June 2024 Trip to Iceland
Westfjiords
A multi-day storm had hit Northeastern Iceland, leaving 30-40cms of snow in places. The #1 Ring road had closed, some camper vans had been blown off the road. Travel plans for many had been disrupted. We were fortunate to experience just strong winds and low temperatures that had spilled over to the west. So, when we saw a mild sunny day in the forecast, we acted on it. After our cabin stay at Stóra-Vatnshorn, we bee-lined to the Latraberg cliffs on the Southwestern corner of the West Fjiords. That morning, there was fresh snow in the mountains and it was a terrific drive on the #60 and #64 to reach the renowned cliffs by mid-day. It was most enjoyable to watch the nesting seabirds and walk someways along the cliff tops but we reached saturation within a couple of hours.
We had endless daylight hours and we retraced our route in and then drove south to Rauðisandur (Red Sand Beach), that could rival our own Long Beach on Vancouver Island. A Polish couple was running the campground and she disclosed that we could avail ourselves of a cabin for deeply discounted (half-price), so we skipped another tent night. We had sheep, a picnic table outside our front door with the vast expanse of the beach beyond, so it was a memorable stay.
Driving west on #612
Látrabjarg car park and walkway
Látrabjarg puffins
Rauðisandur (red sand beach)
Rauðisandur
The weather forecast was rather ominous for that evening so we booked a room at a guest house. In the morning, we passed through Patreksfjörður and then Tálknafjörður for a stop at the free but lightly maintained Pollurinn hot pool. We were the only ones there, then we proceeded to Bíldudalur and we drove the length of the #619 to Selárdalur. It was all about the journey and not the destination. The #619 remains as a clear memory. It was a hugely scenic gravel road that ran along a fjord beneath rugged peaks and passed by several wild beaches. On our out and back drive, we encountered one other vehicle. We stopped at several places and went for short walks.
Bíldudalur was just as sleepy on our return and we carried on the #63 to the Reykjafjarðarlaug hot pool and adjacent hot springs. There was a small Spanish group already there that was filming an Icelandic travel journey experience. There were some rough sections on #63, though the grader was working on it further along. It was smooth driving on the paved #60, going south where we went for a short canyon walk, the Flókalundur hike. Finally, we reached the splendid Rauðsdalur Guest House for the night. There, we listened to two Quebec gals explain their woes caused by the early June storm. Their counter-clockwise tour was blocked, so they reversed direction and drove around the country to reach more wintery road conditions at the other end of the ring road, so they retreated to southern Westfjiords.
Patreksfjörður
#619 west of Bíldudalur along Arnarfjörður
Hike off of #619
Fossfjörður Waterfall drive-by
Flókalundur hike
We drove north on the #60 with some gravel sections over a pass and descended to Dynjandi Falls, a major tourist attraction. We were gobsmacked by the volume of tourists at the falls at mid-morning. It had a smell of cruise ship tourism and we quickly confirmed it. I asked one of the Icelandic bus tour guides, where else they were going to visit before they returned to Isafjiordur. I wanted to know where not to go that day. They were to visit a farm and we didn’t see the buses again. Further north we drove to the end of Dýrafjörður and hiked up to the snow line. Later, we walked up Sandafell Mountain along a 4WD track and some impressive views. We didn’t encounter anyone on either of the hikes. Þingeyraroddi campground was our home for the night. We selected a somewhat wind sheltered tent pitch and Sheila marched off to the nearby swimming pool. Later, we bought a few items at the gas station shop and wandered the town in the evening.
Heading north on #60
Walk at the inside bay of Dýrafjörður
Dýrafjörður view from Sandafell Mountain
Dýrafjörður view from Sandafell Mountain
Þingeyri gas station/grocery store
Þingeyri campground
Þingeyri church
We made further northern progress stopping at Flateyri and Suðureyri. The northern end of the #60 features a 6km long tunnel, much of which is single-lane complete with pullovers for oncoming traffic. The tunnel also features an intersection (to reach Suðureyri). We reached Isafjiordur in light rain. Our first order of business was a stop at the pharmacy and we left with additional anti-histamines for Sheila’s puffed up eye. Something had bitten her two days earlier and the bites continued to flare up. We waited out the rain in a coffee shop and booked a room for that evening.
We had almost run out of roads in the Western Fjiords so it was onto Minnibakki Beach via Bolungarvik and a snowy pass. The road up to the scenic viewpoint of Bolafjall was closed and snowed in, but the inquisitive sheep of Minnibaki made up for that. We turned down another gravel road on the way back to Isafjiordur and came across weekend sheep dog trials. Isafjiordur was quite a pretty town and we had our 5:00pm orientation meeting with Lucas of Borea Adventures for our kayaking trip. We had a disappointing meal at Thai Tawee before a town walkabout and settling into the Isafjiordur Inn.
