[New post] Exploring ‘Little Iceland’ – A Journey Around The Snaefellsnes Peninsula (Part One)
devongeography posted: " The Snaefellsnes Peninsula is often referred to as 'Little Iceland' or 'Iceland in Miniature' because of the wide variety of landscape scenery found there. It has waterfalls, a volcano, a glacier, mountains, lava fields, black sand beaches, cliff lines," Devon Geography
The Snaefellsnes Peninsula is often referred to as 'Little Iceland' or 'Iceland in Miniature' because of the wide variety of landscape scenery found there. It has waterfalls, a volcano, a glacier, mountains, lava fields, black sand beaches, cliff lines, Saga sites and fishing villages - everything the country has to offer packed into a small geographical area. It receives fewer visitors than other parts of Iceland (probably because it is not directly on the R1 ring road), but with a travel time of only a couple of hours from the capital city of Reykjavik, it seemed like an obvious choice as a new location to explore.
" 'What do you see there?' 'I see a peninsula looking like a thigh bone with the knee bone at the end of it.' 'A very fair comparison, my lad. Now do you see anything upon that knee bone?' 'Yes, a mountain rising out of the sea.' 'Right. That's Snaefell.' 'That Snaefell?' 'It is. It is a mountain 5,000 feet high, one of the most remarkable in the world, and its crater leads down to the centre of the Earth.'" (Jules Verne - Journey to the Centre of the Earth)
The peninsula is within reach of a long day trip from Reykjavik, but with so much to see and do, we decided to spend a full week on the peninsula, basing ourselves halfway along the south coast at the Langaholt Hotel. This proved to be convenient central location to explore the area, and also had the attraction of its own golf course. Travelling in June, when daylight spanned a full twenty-four hours, midnight golf was an equal pull to the promised geography investigations ahead.
Teeing off at midnight. Not a bad backdrop for a golf course! Image - Paul Berry
With so much content to cover, the description of our trip around the peninsula has been split across two separate blogs - one for the south coast as far as Snaefellsjokull volcano, and a second covering the journey from there along the north coast.
Leaving Reykjavik, it is less than hour's driving along the R1 island ring road to Hvalfiordur ('Whale Fiord'). It is possible to take a long scenic detour inland around the fiord, but if time is short, there is an impressive 6 kilometre tunnel that takes you under the fiord to continue the journey. Four kilometres of the tunnel runs along the bed of the deep glaciated trough, and there are noticeable steep sections at the entrance and exit as the road climbs the steep sides of the flooded inlet. After exiting the tunnel, the road passes the Grundartungi aluminium smelter works, and a short detour is then possible to visit the town of Akranes, Iceland's oldest fishing port, originally settled by Irish hermits in 880 AD. The town (population c 6,000) has an industrial feel, with a giant cement works and a number of fish processing plants, but is also home to the Gardur folk museum, covering Iceland's maritime history.
The R1 road continues northwards, and around half an hour after the tunnel reaches the bridge across Borgarfjordur leading to Borgarnes. The small town (population c 2,000) provides a useful opportunity to stock up with supplies and fuel before venturing on to Snaefellsnes. Unlike other settlements in the area, Borgarnes is not reliant on the fishing industry, and is more important as a service centre for local dairy farms. It is home to the excellent 'Settlement Centre' which is dedicated to recreating Iceland's early days and telling the story of one of the best-known Saga heroes, Egil Skalla-Grimsson.
Langarfoss. Image - Geoview.info
Shortly after Borgarnes, the R54 road leads westwards off the ring road towards Snaefellsnes, running all the way along the south coast, before circling the peninsula by hugging the coastline of the north. There is a range of interesting sites to visit along the way to break up the journey to the hotel, and just six kilometres after leaving the ring road near Borgarnes, the waterfall of Langafoss appears to the south side of the road. There is a large car parking area right next to where the water of the river Langa tumbles over volcanic rocks in a number of distinct passes. A fish ladder has been cut into the bedrock on one side.
Eldborg crater. Image - west.is
Continuing westwards, the crater of Eldborg soon comes into view, providing a clear landmark for miles around. The 'Fortress of Fire' is the largest of six craters that emerged from a fissure eruption that took place between 5-8,000 years ago. The surrounding Eldborgarhraun lava field measures around 7 by 4 kilometres, and contains both older pahoehoe and younger aa flows. Eldborg is accessible via a 45 minute hike from a car parkingarea at Snorrastadir Farm (signposted from the R54 road), and a path runs around the rim of the 200 meter diameter perfectly shaped crater.
Not long past Eldborg, the Gerduberg Cliffs are signposted to the right off the R54 road. This 2 kilometre escarpment of basalt hexagonal columns created when the lava slowly cooled and contracted. The fortress-like wall is up to 15 metres high, and although mightily impressive from the base, a number of paths allow access to the top of the cliff. From here, it is easy to understand how in another part of Iceland, farmers discovering columns buried in their fields thought they had found a mosaic of hexagonal floor tiles.
