August 2021 – Page 3 – Sherry Felix

Vidgelmir Cave

2021-08-162021-08-11Sherry Felix7 Comments

July 19 was titled landscapes of the ring road in our itinerary. We were booked to tour a lava cave at Vidgelmir Cave at 2:00 PM. The tour was led by a tall British lad. That day we covered 962.9 km (598.3 miles). We had to rush to get to the cave in time and we left out seeing Blonduos birdwatching area, Borarvirki basalt strata and ruins, Hvitserkur Rock Stack, Hvammstangi hot springs before the cave, Reykholt historical sight, and Borg a Myrum church and farm after.

Víðgelmir is a lava tube situated in the Hallmundarhraun lava field (formed around 900 AD) in west Iceland, around 2 km southeast of Fljótstunga farm in Hvítársíða, Borgarfjörður. The roof of the lava tube has collapsed, creating two large openings near its north end which are the only known entrances. Víðgelmir is 1585 m long and the largest part of the cave passage is 15.8 m high and 16.5 m wide, making it by far the largest of its kind in Iceland. The cave has a wide entrance but narrows down in some places. An iron gate was installed at the first constriction in 1991 to preserve those of the delicate lava formations or speleothems which hadn’t already been destroyed. Evidence of human habitation, probably dating to the Viking Age, has been discovered in the cave and is preserved in the National Museum of Iceland. Long stretches of the cave floor are very rough and shouldn’t be navigated without a guide. Access and guided tours are provided at nearby Fljótstunga.

Lava tubes are formed when a low-viscosity lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust which then thickens and forms a roof above the molten lava stream. When the eruption subsides, the still-molten lava moving beneath the crust will continue to drain downhill, leaving an open lava tube.Many other lava tubes have been discovered in Hallmundarhraun, most notably Surtshellir and Stefánshellir. (souce: Víðgelmir – Wikipedia)

At one point the guide asked us to turn off the lights and asked for a minute of silence. A few of the tanagers couldn’t do it for a minute and giggled. Interesting how our brains can still see a non existent shadow of our hands.

I kept seeing round hills with nipples on top. I wonder if that is a natural volcanic feature or did the ancients have an erotic sense of humor and place stones on top of the mounds.

nipple on a hill, Bristopar, Iceland 7/19/2021

Iceland Video Shorts

2021-08-15Sherry Felix11 Comments

Marc took a few videos while we were in Iceland. I published them on my YouTube channel today. I’ll add these to the appropriate posts as well.

Geysir, Iceland by Marc Felix 7/14/2021

Gulfoss, Iceland by Marc Felix 7/14/2021

Seljalandsfoss, Iceland by Marc Felix 7/14/2021

Hofsstadir, Iceland by Marc Felix 7/18/2021

Barnafossar, Iceland by Marc Felix 7/19/2021

Hraunfossar, Iceland by Marc Felix 7/19/2021

Hofsstadir

2021-08-152021-08-15Sherry Felix7 Comments

The highlight of July 18 was the Hoffstadir Country Hotel. I wish we had arrived earlier because our room had a veranda overlooking the most gorgeous scenery and it would have been nice to sit there and soak it in. We have the end room in an outbuilding down the road (see link). We couldn’t find it at first because a tractor was blocking the road and we drove back and forth looking for it. Finally the tractor moved and we saw the road down to the rooms. That was amusing.

The delicious dinner was earlier than usual which was fine with us because we were very tired. There was a lovely little baby wagtail by our dinner table.

Next morning, we walked around the area and scared up some more nesting birds. It really is a gorgeous place, and I would love to go there again. Breakfast was at 8, an hour later than usual, which was inconvenient because we needed an early start. It was a great breakfast buffet though. I like the owners too.

An unusual thing is the bedding for couples in Icelandic Hotels. We each had our own single duvet which isn’t a bad idea. Marc couldn’t complain about me pulling the cover off him.

view from our room with veranda, Hofsstadir Guesthouse, Northwest Iceland 7/18/2021

Hofsstadir, Iceland by Marc Felix 7/18/2021

Holar

2021-08-142021-08-11Sherry Felix8 Comments

At Holar on July 18 we looked at the turf house, the church, and paid to go to the horse museum which was somewhat interesting. I enjoyed this website a lot horsesoficeland.is The tolt gait is very interesting.

I preferred the drive there better than Holar. The café was open, and we had a drink there. About Holar.

Northwest Iceland

2021-08-132021-08-11Sherry Felix8 Comments

July 18, we set out from Akureyri. The GPS point was probably meant as a guide not a destination was in the middle of the Troll peninsula. To get there we took a dirt road that definitely needed the 4×4. Some stretches of road are very steep and required us to use truck mode (auto braking for steep inclines) so that it could handle going down the almost 45 degree incline. Some hair-raising stuff! Believe it or not there were a few houses way off in the distance in the valleys.

We eventually made it to the shore road for more driving along the steep cliffs past Siglufjordur, Hofsos with its hexagonal basalt columns, and Holar (next post). Except for some of challenging driving this was a moreover relaxing day. I did some cliff road driving too.

Black-tailed Godwit flying by (lower right),
Northwest Iceland 7/18/2021

Akureyri

2021-08-122021-08-11Sherry Felix10 Comments

In the evening of July 17 we arrived at Hotel Kia in Akureyri – Wikipedia and ate dinner at the hotel. After dinner we went for a short stroll. It is a nice little town. Our hotel room could be accessed from the street in the right in the first picture.

Husavic

2021-08-112021-08-11Sherry Felix14 Comments

Then we high tailed it off to the Gentle Giants whale and puffin tour at Husavic, Northwest Iceland on July 17. I didn’t get to see puffins up close. The boat didn’t approach close to the island with the puffins. I was told that the currents were too fierce that day. We were supposed to head out to see the whales but the but one of the engine’s broke and we had to turn around and head back to harbor very slowly. I managed to get a few shots of Puffins, a Guillemot, and a Skua. They offered a refund or a later tour. We had no time, so we opted for the refund.

Myvatn Baths

2021-08-102021-08-11Sherry Felix4 Comments

I didn’t take any pictures so the link will have to do for pictures and information about the Myvatn Baths. Marc said he didn’t want to go but when we there I think he secretly enjoyed it. We had our bathing suits and had to take naked showers before we went in. The water was gloriously warm but there was a smell of sulfur which was a little off putting. We floated in an Infinity pool overlooking the valley. Many people had alcoholic drinks while soaking. We didn’t bother buying anything there. I had to cut the baths short so we only spent an hour and a half there.

Mývatn – Wikipedia tells about the area’s lake, volcanism, birds and flora. We had no time to see that because we had tickets to a boat trip in Hussavic (next post).

Sherry Felix – port4u

Artist, Photographer and Computer Tutor/Tech

Month: August 2021

Vidgelmir Cave

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Iceland Video Shorts

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Hofsstadir

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Holar

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Northwest Iceland

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Akureyri

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Husavic

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Myvatn Baths

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