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| Myvatn Forested Pennisula |
Today we're more tourist than travelers; no Skogur Opinn Forests visits on our list. We're heading south to the Myvatn area and then east to Egilsstadir (pop. 2,260) where we spend the night - about a 160-mile trip. Daylight arrives early around 4 am (5:30 am sunrise) and last until about 11:30 pm (sunset 9:30 pm). The sun swings a low arc across the southern sky resulting in a day that seems a perpetual "happy hour" (5 pm). With nineteen hours of day light. My son, Garrett and I get our money's worth.
The Myvatn area, made by a volcanic fissure eruption, has a beautiful crystal clear lake, volcanoes (cones), geological formations and a small (32 acres) forested peninsula on the east shore. The forest has a mix of native birch, scrub birch and conifers, mostly spruces and pines. It has excellent trails, clean restrooms, a formal woodland garden (private) and way finding signage.
So where's the Iceland conifers? There's only one native Icelandic conifer and that's the juniper (Juniperus communis). I'm embarressed to say that on my observation science journey, I never found it. However, the Icelanders have put the Juniper to good use, they make a great gin (VOR).
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| Haverfjall Crater |
Further down the road we found and scaled the Haverfjall Crater. It's a classic black cone volcano (technically a tephra cone) with a two mile circumference rim trail and it's 3,300 feet in diameter. It looked like moonscape!
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| Dettifoss Waterfall |
Back on the road to stop off at Dettifoss and Hafragilsfoss (waterfalls). Spectacular - I was able to fly these waterfalls with my Phantom 2 drone (A.K.A. the Intrepid) - video is pending. I used the Intrepid to help record my journey and capture a "sense of place".
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| Jokuldalsheidi Region |
We traveled through the barren and lonely Jokuladasheidi. It's a desert - a weird and eerie stretch of Hwy 1, something out of the "Lord of the Rings." Luckily, no sight of Orcs or Ringwraiths.
Total miles traveled: 260 miles
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