Iceland Day 12 – Eastfjords, Seyðisfjörður

Day 12 – Saturday September 6, Húsavík to Seyðisfjörður

Last night was loud. Our neighbors, residents of some kind of hostel-like group housing, congregated out front of their building not 20 meters from our bedroom window to smoke and to socialize on a Friday night. Unconcerned about their voices or being good neighbors, various groups of them have been out there at all hours since we arrived, save the early morning.

Our first night, Thursday, they quieted after 2200-2230. However, last night was Friday night and the group grew larger and rowdier as the night progressed, the laughing and yelling broken only by the constant cracking of beer cans. I finally got to sleep around 0030; they were still going strong. Unfortunately, I awoke at 0530 feeling not terribly rested, but at least the crowd had gone off to bed by then. Inured to rain on this trip, I found it notably odd that the sun would be shining once it rose over the mountains behind town.

Reluctant to leave the gorgeous north behind but excited to see the east, we planned to see some of the most-photographed waterfalls in Iceland en route to our overnight stop in picturesque Seyðisfjörður. Somewhat counterintuitively, we drove north out of town on route 85 headed ultimately south and east to the Eastfjords, one of the longer drives of our trip.

From Seyðisfjörður, both south and north ultimately connect to the Hringvegur, Route 1. We came in from the south and did not want to backtrack, so we drove north. Also, the northern route goes right by Ásbyrgi, the horseshoe-shaped canyon that we skipped yesterday and our first stop today. Moreover, the less-trafficked northern route kept us off the much busier Route 1 for longer. The distances are similar in either direction.

In about 45 minutes, we neared Ásbyrgi, a glacially-formed horseshoe-shaped canyon with nearly vertical walls stretching up to 100 meters high. We drove all the way into the curved end of the horseshoe before taking a quick walk around Botnstjörn Pond. As we started our walk under the rare cover of Downy Birch trees, the sun had disappeared and the day turned gray and drippy, but not actively rainy. The short path around the curve of the horseshoe and the pond was a pleasant way to spend 20 minutes. Walking under trees felt so decadently unusual in a country that is essentially barren of trees.

Fluttering about the trees and sounding like American Robins, Redwings cackled and clucked from the leaf cover, acting just like their American cousins. Other birds also called from the tree cover, especially European Goldfinches. Beneath the trees, the leaf-littered damp ground was covered in both geraniums and several kinds of fungi.

Botnstjörn Pond in Ásbyrgi

Canyon Walls are Vertical

The U of the Horseshoe

Creek Falling into the Pond 100 Meters Below

Looking out of the Canyon at a Block Formation

Same Block Formation Up Close

Wood Crane's-bill, Blágresi, Geranium sylvaticum

Honey Fungus, Hunangsveppur, Armillaria mellea 

Honey Fungus and Birch Polypore, Birkitrjóna, Fomitopsis betulina

After our pleasant pass-time under the trees, we continued south to see three of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland, all in close proximity along the Jökulsá River. These three falls, from north to south, are Halfragilsfoss, Dettifoss, and Selfoss.

Two approaches reach these falls, the paved 862 on the west side and the unpaved and fairly rough 864 on the east side. Debate about which is better is rampant on the internet. The west approach is easier and quicker, but the east approach offers easier views of Halfragilsfoss and a more intimate approach to Dettifoss. More importantly for taking photographs, the spray usually blows to the west side, making the east preferred for photography. I chose the eastern approach.

Along 864, we encountered a driver in a camper van driving 40kph in the middle of the narrow dirt road. The driver would not move over and let us pass. I finally bulled my way past and resumed our 70kph pace to the entry road to the Halfragilsfoss viewpoint. The viewpoint is high above the canyon down a short single-track dirt road that was beat to hell with some two-thirds of a meter-deep holes in it. The track was barely the width of our passenger car and rutted in deeply. With no room to maneuver or turn around or achieve momentum, 4WD is a tremendous asset. As we left the area, the 2WD camper we passed earlier turned down that nearly impassable road. I call this karma in action and not my problem.

