My Scandinavian Adventure: Iceland—The Ring Road

Day 7: Lake Mývatn to Lake Lagarfljót 189 km
Day 8: Lake Lagarfljót to Höfn 178 km

Day 7 was a bit of a sad day. We had to say good-bye to Wisdomie and Wisdil. After a lovely meal of Italian food, we dropped them off at the regional airport at Egilsstaðir. They needed to fly back to Honolulu for the beginning of the semester. When they came to Iceland last year on their honeymoon, they arrived near here by ferry and took the Ring Road south. So this represented a full circle for them. Wisdoc, Wesdom, and I set out from here to complete the circuit for ourselves.

Lake Lagarfljót is a long, deep, ancient lake reminiscent of Loch Ness. And like the latter, it has its own legend: the Lake Lagarfljót worm. Google it. We had a quiet campsite here, quite remote. No shower. No worm.

From here we headed through the East Fjords area down to the quaint seaside town of Höfn. Höfn is situated near the largest glacier on the island Vatnajökull. The weather improved and was beautiful the rest of the way.

En route through the East Fjords, the three of us randomly picked a spot beside the road and decided to hike. The mountains are fairly barren, so if you can see up a hill you can climb until you come to an uncrossable stream or a cliff or a canyon. It's kind of exciting to pick your way around cuts and over mounds. The East Fjords are less compact than those in the west but on a different scale and no less beautiful.

We also stopped at a small village called Djúpivogur where a local artist has installed an exhibition of 34 large granite eggs lining the bay—Merry Bay, it's called. Each egg is differently shaped and represents a different bird that nests in Iceland.

Click pics to embiggen!

A caravanserai that advertises coffee and cake. It's some lady's house. Note the bicycle—the one on the left. We spoke with several Italian dudes biking around the Ring Road and a Hawaiian woman driving it alone. They were all going the opposite direction from us. We exchanged campground and road condition and site-seeing notes. Convivial. Archetypal.

Campsite by lovely Lake Lagarfljót. We did not see the worm. It's around 9:00 pm and the sky is clearing.

[Scene: Some random spot on the Ring Road in the East Fjords.] "Hey, guys. This looks like a good place for a hike. C'mon, let's go!"

Wisdoc and Wesdom setting out. "Which way should we go?"

It's a beautiful day. Bet the views from up there are pretty good.

Gonna' have to navigate around this cut and the waterfalls.

*Gasp*

"Hey Dad! Take a picture of us up here!"

"How's this?"

Fjords fjor djays.

The van is way down there near the farmhouse somewhere. People don't mind you hiking their land so long as you don't litter or disturb the sheep. The view never gets old.

Rectangular Sea Arch! Wow! Very Rare.

Random roadside view. Typical.

Ditto.

Forgot the name of this adorable town where we stopped for sandwiches.

The granite eggs installation on Merry Bay in Djúpivogur.

The sweet campsite at Höfn. Large. Hot showers. Immaculate toilets. Laundry!

Höfn

The harbor at Höfn.

Höfn in the shadow of Vatnajökull National Park—the massive glaciated volcano. And that's where we're headed, around the bay and along the foot of those mountains, tomorrow.