Flateyri
Exiting the tunnel, going towards Suðureyri
Ísafjörður
Ísafjörður
Ísafjörður coffee shop
Bolungarvik harbour
Still heading towards Minnibakki Beach
Minnibakki Beach
The road back to Bolungarvik
Fish drying sheds on the #630
Sheep dog trials near Bolungarvik
Farm near near Bolungarvik
Fish drying in the back streets of Ísafjörður
Kayaking Hornstrandir with Borea Adventures
We had a 8:00am reporting time at the Borea Adventures warehouse by the wharf. We loaded gear, food barrels and kayaks onto the impressive Borea vessel and pushed off the dock at 9:00am with a few walkers on board (it was early season, so it wasn't busy). We emptied out at Hesteyri and organized ourselves. The vessel had an afternoon pick-up of walkers at the Kviar farm house, so we didn't have to paddle with our gear. There were a number of tourists milling about as a cruise ship had landed at Ísafjörður that morning and some had gone on tours to Hesteyri that has a couple of buildings from earlier times, one of which is used a Hornstrandir Reserve office.
We paddled across two fjord mouths and shoreline to reach our home for three nights of the Kviar Lodge. The wind picked up in our faces towards the end of the 16km paddle and we were happy to reach our destination. We carried the kayaks up and toured our home for three nights. The Kviar Lodge was once a farmhouse that was abandoned and apparently the Borea owner reached an agreement with the family to restore it, and allow the outfit to use it for its winter and summer program, and the family retained ownership and had some use of the house as well. It was wonderful. The guide had his own room, Zenzee took a room downstairs and we took a larger room on the top floor with views over the fjiord. The living room was a lovely space and the dining room pretty nice as well. The kitchen, flush toilet and hot showers were on the ground level. Hot water for the radiators was provided by a propane fueled stove in the kitchen. It really was a nice space. A day hiking group ended their walk at Kviar that day; and we all had an amazing fish soup late afternoon. The Borea vessel arrived to collect the walkers and dropped our food and gear off. Outside of our kayak group, we didn't see any one else for three days.
That evening, we had lamb roast and the smell of the meat drew an arctic fox out. In winter, the foxes come to the lodge and they have been subject to wildlife photographer groups. Our guide Lucas, worked hard in the kitchen and turned down offers of assistance. It had been an excellent start to our kayak tour.
Kayak trip briefing, Ísafjörður
Loading the kayaks
Borea Adventures vessel
Launching at Hesteyri
Paddling coastline of Hornstrandir Nature Reserve
The seals don't eat the wolf eel heads; likely to be found by a fox
Paddling coastline of Hornstrandir
Paddling in unison
Waterfalls are a constant in Iceland
Arrival at Kviar Lodge
Kviar Lodge, our base for the kayak trip
Afternoon seafood soup at Kviar Lodge
Kviar Lodge is used as a ski base in late winter and spring
Kayaks at Kviar Lodge
Lamb roast, Kviar Lodge
Our first arctic fox
The program was to conduct day paddles from the lodge. We paddled across and then into Lónafjörður a fair ways, but not to the very end and then crossed the fjjord again and followed the shoreline back to Kviar for a total of 18km. It was quite enjoyable. A humpback surfaced behind Lucas and Sheila on the return leg and the wind picked up to 10-12knots by the time we returned home.
Later in the afternoon, I went for an upward wander of about 3km walk from the old farm house. The birch trees grow horizontally in that climate.
Paddling Lónafjörður
Paddling Lónafjörður with the Drangajökull ice cap in the distance
The west facing aspect of Lónafjörður had less snow
Photo op on the snow
Another photo op
Paddling Lónafjörður
The wind started to pick up
Walking above Kviar Lodge
Afternoon lamb soup
Cod dinner, Kviar Lodge
On the third day of the kayak trip, the clouds hung low and the water wad dead calm Zenzee opted to sit the day out as she had a mild gastro issue. We paddled across the mouth of Lónafjörður and entered Hrafnsfjörður. The day cleared and the wind started to pick up, so we opted to return for a kayak of 16km. There were a number of swans about and we watched a pair of white-tailed eagles for a while. Lucas did comment that on many of his guided trips, he has ended up towing back participants. Perhaps, we missed out.
On our return, we went for a 3.5km walk and when we returned, Lucas had fired up the sauna. We tried it for a while at 80C and then opened the door to cool it down. Dinner smells brought an arctic fox in quite close. while we enjoyed our surroundings, our guide Lucas had to deal with a plumbing issue. He contacted his boss who suggested using an industrial vacuum cleaner. We weren't sure about it, but it did the trick.
Calms seas of Lónafjörður
Lónafjörður reflections
Entering Hrafnsfjörður
Swans in Hrafnsfjörður
Seals in Hrafnsfjörður
Taking a break, Hrafnsfjörður
Hrafnsfjörður
Puffin, while paddling across Lónafjörður
Returning to Kviar Lodge
Kviar Lodge
Kviar Lodge
Arctic fox
Clearing the pipes with a vacuum cleaner
On our final morning at Kviar, we had been that we would be collected at 11:30am. After breakfast, we had time for another walk (4km) above the lodge and I checked out some of the historic cairns that marked routes in the early days. We didn't have to load the kayaks as a group was scheduled to arrive in a few days, so we were transferred to the Borea vessel via zodiak and we were on our way back to Isafjiordur by 11:15am.
Borea Adventures was a top notch operator. We thought that they were professional and they provided a unique experience to comfortably paddle the Hornstrandir fjiords and stay in an interesting old farmhouse. Our guide was excellent; professional, but casual and he prepared tasty meals. Kayaking with Borea Adventures is highly recommended.
Cairns mark the historic routes
Zodiac transfer from Kviar Lodge
Icelandic crew, Borea Adventures vessel