Iceland Day 6: Long Hikes in the Sand, Puffins (or not), and Just Another Glacier

The next morning started with pastries, the most delicious strawberries, and of course Pepsi Max.  When I fall of the wagon, I fall with style and start my soda drinking early.  I appreciate that even on a morning when our day's agenda was hazy, Cory had us get up and get going.  Once I am up (and I've had a Pepsi Max), I am motivated, but the waking up part is a challenge especially on these nights when we went to bed around 2am.

We knew we wanted to walk the Black Sand Beach approaching Vestrahorn.  The group was excited to get views of Vestrahorn mirrored on the ocean water and black sand.  We were not sure what kind of views to expect as it is very often socked in.  To be honest, I figured it was just a long walk on the beach--not much new for me--but I was plenty happy to cruise along.  

I did not expect it to be one of my favorite activities of the trip.  It was isolated, unique, and lovely.

We even got to whale watch!

When I bought clothes for this trip, I kept in mind Shireen's advice from years ago: wear black.  I just want to point out that Shireen has the BEST colors in her wardrobe.  The red coat, the white jacket, the maroon leggings.  

As we approached Vestrahorn, the mountain cleared out and the views striking views on the salty black sand reflected perfectly!  

We continued along, wishing for more time in the day (and snacks) to do serious hiking on the ridge.  We came to an abandoned church and house pushed up against the rocky cliffs.

What an alluring place to worship.

We appreciate the need to rope down the roof after our Mars hike.

Commitment to his craft.

We parted ways--Brady and I to get the car and the group to stop in at a movie set Viking Village.  

As we walked back, we had the following text conversation:

B/K: A whole colony of puffins!

Group: Where?

B/K: Just past the dead whale.  Your zoom camera would be epic.

Group: Dang.  Should we run over there or will we miss it?

Minutes later...

B/K: We are second guessing the puffin claim...

Lots of black and white birds with bright orange beaks but the beaks are too pointy.

It was pretty anti-climatic. Turns out this is the only puffin we saw that day:

A quick stop at the cafe to warm up:

Then off on a several-hours drive.  We had our sites set on the curry soup at Café Vatnajökull.  Run by a couple and so charming.

The best part of this group is we never stopped finding reasons to laugh and things to discuss.

Rachel Murray traveled to Iceland a month before us, and I reached out to her for tips.  She examined our itinerary and added a few stops, including this cute church in Horn.  After this stop, the group trusted every recommendation from Rachel.

If I wasn't going to be cremated, I would not mind being buried here.  It's interesting that the graves are mounds.

We stopped at the Fjallsarlon Iceberg Lagoon.  It was nice to see the glacier without all the tour groups, although the water was cloudy. 

We pulled into Vatnajökull National Park, leaving behind our isolation and joining the masses yet again.  Google Maps led us to a parking lot where we waited on a guy who was stuck.  The boys graciously hopped out to help push, learning the man had his parking break on.  It was a classic moment.

We had very little time to find a hike and make our dinner reservations, but enough time to take pictures of cars.

I was anxious to get a few miles in with all the driving and sitting, and used my rude card to suggest Brady and I cook it on a longer hike to see a few more waterfalls along the way.  I was thrilled that my hip was finally letting me jog a little after long months of pain.  We bolted along, passing relatively few people for how many cars were in the parking lot.  At one point, I tripped on a rock and went down hard, sliding a few inches.  My first thought was, "Did I rip my Lulus?"  My second was, "That hurt a lot."  Brady checked on me for exactly 5 seconds and then continued running.  It was the least sensitive I've ever seen him, and he meant business about not making our friends wait if I was going to insist on extra hikes.  It was both fair and hilarious.  To my credit, I acknowledged that as I ran down the trail bleeding.

We missed the restaurant we hoped to get into, and ended up eating at the pub.  Cory and Shireen had plenty of gluten free options in Iceland, but definitely not at the pub, where they both left hungry.  It was not a big win.

The hotel, on the other hand...it was a win.

Brett taught me how to play pool while we all fretted over the weather advisories for the next day: gale-force winds and driving rain.  You don't ignore weather reports in Iceland.  

Quotes: 

Brett: "Which way to the shire?"

Shireen: "The waterfall looks more brown today.  Or is it just the window?"

Brett: "You missed a spot." (window cleaning)

Brett's t-shirt: Your Wife (typical girl clipart), My Wife (rugged biker)

There were so many more, but I died off in my note-taking.