Iceland: Snæfellsness Peninsula and Return
There were two major stops left on our trip: Kirkjufell and a horseback ride at Stori Kambur, both on the Snæfellsness (sny-fells-ness) peninsula north and west of Reykjavík. Instead of taking the tunnel underneath Hvalfjörður, I opted to take the longer drive around to see more of the country. An arctic fox crossed the road in front of me, but it disappeared before I could get my camera. We arrived in Borgarnes an hour early and spent some time checking out the sights in the town before visiting the Settlement Center. There are two exhibits there: one covers the settlement of Iceland from historic times, the other covers Egil’s saga. Both were worth the visit. The lunch menu at the cafe had grilled horse available, but I stuck with a burger.
Wood carving of the Egil saga.
From Borgarnes we turned off the Ring Road and set out onto the Snæfellsness peninsula. Again, this terrain felt very much like Oregon with broad fertile valleys set against a backdrop of big snow-capped mountains. By 14:30 we arrived at Stori Kambur for our horseback ride. After inadvertently entering the home there, we were kitted out for our ride. About a dozen other people were in our group and after a safety talk we were matched with our horses. My horse Pyakkur (meaning rascal) was a burnt sienna color with a beautiful blonde mane. Icelandic horses (not ponies) are shorter than many other breeds, but are good workhorses and a fairly steady ride. We mounted up and went down a gravel road to the beach. A cold wind coming down from the mountains turned to a light breeze out along the coast. What a scene: blue skies, the white ice sheet of Snæfellsjӧkull, verdant hillsides with patches of reddish-brown volcanics, the deep azure of the ocean. It was incredible and unfortunately, over too soon. We took a short tӧlt (a kind of quick trot unique to Icelandic horses) and found ourselves back at the stables. We were the last tour of the day and the staff round up the horses and then set them to the pasture. It was a unique experience to see over a hundred horses rumble by us.
With the ride over, we drove up and over the mountain to the north side of the peninsula to see Kirkjufell. It’s a large mountain that appears conical when viewed from the south. Kirkjufellsfoss tumbles water down into a small bay in front of it, providing a particularly beautiful scene. The sun was still high and I was disappointed that I would not get some of the really dramatic color that I had sought. It was at that point that I was ready to get home. Dinner was down at Harbor Cafe in Grundarfjörður. Smoked pork, lamb, and salmon again. On the return trip, we did take the tunnel under the fjord. It’s 6 km long and the underground geologist in me was delighted to see how it had been constructed.
Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss
In the morning we left our apartment and headed to Viking World in Njarðvik. On display is the Islendingur, the ship that sailed from Iceland to North America in 2000 to prove that Vikings, with their limited capabilities, would have been able to make that voyage nearly 500 years before Columbus. One of the signs indicated that Viking swords played an “active” role in their society. Indeed.
We made one more stop at the grocery store to pick up some souvenir coffee and get some packing supplies for getting our two photo prints home. The airport experience was hectic, but our flight was smooth and after a long wait at customs in Newark, we were in the car headed to our hotel. And it was dark. Something we hadn’t seen in a week. Actual darkness. It was good to be home.
