishwashing station who told me that this is where she vacations for a few weeks every year and just goes hiking from this spot.

The rocks that looked over us as we slept.

Our drive back out to the ring road.  The clouds made the ground look alive.

The rocky ground was alive, after all.

The first few days were already remarkable, and we were only just getting started.