The last time I traveled on a plane was ten years ago today, returning home from Iceland. My BFF and I decided that this was the perfect place to celebrate my 50th birthday…
After a post-flight hot bath at the Blue Lagoon, we drove along the southern coast. Turning down the narrow gravel road that led to our hotel, we came upon our first waterfall of the trip—Íráfoss. I immediately began to reflect on all of my past lodging experiences, and I knew that I had never before seen a more awesome neighborhood for a hotel…
Hotel Anna is located just below the notorious Eyjafjallajökull volcano & glacier. Note the shorter hill on the right in the photo below. On our second day there, as the sun was going down, I decided that a visit to the summit was just what I needed right before dinner. I ran up there a little too quickly; it’s higher than it looks, and my heart was pounding pretty hard on arrival. But the view was worth it. The first and last photos in this post are self-portraits I shot at the top of that hill…
Back down at sea level, we enjoyed the pastoral scenery, and the horses roaming the hotel grounds…
Smaller than the horses we see here at home, they’re soft, fuzzy and friendly beasts…
They also seemed to be quite curious about our rented Honda. Or maybe they just wanted a ride…
Plenty of red and white churches dotting the countryside…
Lava Meets the Sea: Views from the black sands and rocks of the heavily photographed Reynisfjara Beach…
The Land of 10,000 Waterfalls: We saw several of them, and I won’t oversaturate you with all of the photos. Here’s one of the more popular waterfalls, known as Skógafoss…
The Road Not Taken: Signs informed us that this road leading into Iceland’s rugged interior was closed for the season beyond this point. A shame; just the kind of road I’d love to explore in the Pontiac…or any other vehicle, for that matter. It was disappointing to have to turn around…
The Vikings Have Landed: No, those are NOT matching jackets; they both just happen to be red. Until we find the appropriate cult to join, you’ll never see us in matching clothing…
Of course, being farther north than either of us had ever been before, we scanned the sky every night hoping to catch the aurora borealis in action. Our chances were good, since the equinoxes usually bring an increase in auroral activity. As the clock ticked down to our final night on the island—March 17—the solar wind finally worked its magic.
Below is the very first frame I ever shot of the northern lights. Before the trip, I went online to get info on the best exposure settings to use for aurora photography. Score one for the Internet…
St. Patrick’s Day in Iceland: Green beer just can’t compete with this experience…
Timing is everything. Turns out this was not just any ordinary night of auroral activity, but a G2-level solar storm from a March 15 coronal mass ejection. These brilliant bands were the first lights to appear that evening, and they raced rapidly southward over the Atlantic, leaving us with more diffuse displays for the remainder of the night…
Parked on the side of the road while we were shooting, we met two other photographers who were out for the evening, and at their suggestion, we all drove on to Thingvellir National Park to enjoy the rest of the show…
The Moon and the Pleiades falling toward the Mid-Atlantic Ridge…
We saw quite a lot of amazing scenery in our five days and four nights in the Icelandverse, and we never left the southerwestern portion of the island. To circle the entire coast and stop at every beautiful location, you’d likely need to put in a solid two weeks, at minimum. And with all of the mountains and ridges and volcanoes and glaciers filling its daunting interior, you could spend many wonderful years there and still never see it all. Were it possible, I’d be content to live in a little hut behind Hotel Anna and spend my days petting the horses and hiking the hills around Eyjafjallajökull.
To watch a panoramic video recorded on this hilltop perch, follow this link to my YouTube channel.
Riding with Carl 