My wife wasn’t feeling well today. Apparently, all of the time out in the cold and rain has taken its toll on her. We managed to make it downstairs for breakfast, but then she needed to go back to the room and rest. So, even though we finally managed to get up early today, we still ended up getting a late start. It also meant that she didn’t feel like driving. So, I took the wheel, while she slept in the car.
It was pouring down raining today, and the forecast showed that it was going to stay that way all day. So, I decided to head to Snæfellsnes Peninsula. We had originally planned to go south, mostly for my wife, but since she wasn’t feeling it, I didn’t want her to miss it. So, we headed northwest instead.
Snæfellsnes Peninsula is a pretty desolate place with flat grasslands interspersed with occasional clusters of craggy rocks. And all of this is framed by Snæfellsjökull mountain and its surrounding pyroclastic cones. Snæfellsjökull is a 700,000-year-old glacier-capped stratovolcano. It was made famous by the Jules Verne novel Journey to the Center of the Earth in which an exploration team finds an entrance to the center of the Earth on Snæfellsjökull. While we could see the foothills, we really couldn’t see the top of the mountain due to the low cloud cover.
Our first stop was Ytri Tunga beach, which is supposed to be an area filled with a dense sea lion population. I say supposed to be, because it was pretty barren of life, except for the horde of tourists traipsing across the sand and rocks, hoping to catch a picture of a seal. We did manage to spot one harbor seal and one gray seal lazing on a rock, but I guess it was a bit cold and windy for any others to enjoy being out today. But it wasn’t a wasted trip as we enjoyed climbing on the rocks and exposed kelp beds along the shoreline anyway.
After that, we raced to Arnarstapi, trying to beat the quickly fading sunlight (I use this term loosely, because it was so overcast and bleak that we hadn’t seen the sun all day). Our destination was Gatklettur, or the “Hellnar Arch,” which is a basalt stone arch approximately 500-1000 years old, being slowly carved out by the constant ocean waves. The name "Gatklettur" basically means "rock with a hole" in Icelandic. The arch stands as a testament to the slow, constant work of nature over centuries.
Having no interest in braving the wind and rain again, my wife and son stayed in the car while I went it alone. In hindsight, perhaps they made the wiser choice. The wind on the cliffs was like trying to walk through a hurricane. I was literally being pushed backwards along the path. It reminded me of the wind on the Cliffs of Mohr in Ireland. Leaning so that I was almost horizontal, I finally made it up the trail only to find…nothing. I was on the cliffs, but I had no idea where the arch was! There were no signs, and trails headed off in several different directions. So, on instinct, I decided to head left along the cliffs, at least hoping to get a better vantage point to figure out where I needed to go. I lucked out as Gatklettur was right around the next bend. As I stood there admiring it, and trying to snap a photo, the wind constantly pelted my face with icy water. I could taste the salt on my lips, and my fingers were starting to freeze. What little light there was was also fading quickly. I finally surrendered and ran back to the car, not so much out of choice but because the wind was shoving me away.
The drive back to Reykjavik was brutal, as the wind and rain assaulted us the entire way back. On top of that, everyone else fell asleep, so I was left to fend for myself. Exhausted and starving, I had a yearning for fish and chips. On a tip from the lady at the hotel desk, we headed to the Pósthús Food Hall and Bar, which is basically like a food court. We found fish and chips at Finsen. It was magnificent. The fish were huge and tasty, and the accompanying mustard tartar sauce was also delicious. Stuffed and happy, I settled down to get warm and enjoy a movie.
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