On day five the rain caught up with us. This was unfortunate because today was supposed to include one of the more scenic drives of the trip. Route 1, in this section, hugs the coast and winds up and back down the eastern fjords of Iceland. But, due to today’s heavy rain, the visibility was poor and so the vistas were limited in their scope and grandeur. Until now, we had been very fortunate with weather. The days had been full of sun with the occasional short spattering of light rain. Today we endured the weather, stayed mostly inside the car, and took in what sights we could from the road. The reward awaiting us at the end of the days journey was the beautiful little town of Seydisfjordur.
Route
- Eggin í Gleðivík
- Petra’s Stone Collection
- Gufufoss
- Seydisfjordur
Eggin í Gleðivík
About an hour and a half drive from Hofn we stopped at a town called Djúpivogur for a quick break. There, next to the harbor, we found a very unique sculpture of eggs, each one labeled with the name of one the different species of native birds nesting in the area. It was a neat little find, but the weather prevented us from exploring it much. We looked for a few minutes then drove to a nearby coffee ship for rest and warmth and to try waiting out the storm. After a bit of coffee, cocoa, fresh bread and smoked fish we decided to head back out into the rain.
The Road through the Fjords
Route 1 through the eastern fjords is very scenic. Mountains run right up to the sea and the road is carved between. Even through the low, thick fog and rain clouds the views were impressive. There are a lot of places along this section to pull over and take in the scenery. We stopped at a few and sometimes ran in the rain to get pictures, other times rolled down the windows and stuck out the camera, not wanting to get wet. A few of those shots are below.
Petra’s Stone Collection
Another hours drive from Eggin, not including stops, is a town called Stöðvarfjörður. A woman named Petra lived there and, over 80 years, created an amazing collection of interesting stones she found in the wilderness while hiking through Iceland. Her home is now a local museum and memorial. While wandering through her gardens, most of our conversations seemed to focus around Minecraft. Still, it was a fun stop and an extremely impressive collection.
Gufufoss
We passed dozens of small waterfalls along the road today, but we stopped at only Gufufoss. The road to Seydisfjordur passes right next to Gufufoss allowing for a very convenient hop-off photo of this beautiful cascade. From here we were only 5 minutes drive from our destination, Seydisfjordur.
Seydisfjordur
The drive from Egilsstaðir to Seydisfjordur climbs steeply up and over a mountain ridge and then winds back down the other side. The top of this ridge went far into the low lying clouds and the visibility dropped to only a few feet. After driving for miles in nothingness, we finally emerged below the clouds into a world of green surrounded on three sides by mountains with rivers and falls cascading all around us toward the town below. It was as if we had passed through a portal into a different world.
The town of Seydisfjordur proved worthy of this grand entrance. It is full of colorful houses surrounded by the high walls of the deep fjord. In spite of the rain and road weariness we wandered through the town searching for the various sculptures scattered throughout before settling in for a dinner of freshly caught sushi.
The Video
We were rained on pretty heavily this day and the visibility is unfortunately cloudy. This was unfortunate because I was really looking forward to the drive through the western fjords. But at least the descent at the end into Seydisfjordur was very pretty once we got under the clouds. Fortunately the weather cleared up the next day and generally never got as bad for as long as it did this day.
You must be logged in to post a comment.