Journey to the Center of the Earth

On our second full day in Iceland, January 29th, we decided to visit Snaefelljokull penninsula. The mountain in the center of the peninsula was the same Mountain that Peter Holmes had written His Story “Journey to the Center of the Earth” about. Folklore has it that when the sun sets, it shines directly into the mouth of the mountain, and you enter at this point in time, you can walk directly to the Center of the Earth. I'm not sure if I'm quite superstitious enough to believe in the story of elves, trolls, and Middle Earth, but I do believe that Iceland has some. And then we Departed for the peninsula.

This finger like appendage of a peninsula actually has a lot to offer people. Even the scenic drive up has a few places worth stopping for pictures, which we took plenty of. The Frozen mountains and Contours of the countryside really make every couple feet worth stopping at. Halfway up, we were at a small stretch of a farming community. We stopped for our first gas fill-up, which ended up being the only gas station my card was actually accepted at over there, and I've been paid 100 Kronur to use the bathroom. One thing I didn't miss about Europe from my first visit is the tax on public bathrooms. Inside the rest house, I talked to a local who gave us a bit of information about the peninsula.

This peninsula was home to a mountain, a glacier, some of the gnarliest Ice Caves you can wander through, a black sand beach, two small little ocean towns, and a couple of other beautiful mountains. We were quickly running out of daylight, as the sun was going to set around 3:35 that day, so we had to maximize our time as much as we could. On the way to snaefellsjokull, we stopped at our first ice cave. Although it was impossible to get into it without getting your boots wet, it still made for an exciting hike and another fun location to say. As Laura had it, a half man and half troll person was exiled from grundarfjordur to this little cave after he started eating livestock. He lived out the rest of his days and his cave, and for many years, the local folk did not dare go towards it for fear of being eaten as well. Although I didn't see this troll person, I did see the moon starting to rise, as well as some beautiful Rock and Ice formations.

In the winter months, the road through the mountain itself is closed to all regular traffic. It's an impassable Road filled with rocks, snow, danger, and despair. We did however, take a couple of cool pictures before departing for our next location. We were thenceforth going to do you pull on Sunder, which is the black sand beach of the North. Since Iceland doesn't have a whole lot of actual sand beaches, there beaches made out of volcanic rock, Ash, and diamonds particles more than make up for it.

When we arrived at Diboll on Sunday, we quickly realized that the sun was setting faster than we would like and that we were running out of time. The black rocks of this beach indicated that there was volcanic activity at one point in time nearby, and because of the rampant tides on the volcanic island, it was also of particular mention that several ships crabs were found washed up on the shore. There were a couple of informational billboards describing the ships and what the sailors were do on the beach for fun, although mostly in Icelandic, and there were also clearly posted warning signs in English telling us not to stray too far to the ocean. Since the weather and Tide pattern can change in an instant For Better or Worse, it is advised you stay well away from the tides, lest you be swept into the very powerful undertale and brought far out to sea. There was a line of white rocks in the sand, and we decided that would be our Crossing line the nature had provided for us.

Me on my way to the mountains.

After this adventure, we drove up the coast line to get to kirkjufellfoss. This Scenic Mountain and waterfall combination is one of the trademarks of grand theft and the northern part of the peninsula. It was getting dark, so we need to low light exposure to have Any chance at snagging photos, so we had to manage this time carefully. We climb the waterfall and snagged a couple of photos, and then drove down into the town. On the descent from the mountain, because I had very poor traction and the icy trail, and I slipped and fell and put two large gashes in my right hand. It took approximately two weeks to heal and scab over. This was also the first time that I found communication breakdown in our journey. At the local convenience store , we encountered our first instance of communication breakdown. I was trying to communicate that I needed bandages, but the store clerk did not know the Icelandic word for bandages. She had to shout to her teenage co-workers at the back of the store, who were in the process of closing up shop, in order to translate to the Icelandic word, hanseplast. I bandaged up my still bleeding hand, and having seen as much as we could for one December day, we packed it in and headed back to our hostel.

At this part of the journey, I learned that it was absolutely crucial to prepare for the slipperiest possible weather on the roads and trails. Although the mesh crampons they sell add convenience stores for tourists are fairly expensive, they could end up being a real lifesaver and the Arctic environment. And all of your Journeys and Iceland, make sure that you have starting walking and hiking boots. And also, make sure you make time for yourselves to make dinner every night. The one fatal flaw of our trip is that we hardly had time to eat. Enjoy your Northern adventure, and next up, we will talk to you about the little Christmas Town Holmavik.