Monday July 26th I negotiated an appointment with Mercedes-Benz for Tuesday morning at 8:00 am for the overhaul of the truck. Then I would go downtown to visit the old town. Unfortunately I was never able to put the parking payment terminal in English, it insisted on staying in Icelandic despite the help of several locals. As a result I abandoned my truck without paying for the parking lot, to be continued later. Two hours later it was still in the same place. I had lunch at the Landromat kafe of a burger, blah; before leaving I booked two nights at the Reykjavik Campsite which is equipped with washing machines and dryers. I was settling in the afternoon at the campsite.
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Tuesday July 27 my vehicle was picked up at 08:00 by Mercedes-Benz then returned to me around 11:00. Before going to take a look at the old port and the Harpa concert hall, I stopped at the Bonus to buy some food. At the start of the afternoon I would go to the Laundromat for my laundry, while I was preparing the website update. Yes, traveling is also taking care of the stewardship ...
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Wednesday July 8th I left Reykjavik to visit West Iceland. The day was lightly overcast without rain but cold. My first stop was Glymur the highest waterfall in Iceland at 196 meters. Reading the informative sign left me puzzled as to my ability to do the hike with a river crossing on a tree! (My balance is precarious, even with my trekking sticks) After reflection, all ashamed, I decided to give up this visit (The wise man knows his limits). Before leaving the Reykjavik Campsite I was photographing a group of tour operator Overland Travel trucks whose escort truck is a military MAN! (A hammer to crush a fly). Around noon I choose a parking lot by the water.
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Thursday July 29th the temperature climbed to 14 ° C, then the sky became cloudy when the wind eased. I made two beautiful visits. First, climbing the stairs of the two Grabrok volcanoes to reach the top of the cone. The climb was trying, the photo-shoot was the pretext to catch my breath and rest my joints. However, the descent was an ordeal. The mountain bike teenager seen at the top got down to the bottom. Then a few kilometers further was the waterfall of Glanni Paradise. I didn’t stop Deildartunguhver Hot Spring, too many tourists. I found a bivouac a few kilometers before Reykholt by the water, as usual.
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| Descent of the Grabrok stairs by a mountain bike teenager |
Friday July 30 was another beautiful day. Two visits, the first to the spectacular Haunfossar waterfall with water coming out of the rocks. Then it was my first lava tunnel, here in Vidgelmir is the widest and 1.5 km long in Iceland and is 1100 years old. The visit lasts about 90 minutes with steep stairs to go down & up and back. I continued my journey until Surtshellir another lava tube in free access but impractical. I retraced my steps to bivouac at the water's edge at Nordlingafljot. The temperature climbed to 18°C.
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| Reykholt |
Saturday July 31st the weather was overcast with a temperature of 16°C. From Surtshellir I traveled the road 550 in the extraordinary valley of Kaddidalur which slaloms along the glaciers and in particular the Langjökull where I went to see the damage of global warming which is so much question, wrongly and through, by scientists and environmentalists who call themselves all names of birds. Along the trail as it approaches the Tongue of the Glacier front there are signs indicating where it has been since 1940. Alas I could not calculate the distance despite all my technology! Global warming is true. Since the origin of the earth there have been periods of warming alternating with periods of glaciation. During the period known as the Anthropocene, dating from the appearance of the steam engine, human activity contributes to global warming. The problem is to define the share of its responsibility, a vast question. Shortly before Þingvellir National Park I stopped to bivouac at the edge of Brunna pond.
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| Kaddidalur Valley |
Sunday August 1, the weather was gloomy with a temperature of 15°C. My goal was to visit Þingvellir National Park. At 9:00 a.m. a light rain fell while I was in the P1 car park, paying 750KR, or around 5 € valid for all car parks from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. Þingvellir is a historic place for Icelanders. In 930 AD the first AlÞingi parliament was proclaimed in this magical place by the presence of a long and wide fissure due to the meeting of the two tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia. The park is listed as a World Heritage Site. At the foot of the fissure wall is Þingvallakirkja, the church, and Þingvallabaer, the summer residence of the Icelandic prime minister. I bivouacked on route 36 instead of Bildsfell.
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| Þingvallakirkja & Þingvallabær |