Gerduberg Cliffs. Image - Paul Berry
Gerduberg basalt columns. Image - Paul Berry
Sign at Ytri Tunga. Image - Paul Berry
The final stop before the hotel was taken at the beach of Ytri Tunga. This location is not well-signed from the R54 road, but the access track can be easily identified by the the car park visible at its end which is often full of vehicles. A path leads away from the car park to the right to a rocky area where seals commonly haul out of the water, especially in the summer months. Both harbour seals and common seals can usually be seen here. Spectators need to keep a safe distance between themselves and the seals, so binoculars are useful, and a long lens is needed if photographs are required.
Seal at Ytri Tunga. Image - Allison Berry
Teeing off at Langaholt just before midnight. Image - Paul Berry
The Langaholt Hotel provided an excellent base for exploration of the peninsula, its location around halfway along the south coastal road giving easy access to all the sites of interest. The rooms were comfortable, the food of a decent quality, and the views were excellent. In addition, it had a super nine hole golf course - and the extended daylight hours of June enabled us to play late into the evening, even after a day out on the peninsula. It was even possible to tee-off at midnight, something I have always wanted to do.
Decent backdrop for golf. Image - Paul Berry
The main hazard on the course was the distraction of birdwatching opportunities. The course was always full of oystercatchers, black-tailed godwits, and curlew. Any shots missing the fairway often attracted the attention of nesting Arctic terns that dive-bombed us to warn us off. A 5 iron held strategically above our heads managed to keep them at bay!
Black-tailed godwit. Image – Allison Berry
Curlew. Image – Allison Berry
Black-tailed godwit. Image – Allison Berry
Arctic Tern. Image – BBC
We even had a resident pair of oystercatchers just outside our hotel room. They were sitting on a nest (just a scratch really of pebbles and sticks) incubating a clutch of eggs when we arrived, and by the time we were leaving, all three chicks had hatched and were beginning to explore the big wide world!
Nesting oystercatcher right next to our hotel room. Image - Allison Berry
Just a few kilometres along the road from the hotel is the Lysuhol geothermal mineral pool. Conveniently located, it offered a relaxing soak before our evening meal, and hopefully the Chorella algae in the water passed on some of its suggested healing qualities to our tired limbs.
Geothermal baths at Lysuhol - with impressive backdrop. Image - Paul Berry
Budir church. Image - Iceland Aurora
Travelling westwards, a side road leads southwards to Budir. Once a thriving fishing centre that was abandoned in the 19th century, all that remains now is a hotel and Budakirkja, a lonely black-timber church standing in the centre of the 5,000 year-old Budahraun lava field. Although the building dates back as far as 1703, it was reconstructed in 1848, and moved to its current position piece by piece in 1984. Legend says the church was built here after an elderly woman asked a man to hold an arrow and spin in circles until he felt dizzy. After many spins, he was then commanded to shoot the arrow into the air, the location where the arrow landed deciding the location for the church, in the middle-of-nowhere in the centre of the lava field. Close by is the oval-shaped Budaklettur crater, clearly visible standing alone above the flat, desolate lava landscape. It stands at 88m above sea level, around 30-40m above the lava field.
Budaklettur crater. Image - Sig Holm via Flickr
Looking back eastwards over the ancient sea bed, now a flat coastal plain. Image - Paul Berry
The road continues along the flat coastal plain of an ancient sea bed, with the sea to the left. An inland cliff stands tall to the right, the result of isostatic land uplift over time.
Bjarnarfoss. Image - Paul Berry
As the road splits to circle the Snaefellsjokull volcano in different directions, the two-tiered 80 metre waterfall of Bjarnarfoss comes into view, with a convenient car park nearby. A local legend says that underneath the waterfall once stood the 'Lady of the Mountains' (Fjallkonan), who would let the spray drop onto her shoulders. This act is thought of as a symbolic embodiment of the Icelandic people, and it is possible to take the short trail to the base of the waterfall to recreate this act, should you so desire. From close-up, it is also possible to pick out the basalt columns behind the two main sections of the falls.
Path to Raufaldsgja Gorge. Image - Paul Berry
Raufaldsgja Gorge is located between Botnsfjall mountain and Arnastapi, and the name translates as 'red-cloaked rift'. It is a hidden deep ravine with a waterfall at its end. A path leads from the car park to a steep rock face, and only when an approach is made does the entrance to the gorge become visible. It is possible to clamber over the rocky river bed to gain access inside the gorge, an eerie feeling as the vertical walls soon close in to isolate you from the outside world. It is possible to follow the water deeper into the gorge, eventually to reach a rope where you can pull yourself up to the small waterfall. Ancient tales tell of two brothers, Raudfeldur and Solvi, who met their fate in this place around 1,200 years ago - the events documented in a true story in the Icelandic Sagas. The brothers came with their father Thorkell, the half-brother of Bardur Snaefellsas, a part troll part human who we will encounter later in the trip. The brothers often played as children with Bardur's many beautiful daughters, and one day they lured one of the girls called Helga onto an iceberg and pushed her out into the sea. High winds unfortunately blew the iceberg from shore out into the open ocean, and she disappeared. Helga reached Greenland seven days later, and went on to live a good life with the family of Erik the Red (father of Leif Eriksson) for many years. When Bardur got to hear of his daughter's disappearance, he grabbed the two brothers and threw them to their deaths into the gorge. Bardur lost his mind, and eventually walked up to the glacier to build an ice cave where he has lived for many centuries right up to the present day. Or so the story goes.
