Thursday, May 28 – Our hotel, the Frost and Fire, featured a very nice breakfast buffet. We enjoyed a hearty meal and then set out to explore the Golden Circle, a 200-ish mile loop around many of Iceland’s key natural attactions.
Our first stop was Kerid Crater, a cinder cone with a collapsed crater now filled with bright blue water. As we walked along the crater rim, the wind was howling and we decided to shoot a few photos and head back to the car.
Stop two was an unplanned stop at Faxi falls. It wasn’t originally on our agenda, but a large tour bus was right behind us and I decided I preferred not to show up at the next stop as 40 other people did. Faxi means “horse mane” and supposedly describes the look of this falls. Puttig on a few more layers before exiting car – and bringing my gloves and wool hat – made for a more enjoyable view. As we headed down the hill from the car park, there was a large fenced structure that is used by the local shepherds to separate their flocks. Sheep free range the hillsides and as many as 14,000 sheep have had to be sorted in this giant coral.
Our next stop was our favorite of the day: the Geysir Geothermal Area. Today, Geyser is a word used to describe any hot spring that occasionally erupts hot water into the air. But originally, was one specific hot spring: Geysir. That hot spring is mostly dormant, erupting only a few times per year and typically in association with earthquakes in the area.
The big geysir may be sleeping, but the area around us is full of smaller hot springs, some of which can put on a show. The most prolific is Strokkur, which erupts every 5 or so minutes. We waited for it to blow, with me recording video. I’d record for about 30 seconds, stopped, then started another recording. As luck would have it, I started one the instant an erruption started. Sadly, the erruption startled me enough that I double-tapped the record button stopping the recording. I did capture another erruption about 15 minutes later.
The fourth stop on our journey was Gullfoss Falls, a much more impressive falls that reminds me of Shoshone Falls in Idaho. The river has cut a deep, narrow gorge into which the river disappears out of site for a hundred yards or so.
We next drove through Thingvellir National Park, and then cut the loop short by driving around Lake Thingvallavatn, the largest lake in the country.
The full Golden Circle would have taken us back to Reyjkavik and added about 40 unnecessary miles to our journey. Our shortcut not only saved time, but put us on a nice quiet road along the lake where we only saw a handful of cars in over 20 miles.
Once back at the Frost & Fire, we rested for awhile before finding a nice Danish restaurant for dinner. We took a short after-dinner walk, crossing a river footbridge by our hotel and climbing the hill on the other side to see the steam vents. Just across the bridge there was a pool of boiling mud sputtering. Pam was trying to figure out how to take some home, as it makes a very expensive skin cleanser. Then back to the hotel for a long soak in the hot springs-fed tub. I’m writing this at 11:15 as the sun sets.
Iceland is stark and rustic and full of natural wonders. Both Pam and I were reminded several times of areas around Prineville and John Day back home. And speaking of back home, tomorrow we finish our journey and fly back to Oregon. We’ve had a marvelous time, but I think we’re both ready to return home.
Leave a Reply