The Misty Mountains

One more bathroom stop before the road...

Local lore on display.

Nice spot to run a local government from.

It's pretty cool seeing all these little kid toy sections in restaurants.

YESSS!! Greens!

Shout-out to Glen, giving his trailer a trial-run on this Iceland tour!

The back of the bike: Table, coat rack, extra hand, clothesline, and occasionally even a work desk.

This could be a clear day or a cloudy day, depending on your perspective.

This side of the rock was constantly getting wet from streams of water and then quickly drying out from the wind, over and over.

Having a good time in the rain!

Hills hiding behind hills.

Just how much mist is an excessive amount? Iceland has no such limit!

You could climb to the top, but I don't know where you'd stand when you got there!
Creepy!
Another world, above and below the clouds.
Gorgeous sandwich layers along every fjord.
I cairn do this all day.
Mysterious!
And all this geography, right by the side of the road...
Ride on in, the mist is fine!
Farming the sea.
Watch out for them trucks!
That rock's in the way! Blast it!

A ribbon of road, making this travel possible.

Fjardabyggd:. More than just that thing you shout when you stub your toe: It's also a town!

The aurora, vaulting up behind the clouds. I did not expect to see them this time of year.

Is something wrong with my lens? Nope. It's the northern lights.

Look at all that exploded luggage!

A Guy With Some Rocks

Pretty dang cute. I am amused!

Cute curtains in the barrel house.

Little tiny two-room barrel house! YEAH!!

Another great day for riding!

A nice day on the bay.

Small monument to Hans Jonatan, former Danish slave and the first known person of African descent to settle in Iceland.

What a cute looking calculator!

Don't those buttons look so jolly and candy-like?

Outside the Steinasafn (Stone Museum) in Djúpivogur.

The fellow who built the Steinasafn.

Amazing Coast All Day

Didn't get a chance to pay for your spot? Be a good citizen and leave some cash.

Aha! I think I found the Icelandic version of Pride Rock!

That's a lot o' geese!
Shallow tidewater, good for straining some nutrition out with your beak.
I don't think I've ever seen so many geese in one spot before.
Just another amazing scene on the Iceland coast.
Lovely calm waters for a goose convention.

This bay is protected by a long thin arm of land that smooths the waves on the ocean.

Geese on the water near the Hvalnes Nature Reserve Beach.
Am I enjoying this day? Yes; yes I am!
Geese on the Icelandic coast.
Honk honk honk honk honk!
A long, narrow stripe of beach, with the sea beyond.
Geese enjoying the fair Iceland weather.
Time for a nap!
This is the same stuff that's in the pillow packed into a compression sack on my bike!

So fluffy!

Got a piece of cardboard? Maybe you can slide down!

A cool panorama along a bend in the coastal road.

Lighthouse or giant carrot?
Clouds chopping the top off the nearby peaks.
Quite astonishingly windy on this particular chunk of road.
Up along the coast road we go!
Ready to hit the beach?
Lots of travelers want you to know they've been here before you.
Lots of pedaling, running out of food, and having an excellent day.
A nice view of the next hour of riding.
Random rainbow!
Such nifty contours on these hills...

Grateful for the sudden sunlight.

A column breaking through the clouds.

Awww, don't run over the dude! He's just walkin' here!

It's a teeny waterfall! I approve.
Hey, yo, check out dis heah waterfall!
Often I find myself wondering how long ago any given rock wall was built on this island. 50 years? 300?
Pedal on the way down, pedal on the way up. Then catch breath and do it again!
That's way too tilted to be a house foundation. Some kind of waterside animal pen?
Cairn you see what's in the photo?
Tired, but determined.
The fog appears to be clawing its way over the peaks.
Roadside columns.
Leaning layers in the landscape.
Apparently there's an old religious dude buried right around here.
That looks like enough rocks to hold down a deacon!
Qutie an impressive stack built up over the years.
I am amused by the way this burial site has been turned into a picnic spot.

Whole lotta symbols in the next town. Not sure what a bunch of them mean...

If you don't dry your frillies on the radiatior, some other camper will come by and do the same.

Sole Witness To An Accident

When you gotta dry your pants...

Across the bay from the viking settlement -- a radar station!

The road back to the road.
That's a whole lotta erosion!
There's a very similar formation on the inside of Crater Lake over in Oregon.
I'm glad I wasn't here when this rolled down the mountain.

Hmm something odd about this landscape but I can't quite figure it out...

Strange coastline near Höfn

Pretty shpooky!

Lighthouse near Höfn in the morning.

The closer I get, the more majestic it becomes!

An Icelandic mining operation.

Do I look ready for my first tunnel of this tour?

I'm definitely an old nerd, because when I see this sign, I think of a video game console.

This one is nice and modern.

Okay well there's a little wear and tear, but still pretty modern lookin'.

Enjoying tunnel!

Out of the tunnel, into the fresh air again.

I think this sign is saying something about city versus country speed limits, but it's way too complicated.

Tired of traveling? Take a rest, in the big red random chair.

Them's some sharp mountains.
The view looking back to the tunnel entrance.
A mountain with its own personal cloud hat!
These bridges are always a thrill to cross.
Sunset colors building over a field.
Imagine the cup of cocoa you could make with marshmallows this size!
I always enjoy these tangled sunset cloudscapes.

Hay wrapped up for later chomping. Gotta have that when the weather gets as bad as it does in Iceland.

The car, where it landed.

The first impact dug up a big chunk of turf and flung it to one side.

The rear wheels came down in the same place just after the front ones bounced up.

Pretty cute spot!

Another fine camping spot.

Fact And Fiction

Had to use one guyline here, on account of the high wind. Still a pretty good site!

HYARR TIME TO RAID THE SNACK SUPPLY

A simpler weapon, from a more savage age.

Handy map on a napkin box.

A great spot for an all-day hack-a-thon!

You know your cafe is in a beautiful place when you can look at the photographs adorning the walls and find the cafe itself at the base of the mountain.

I get the impression that most of this is leftover material from back when the viking movie set was constructed.

Seawater does terrible things to metal.

Pretty majestic spot for a settlement. Well chosen, location scout!

TIME TO RAID THE SETTLEMENT! ARRR!

Hard to tell how accurate any of this is. What would a building of this shape be for?

I wonder how many raiders were spotted from these gates? (Answer: Zero.)
I can imagine an actor being crammed in there with the bars shut, screaming about an imminent invasion. "Wait 'till my brother Hrölf finds out I'm here!"
The main longhouse building of the set.
I can imagine a small herd of animals crammed in here.
I wonder if this semi-enclosed side hallway is part of the traditional layout?
Set designers and engineers must have been crawling through these windows constantly.
At this point, not a pleasant place for a bed and nightstand.
Absurdly shallow stairs must have made daily life here a bit treacherous.

Yep, there's a house in there.

It would take some serious cleanup to make this building livable again.

I wonder what they were using this giant curtain to conceal?

Interesting carvings!

Maxin' and relaxin' in mah viking camp.

Three superimposed 30 second shots from the iPhone. Not bad considering it was quite dark out.

Wall of the viking settlement movie set, with just a hint of Aurora Borealis in the sky.

More of the viking movie set wall.