Right outside of town I ran into a bunch of cyclists, on a steep hill being followed by a minivan with a camera crew. Oh, a race... On a Wednesday? Oh well. Then more and more bicyclists, and dozens of support vans - it went on for miles and miles. Then, just as I was nearing Goðafoss, my first stop, I ran into a patch of gravel and there was a sag wagon ready to exchange a cyclist's road bike over to a fat tire bike. What kind of race was this? I never did find out but well after 10pm, when I was 100's of kms east of Akureyri and it was 3°C outside (my car chirped at me at 4°! Why?) there were still a few lonely maniac bikers out there being slowly followed by motor homes. An around Iceland bike race?? Maybe someone could Google it? By the way, with the wind, the hills, and the temps, that would have to be one of the hardest endurance races ever.
Having just witnessed my first mass tourist site in 4 days, I psyched myself up for the rest of the day as I was now in Iceland's Diamond Circle, little sister to the very touristed Golden Circle near Reykjavik. It promised tourists a plenty!
#1: Skutustagigar, a series of
pseudocraters on the edge of Lake Myvatn. And midges.
Circling the island west-to-east, the #2 stop was Klasar & Kalfastrond: 2 little private peninsulas that have meandering trails open to the public that culminate with a view of cool volcanic pillars standing at the lake's edge.
The 2nd was forested, apparently by the owners' hand
#3: Dimmuborgit: a giant lava field that might be familiar to G.O.T. fans...
Kikja - or "the church"
#4: Hverfell. I climbed a crater! I like volcanoes, not quite sure why but the whole beginnings-of-the-planet thing appeals to me. Which is one reason I wanted to come here: volcanoes, lava fields, plate tectonics, etc. All up close and very touchable.
#5: Grjótagjá. G.O.T. fans?
#6: Namafell. The coolest site ever! An active geothermal site that's right there to see and touch up close! If it wouldn't burn your hand off! Hot, angry like-a-kettle-past-boil steaming vents - some smelling like rotten egg, some like hot cat urine. Bubbling mud pots that blurb away like a boiling pudding, only 80-100°C!
#7: Krafla power plant. Drove through a lava field to get there and there's apparently a couple of craters and a steaming lava field to see after, but after all the day's adventures my ankle was saying "uncle"
Whew! Now I was supposed to turn around and head NW towards Husavik, whose claim to fame is whale-watching. I've been lucky enough to have seen hundreds of whales in my boating days and the thought of back-tracking 2 days to start seeing something new....had me heading East. I hadn't planned this, and I didn't know off-hand what there was to see for the next 400 or so kms but I had the Lonely Planet guide on my iPad and the sun shining behind me so off I went...
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