Inside Raufauldsgja Gorge. Image – Paul Berry
Snjofell restaurant, Arnastapi. image - Paul Berry
Arnastapi was an important trading port in the area in the 18th century, and is still a working fishing harbour today. The village consists of a number of scattered buildings, many now focusing on gaining an income from the tourist trade. At the centre of the village is the turf-roofed Snjofell restaurant, and behind it a monument to Jules Verne, whose famous science-fiction novel 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' was based on the Snaefellsjokull volcano overlooking the village. His main characters Professor Otto Lidenbrock, nephew Axel, and Icelandic guide Hans set off from Arnastapi on their legendary journey into the volcano, which last erupted sometime around 250 AD.
Jules Verne memorial at Arnastapi with Stapafel in the background. Image - Paul Berry
"Descend, bold traveller, into the crater of the Jokul of Snaeffels, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July, and you will attain the centre of the earth; which I have done" (Arnie Saknussemm, in 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth')
Statue of Bardur Snaefellsas. Image - Paul Berry
From the main car park in the village, a surfaced path leads to the statue of Bardur Snaefellsas, the half-human half-ogre deemed the guardian of the region. It was created in 1985 by the famous Icelandic sculptor Ragnor Kjartensson (1923-1988). The path continues to the coast, and a fenced viewpoint overlooks the impressive basalt cliffline. Looking back inland, the 526 metre palagonite cone of Mount Stapafell stands guard over Arnastapi, with Snaefellsjokull in the background. From the viewing platform, the path leads left to Arnastapi harbour, and after just a few hundred metres overlooks Gatklettur, a stunning basalt arch eroded by the action of the sea.
Statue of Bardur looking inland towards Stapafel, Arnastapi. Image - Paul Berry
Gatklettur, Arnastapi. Image - west.is
Following the well-marked path from the viewing station to the right, takes you on a delightful cliff-top walk to the village of Hellnar, an area designated as a Nature Reserve since 1979. A round trip to Hellnar and then back to the car park at Arnastapi takes around two hours or so, and passes through the Hellnarhraun lava beds from previous eruption of the Snaefellsjokull volcano, which overlooks the path all along the way. There are tremendous views of caves, arches, stacks, and cliffs of basalt columns teeming with sea birdlife to enjoy. Once Hellnar is reached, there is a large sea cave and arch to explore before enjoying the delightful home-made cakes at the Fjoruhusid cafe, once an old salting house for the small harbour here. For centuries, Hellnar was one of the biggest fishing stations on the peninsula, and in the 18th century, around 200 citizens lived here in turf houses and fishermen's huts. There is little fishing carried out from here today, but while we relaxed at the excellent cafe, a pod of killer whales patrolled back and forth in the bay - a regular sight according to the cafe owner.
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Arch at Hellnar. Image - Paul Berry
Hellnar Bay. Image - Paul Berry
Cafe at Hellnar. Image - Paul Berry
Back at Arnastapi, we signed up with the 'Glacier Paradise' tour company for a snow-cat tour to Snaefellsjokull, the 700,000 year-old glacier-capped strata-volcano designated as a National Park in 2001. We were taken by bus along an un-metalled mountain road that climbed towards the glacier, and as we gained in height, great views of the peninsula emerged in all directions. But by the time we had reached the snow-cats that took us onto the ice, the cloud cover had lowered, and when we reached the three peaks (Vestutufa the highest at 1446 metres, Nordutufa, and Midtufa) at the top of the mountain, visibility was reduced to just a few metres. We had to imagine the views back towards Reykjavik, to Langjokull in the east, and north to the Western Fiords. Some of the guides even claim to have seen across to Greenland on super-clear days. This unfortunate twist in the weather (always a possibility in Iceland) prevented us from enjoying views of the 65 square mile National Park, and we were unable to fully appreciate the precarious nature of the ice cover here, currently shrinking at an alarming rate (over 1.5 metres each year) - twice the speed of some other glaciers. Snaefellsjokull currently covers around 10 square kilometres and is on average 30 metres thick, but has already shrunk by more than half since the end of the nineteenth century. In August of 2012, the summit was ice-free for the first time in recorded history, and the entire glacier is likely to disappear completely by the end of the century.
Snaefellsjokull - on a clear day! Image - Paul Berry
Snow cat tour on the glacier at Snaefellsjokull. Image - Paul Berry
After a couple of clear and sunny days - when we booked our snowcat tour, the clouds dropped leaving limited visibility on Snaefellsjokull. Image - Paul Berry
The remaining part of our journey around Snaefellsjokull and along the north coast of the peninsula is described in the next blog.
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