I'm splitting day four of Iceland up into two posts. Too many amazing pictures of this one day alone to fit into one post. We tried to start out early but a little bit out of Reykjavik I realized I never took my camera battery off of the charger and we had to go back to get it.
I'm glad we had to turn around because when we headed back over the mountain we got some great shots of the sunrise. We only had about seven hours of daylight every day so we really had to make our time count. It sounds like a great idea to head out "early" but then sun doesn't even come up until close to 10 am!
We passed over a bridge and I thought it would make a great shot. Really just about anywhere in Iceland you can get a great shot of something amazing.
Guess who forgot their glare guard in Colorado?? Ignore the glare spot please.
We drove to the Icelandic Highlands to find a cache that was supposed to be hidden near the Haifoss waterfall. Unfortunately the road was closed off because of ice and snow.
We decided to explore the road right next to it to see where it would take us. The top of the world. That is where the road took us. At the top there was a frozen lake in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere. The lake is called Sultartanglon and it is very close to Haifoss.
It's almost indescribable how it felt to be up there all by ourselves. It was completely quiet and still except for the wind. We really felt like we were on top of the world all by ourselves, just each other. Loved it.
I love this shot of the frozen lake. I took it right before we crossed over a slippery, frozen bridge.
On the way back to the main road we detoured off to check out this little dam.
We had a specific route to take to make it to all of our stops before the sun went down. Navigation led us to the "Ice Road".
When I attempted to make the turn we started sliding on the thick sheet of ice covering the road. I stopped the car and told Aaron we should probably turn back. He thought about it for a second and said "no, let's see where this takes us". I love that.
"You'll never see the end of the road / while you're traveling with me". Lyrics to our song. So very fitting. Alright, let's do this.
For miles we drove on a solid sheet of ice. We could see water on the sides of the road so we thought we would check them out. Frozen solid!
Aaron is standing in front of Burfells, a table volcano (just means flat topped). Inside the mountain is Burfellsvirkjun, one of Iceland's largest hydroelectric power stations.
After driving on the Ice Road for what seemed like forever we made it to a gravel road. The landscape was night and day different.
On the Ice Road you could see pockets of water with grass frozen around the edges. On this next stretch it was nothing but black lava rock with no signs of life. It seriously felt like we were driving on the moon! It was nothing short of amazing!!
The road took us through a remote village in (again) the middle of nowhere. The people living on these farms are so secluded from anything resembling city life, it's just mind blowing.
I love the idea of living on a farm and providing for ourselves. In reality I know I'm too much of a city girl for the country life. Sorry Aaron.
We passed this guy riding his bike. Where the heck did he come from?! Where was he going?! For miles after we saw him I kept asking because there was absolutely nothing in either direction!!
I wish I had video of what happened next. We ended up on a very small dirt road that snaked through the hills and past some super cute little farms. We came across a small river of water crossing the road that was frozen over. Looked safe enough. Once we got in the middle of the river the ice started breaking and we started sinking! I floored it and we quickly got out of the water and onto the other side of the road. What an adrenaline rush!
A turn or two after that we came across a section of frozen road with deep tire grooves. The whole thing was frozen smooth like a bobsled track! Once we got going on it I let go of the steering wheel and let the grooves guide the car through. It was like being on a roller coaster! My only regret is not filming it. I am determined to add a GoPro camera to our travel must haves!
Here is Burfells from further down the road on our journey. We literally drove around the whole thing by going up the mountain on one side and taking the Ice Road on the other.
You see the mountain on the right of Burfells? That is actually Iceland's most active volcano, Hekla. If I would have known that at the time I might have snapped a few pictures of it. I just have to laugh at myself over that one.
Love the moon in this shot. It's like being on another planet I tell ya!
Approaching Seljalandsfoss waterfall.
Aaron in front of the falls. He actually climbed the icy stairs to get to walk behind the waterfall. I was chicken and stayed at the bottom.There are actually three waterfalls along this cliff face but we only got close to the biggest.
Can you see how tiny Aaron looks behind the falls?
This little cabin is the view opposite of the waterfalls.
Once you've made it past the waterfall you have to climb a little hill that has a set of wooden stairs to take you back down the hill. Unfortunately the stairs were frozen over. Aaron sat down to go a step at a time down the stairs and instead he ended up rocketing down them!
Aaron caught himself at the end so he didn't go flying off the hill. From where I was it was hilarious. From where Aaron was it was terrifying.
I know you can't see them well in the picture but those are cows. We had been all over Iceland's countryside for a couple of days at that point and this was the one and only time we saw cows the entire trip. Horses every where but never cows.
The buildings were completely built into the rock!
Skogafoss waterfall. There was a farm with horses right next door. Aaron would love to live there! He loves to search out waterfalls on our journeys.
Love this shot! I really need a wide angle lens though...add that to the list with the GoPro.
That completes part one of day four in Iceland. I love the shots we got that really show how beautiful Iceland is. Can you believe our day didn't end there?! Part two has amazing shots as well so be sure to check back!
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