Today was a transition day. We left the north to go to the Westfjords, but stopped for a night sort of in the middle, right before the entrance to the Westfjords. We also were very aware of the current and near future lack of options for charging our car. We ended up stopping to charge our car three separate times today in order to best set ourselves up for having the most charge in an area where charging would be very difficult.
We started the day, having packed the car and now finishing some last minute cleaning in the house, by finding Ezra and Naomi jamming in the car to 100 Gecs tunes, haha.
Pretty early in the drive, we past Saudanesviti. This orange lighthouse is pretty typical of Icelandic lighthouses (they are nearly all orange.) We hadn’t gotten too close to many and the scenery on the fjord was beautiful so we pulled over to investigate for a minute.
We then stopped, as planned, to see Grafarkirkja. This is the oldest of the 6 still remaining turf churches in Iceland. It is believed to be built around 1680 with repairs done throughout the time since. At that time, the churches of Iceland were likely all turf churches, but very few of those still remain. It was cool to see and we got some good photos through the window as the church was locked. It was interesting to me to see how very thick the turf covering was as well!
Our final two stops, before getting to the converted farmhouse in which we were staying for the evening, were on the next fjord over, known for its seal population (stops were Hvitserkur and Illugastadir). Beyond the foggy drives to them, each provided a good opportunity for some short hiking, the second provided some birds nesting very close to us, and again, both gave us the opportunity to see seals in the water and resting on rocky outcroppings in the water. We had fun at the first one watching a pup playing like mad while all the other seals rested fairly motionless, haha.
We finally got to our room at the converted-barn guesthouse. It was pretty late, but it was cool to see the sheep and horses all around. I had to go out to charge the car pretty late and there were a bunch of horses standing quite still, staring at my car (horse mafia?!?). Just sayin! Tomorrow we head to the Westfjords!
See you on the next mountain!
July 18, 2025 – Total Steps 10,190 (Mostly Flat)
