Day 11 – Kirkjubæjarklaustur to Vorsabæ via Selfoss – 149 miles
The glacier is making its own weather right on top of us. 48°, steady rain pounding the tent all night and into the morning. Heaviest we’ve yet seen. Doesn’t make me want to get out of the sleeping bag. I don’t hear Warren or Steve making noises either so we must all have the same idea. I’m strategizing the best way to de-camp and minimize everything getting wet.
Weather Underground says rain all day. Veður says sun. Ha.
We take our time getting up, hoping for a break in the rain or at least it getting lighter. We use the common covered areas at the campsite to make our usual breakfast, I use the camp shower, and we unanimously decide for an AirBnB tonight. I find a place on the Golden Circle, a farm stay with separate apartment that looks perfect and book it.
We catch a break when the rain turns to light falling mist and pack-up without comment, being used to it by now. We help each other shake off the tents, store the gear temporarily under the Gnarwhal shelter, suit up, pack the bikes, and get the tarp last.
30 miles west, we’re out of the glacier’s influence and have sun. We ride across long lava fields, the rounded kind with lots of long moss that mark an older flow, that becomes grassland and the ground evens out. There’s a hugeglacier to the north, almost the whole horizon, that the map says is Mount Katla, Mýrdalsjökull, and Kötlujökull. This is the biggest we’ve seen so far. Our weather seems to have come from it; Iceland is a place of microclimates.
Occasionally we pass people walking off-road on the moss and lichen. I’m astonished and reflexively yell in my helmet, “Get off!! You know how long that took?!” The cluelessness, or just lack of caring, exhibited by some people astonishes me. We didn’t see any of that in the north.
The sunny, even hot, weather brightens our disposition as we make Vík. I have bookmarked GPS coordinates in my Google Maps – nothing more than lat/long coordinates – that look interesting. So in faith we leave the Ring Road and ride several miles across on an uncertain path, along a black sand beach towards the ocean, rounding a large cliff to find a secret cave facing the ocean. Now that would’ve been a perfect place to camp last night! A gentlemen from Barcelona, the only other visitor when we arrive, is very interested in our journey and strikes up a conversation. They seem surprised bikes could’ve made it this far out around the beach. He’s travelling with his wife and two teenage boys, “very tiring” compared to a solo trip with his wife 20 years ago.
We visit waterfalls at Skógafoss, awe-inspiring basalt columns and caves at Reynisfjara that shelter nesting puffins and arctic terns, and the largest and finest black sand beach I’ve ever seen – someone said it’s the longest in the world – the pictures tell the story. We enjoy a pylsa with the view for lunch. The stunning scenery has become the norm; we even skipped some waterfalls thinking do we need to see another?
We’re either tired or jaded now. We pass on a ferry to the Westmann Islands though their jagged outline accompanied us, tempting, to our left for much of the day.
The south of Iceland is much greener than other areas, even up the sides of the mountains. It’s Ireland to Scotland. There’s lots of thick volcanic topsoil – in some places feet thick where exposed from construction – and prosperous farms by the size and number of farm buildings. Almost all advertise guesthouses on small signs at the front of long dirt roads leading to them. There’s a lot of new construction within sight of the Ring Road too – new guesthouses and expansion of existing ones. Tourism is really taking over here, more so than the north or east.
New construction – new homes and buildings for non-tourist use – follow a Scandinavian aesthetic in their straight lines and simplicity. Exposed corrugated tin siding and roofs are the norm with heavy metal doors to keep out the weather. Naturally finished birch and pine are common inside. All is clean and simple of line, very calming and not at all stark. The natural wood makes it feel warm. So too are the homes from what I can see through large picture windows. There are no panes to the windows. Neither do they have stacks or chimneys – there’s nothing to burn. They don’t seem concerned about heating costs by the size of those windows – geothermal heat is cheap if not free here. Each section of windows has one that opens and neither windows nor doors have screens. There are no biting insects in Iceland; even the midges are a minor nuisance, only seeming to occur around the interior lakes, and seem to know not to come inside.
We encountered traffic again later along the Ring Road and in Selfoss picking up groceries and whisky. Bonusstores are the Icelandic equivalent of a one-third size Sam’s Club or Costco with great selections. Big room-sized walk-in chillers are built into the large warehouse space for meats, veggies, and dairy, each selection having its own room.
We reach the farm stay and meet two Icelandic sheep dogs, one a “silly puppy” according to the owner letting us the apartment. In Iceland there are no sticks so the dogs fetch rocks. The dogs are small, maybe knee-high, and stout at around 20 pounds. All are working dogs descended from Viking dogs brought over at the time of settlement. They are muddy and matted with short, curled-up tails and thin faces. But they have a bright disposition. They are very happy and playful, and have intelligent brown eyes. The ones I’ve seen have a coat of mostly white with black eye spots, a grey/white snout, and freckles – they look unique. And will herd you if you let them.
A fast passing shower has kept things damp, but Warren attempts to dry his tent on the fence anyway. With a wet fence and no wind, I’ve opted to keep mine mouldering in the pannier. It needs to get dry however before shipping or it will get mildew on the voyage.
The farm apartment is a good choice for the night. The price seemed reasonable to not have to pack up wet gear. Warren and I make lamb steaks, mashed potatoes, and salad sourced from the market for dinner. We are warm and dry and Warren will use the farm-fresh eggs and loxi to make salmon omelettes in the morning. The east side of the Golden Circle tomorrow.