Halfragilsfoss

Below Halfragilsfoss, Clear Water Entering Canyon and Mixing with Dirty Glacial Melt

From Halfragilsfoss, Spray from Dettifoss Plainly Visible Upriver

It is but a brief drive from Halfragilsfoss to the parking area at Dettifoss. While we were the only people at the Halfragilsfoss viewpoint, scores of vehicles occupied the Dettifoss parking areas. We joined the line of people climbing down into the canyon to see the massive Dettifoss up close and to feel its thundering power. My impression of Dettifoss is that it is a brutal and malevolent torrent of angry dirty water that is mad at the world and wants to destroy it. It is awesome in the true sense of the word, but it is neither beautiful nor elegant. Goðafoss and Dynjandi were both.

Spray from Dettifoss Soaking West Bank

So Much Angry Filthy Water

From Dettifoss, Looking Downriver to Halfragilsfoss 
The Jökulsárgljúfur is an Impressive Canyon

We started walking from Dettifoss to Selfoss, further upstream and out of view, but the path was rocky and difficult. Looking at it on AllTrails, we saw that it would take a significant time commitment to go see Selfoss, time we felt would be better spent at our next stop, Stuðlagil Canyon. So we called it quits on Selfoss and continued our trip south. We would not regret this decision.

Stuðlagil Canyon, through which flows the Jökulsá River originating from meltwater from the Vatnajökull glacier, is one of the most epic sites in Iceland. Although we missed the early season when the water is turquoise, the angry torrent of silty gray glacial melt is equally impressive as it rips through the canyon whose walls are the finest collection of columnar basalt I have ever seen. Stuðlagil is a relatively new sight. The 2009 construction of an upstream dam reduced the water level in the canyon, exposing the stunning columns comprising the canyon walls.

Stuðlagil is also the subject of an east versus west bank approach. Until recently, the east bank with its kilometer-long trek has been the preferred approach, the path taking visitors down into the canyon. The west side only had viewpoints high above the canyon. Although we did not know it when we arrived, excellent improvements to the west side came on line this summer just before our trip.

The afternoon wearing on when we arrived, we were faced with the east-west decision. Ultimately, we decided to drive down to the viewpoints on the west side to see what we could see. If the views were not good, we could re-evaluate and if time permitted, walk down into the canyon on the east side.

I am happy to say that the farmer who owns the viewpoint on the west side has invested a ton of money into building parking facilities, restrooms, paths, and multiple excellent viewpoints up and down the canyon walls. With the ability to descend to the level of the tops of the basalt columns on the west side, there is no longer the need to walk the east side to have excellent views. All this comes at the same price as parking on the east side, 1.000ISK or about $8, and avoids the need to negotiate the slippery and muddy eastside path.

Amazing Basalt Columns at Stuðlagil

The path along the east side was lined with loads of people coming and going to the canyon, people I suspect either did not know about the new facilities on the west side (unaware just like us who stumbled on them serendipitously) or daredevils wanting their selfies against the raging water. From our perch on high, we saw lots of them engaging in dubious and risky behavior. Several times I heard whooping from the east side that I attributed initially to boorish tourist behavior. After a few times though, I discovered the whoops were coming from a farmer on the far bank rounding up his sheep. The hillsides all along the river were lined with uncountable numbers of sheep.

Rounding up Sheep

From Stuðlagil, we backtracked north to the ring road and from there, drove east to Egilsstaðir. At this principal town of the east, we would climb up and over the mountains and make our way down into the town of Seyðisfjörður, our stop for the evening. On our way to Egilsstaðir, we stopped here and there at various attractive waterfalls in a land full of amazing waterfalls.

Stuðlafoss Just Downstream of Stuðlagil

Fall Under a One-Lane Bridge Along Jökulsá

Random Fall Just Before Rjúkandafoss

Handsome Rjúkandafoss, 12th Highest in Iceland

In our exploration today, although it had been cloudy, we were successful at dodging any serious rain until mid-to-late afternoon. It was raining steadily as we entered the town of Egilsstaðir, where we needed to tend to errands. Fortunately the gas station, grocery store, and wine store were all in the same mini-mall location and we knocked our shopping out quickly. Shopping opportunities seem exceedingly slim in the Eastfjords.

