After Stathur Harbor, I headed back inland to visit some of the spots that I’d seen on my drive out to the where the road ended.
Most of the spots were fairly simple and short – so much so that I just added them into the main post about my #van_life adventures. But two of them were a bit… bigger. Taller orders, you could say. Waterfalls. They were waterfalls.
Each took a bit of walking to get to – nothing big enough to really be called a hike, but… I mean, there was some elevation gain, rock scrambling, and maybe even a spot of mud and hopping over fences! Almost an adventure; maybe something like .75 adventures, if you combine both waterfalls together.
In short – worth visiting, if you happen to be in the area.
After taking a walk down the nature trail, I headed out onto the road again, to explore the little corner of the WestFjords that I’d brought myself to. There wasn’t much, truth be told – a few farms, some cliffs and waterfalls, and a small harbor at the very end of the road.
Well, that makes exploration quite easy, doesn’t it? A single road, with an interesting thing at the end… Yeah, okay. I can work with this!
I drove, making mental note of all the interesting places that I’d aim to stop by on my way back. I checked out a few as a drove, but mainly just headed straight in for the harbor. (Ed Note: Many of these small views got bundled into Ben’s “van life” post from earlier, since they were fairly minor stops)
Once I got to the harbor, I found a sea of glass awaiting me.
It’d been raining and windy earlier in the day, but by the time I made my way out to the dock the weather was calm. Still, it was almost like the whole world was in stasis, holding its breath for something yet to come.
The sun was hidden behind the clouds – not quite enough to make it impossible to tell where the ocean ended and the sky began, but close enough that it took a moment to find that differentiating line.
The water was crystal clear, and I could see the massive kelp forests just below the surface… not knowing how far down they must go, since my view got quickly muddied by the entangled strands of kelp. It was beautiful, and a little bit scary, and I wish that I had been better able to capture the depth and clarity of the water around the docks.
Instead of the ocean depth, I was gifted these amazing photos of the dock itself. Similar to the pallet that I saw at Grettislaug, I’m exceptionally proud of how these came out. Enjoy!
Wednesday evening, I had planned on camping out at Miðjanes campground… but then I noticed that a nearby campground happened to have hot springs and a nature trail. Advantages of a chill roadtrip – I can change plans on the fly!
I pulled up, set up camp, and… wasn’t able to use the hot springs, because they were actually a public pool. Which shouldn’t have been an issue, but… Okay. Awkward thing to admit. I didn’t have a bathing suit. I know, I know, how could I have forgotten to pack it… but you know what? I was planning on either huge spa resorts where I could buy a swimsuit, or small back country hot springs were I could just wear my boxers. I hadn’t been to a big resort to buy a pair yet, and Grettislaug was connected to a school, so I wasn’t going to rock the boxers.
Instead, I had a relaxing evening, and then explored the nearby nature trails on Thursday morning.
They were super cool!
I’d made a good choice, no doubt – The trails around Grettislaug weren’t too extensive, but they wound around a few natural hot springs that were especially picturesque, and came back to camp again via a bird-blind that afforded some excellent views and birdwatching opportunities.
It was relaxed, enjoyable, and… you know what? A continuation of this roadtrip being exactly the chill experience that I had been looking for.
And seriously. Look at that photo I got of the pallet by the water. Just… Sometimes, my artistic-ness… it scares me. Just so beautiful!
