Category Archives: Roadtrips

A mountain hot spring – Krosslaug hot springs!

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Tuesday, 14-May-2024


I mentioned briefly in my post about the Fossarrett waterfall that I’d planned on going to a hot spring spa, but it was closed for cleaning that day, right?

Well, I wasn’t going to let that keep me from some good old Icelandic hot springs. That’d be giving up! And Ben doesn’t give up! At least in this specific situation!


Thankfully, I had a giant in my corner – Google. Maps showed me a hot spring nearby, not too far off my planned route, that looked perfectly serviceable…. I loaded up the maps, put some music on, put the van in gear, and charged ahead.


It… uhh… Okay. Something about Iceland that I didn’t know. Not all roads are paved. I mean, sure. I know about that; sometimes, roads aren’t paved.

What I’m not used to it highways not being paved. I didn’t even consider that I should think about checking to see if the highway was paved! I mean, it’s on google maps as a major road!



The road to the hot spring wasn’t paved, is what I’m getting at here.

But you know what? It wasn’t that bad. And I wasn’t in a rush anyways, so driving slowly wasn’t a concern or worry or anything… I kept going. Why not, right?



I’ll tell you – it was worth it. 110% worth it.

When I arrived, there weren’t any cars nearby. I mean, heck. It looked more like an abandoned trailhead in the middle of the deep Oregon wilderness than a marked hot spring. It had an informational placard, though, so… parked, grabbed a towel and my book, and headed in.

I found a beautifully made hot tub in the middle of the wilderness.

We’re talking a cement patio around it. Nice rocks edging the pool, enough room for three or four people… this hot spring was a literal luxury jacuzzi. And I had it all to myself!

Worth it.

Fossarrett the Older (a waterfall on the side of the road)

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Fossarrett the Older (a waterfall on the side of the road)

Tuesday, 14-May-2024


My original plan for Tuesday the 14th was to soak in the hot springs at Hvammsvik… but, because of reasons, they decided that Tuesday the 14th was the best day to clean the hot springs all at once, and close the whole resort.

Which I learned, of course, after I’d arrived and found a large locked gate.


Whatever. I’m on a road trip, during an adventure across Europe. Large locked gates aren’t an obstacle, they’re merely a redirection! To a different hot spring! And a waterfall!

So I drove to Fossarrett the Older. It was pretty. Wandered a bit, flew the drone a bit, looked at the ancient ruins, tried (and failed) to find a history of said ancient ruins… Or find out if they even technically are ancient… and didn’t succeed.

But I did relax, I did stretch my legs, and I did have a good time. Which, after all, is very much the goal.

Þingvellir Park (pronounced Thingvellir, vaguely)

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Monday, 13-May-2024, a bit of Tuesday, 14-May-2024, and a little bit more on Friday, 17-May-2024


Silfra Fissure isn’t the only thing to see in Þingvellir park.

I know, shocker right?


After my friends had headed out to get checked into their hotel, I took a bit of time to wander around and take in the scenery of Þingvellir. I walked the nature trails, looked at signs, and appreciated the views and the lovely (absolutely staggeringly lovely) weather. It was cool (but not cold) and sunny (but not overly bright), and thankfully there weren’t too many tourists clogging the trails.

I’ll let the placards speak for themselves, but the summary is this: Þingvellir means “Assembly area” in Icelandic. Which makes sense, since it’s where the Icelandic chieftains would assembly for their annual parlament, the Alþingi. Pronounced, vaguely, “Allthingy”.

I’ll include a wikipedia link at the bottom, but the short summary that I learned is that the Chieftains would convene for as long as it took to discuss laws, review cases where laws had been broken, and pass judgement. They’d trade during that time, or their followers would, and they’d reside in smallish houses that they’d build each year for that express purpose.

Not even considering the history, it’s an absolutely beautiful park. Adding that history in, and… well, that’s really cool.

(Yes, I was able to fly the drone around a bit! Drone flights are limited to before 9am and after 6pm, though, so… thanks to Iceland for forcing me to fly at golden hour!)




Wikipedia Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Eingvellir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althing#Historical_background