At Egilsstaðir, our short segment of the ring road was done for the day, and we left town headed north on Route 94, turning east on Route 93 shortly thereafter to climb up and over the mountains and down into the town at the head of the Seyðisfjörður fjord. The road into Seyðisfjörður has a reputation for two things: offering a bit of a dicey drive and scads of waterfalls.

I found nothing scary about the long climb up out of Egilsstaðir, the long straight stretch up in the mountains, or the descent back to sea level. It was cloudy, foggy, and rainy, but the road was child's play compared to those we had already driven in the Westfjords. I am certain that weather plays a huge factor; I would have been uneasy crossing these mountains in bad weather.

I had thought about visiting a couple of waterfalls on the way into town, but we had already had our fill of falls for the day, plus I did not want to walk to any of them in the now streaming rain. Because of its location right on the road, we did stop briefly at Gufufoss just on the outskirts of town. Ann stayed in the car while I walked 100 meters to see what I thought was nothing special in a waterfall.

The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of...
Dozens of Waterfalls

Gufufoss

Our check-in instructions were a tad strange, but became obvious enough when we arrived. We were told to park in the lot of the tiny grocery across the street and walk over the Hotel Aldan and Restaurant where we should check in and receive further instructions. Walking along the covered deck, we passed several tables of people sitting outside, drinking beers, clearly some kind of Happy Hour in progress.

At the front desk/coffee bar, we checked in and were directed to our property and room about a block away. It seems that the hotel/restaurant/coffee shop is the principal business in town and that the same owner offers rooms in many of the surrounding buildings. While we were checking in, people kept coming up to the bar from the dining room or outside to get refills of coffee or beer, primarily the latter.

We decided to join them to take advantage of the dry conditions and warmth inside. While I waited for our beers, Ann selected two seats at a high top table looking out a window, directly beside another older couple. We would come to find out that they are Germans from the Mosel on 12-week holiday who brought their pickup-mounted camper via ferry from Denmark. They were camped just across the street and had already been in Seyðisfjörður for a week.

At Happy Hour

The conversation between us had limited traction at first, the Germans keeping to themselves by nature, but by the second beer, we were conversing primarily in English and primarily with the wife. The husband, a jovial sort, seemed to understand a bit of English but did not speak it. Once he warmed up and understood our travel plans for the next week, he offered great photos and recommendations for what to see and more importantly, what to avoid in the highly touristy south of the country where they had already visited.

By his third beer, he was rummaging his phone for pictures of his niece, the extremely proud uncle of a Weinkönigin for the Mosel. Apparently being a Wine Queen for any one of the regions is a prestigious honor and enters her into the running for the title of Wine Queen of Germany.

We said our goodbyes and left the happy couple still drinking their beers at the table by the window. Removing our car from the grocery store lot, we drove the few meters to our building where I schlepped in the suitcases in the rain. Once in our room, it became obvious there was no means of preparing any food, nor any utensils or plates. That meant foregoing the dinner that we purchased at the grocery store and returning to the restaurant for dinner, for which the staff was setting up when we left.

Our Hotel, a Former Bank

After relaxing for a few minutes, we walked back and were just in time to get a table before all the seats were taken or spoken for via reservation. On the walk of no more than 150 meters, we both shot photos of the quaint little town.

More Honey Fungus Outside our Hotel

Waterfalls Descending Towards Town
At One Time, I Counted 12 in View Simultaneously

Baby Blue Seyðisfjarðarkirkja

Once seated at the restaurant, we got our first look at the menu, something we would have looked at in advance had we planned to dine out. Our first glance at the menu was the first clue that this was no ordinary restaurant. We had no idea that the dishes from the limited menu would be among the best of our trip to Iceland. Ann and I were both shocked at the quality of our dinner at this out-of-the-way restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

Halibut Seviche, as Tasty as It was Beautiful

Reindeer Tartare on a Beef Marrow Bone with Cured Egg Yolks

Gnocchi with Icelandic Burrata and Tempura Broccolini

Halibut with Spinach-Ricotta Ravioli

Fantastic: Sorrel Ice Cream, Crispy Rye Bread, Skyr Mousse

Still marveling at the first-rate dinner that we just ate, we stepped out into the drizzly night and hustled back to our room to settle in. Tomorrow would have us aiming for the southern coast and the town of Höfn.