From our hotel in Vic we ventured even farther along the coast today. We started at the black sand beach in Vic and made some fun photos out toward the sea stacks. Legend has it that three elves were ship wrecked trying to land there and when the sun came up they were frozen for eternity as rocks in the ocean. I didn’t know elves didn’t like sunlight, so I learned something.
We went to a wonderful canyon that has been carved by water from glaciers for the last two million years. The climb to the end of Fjaðrárgljúfur is only a little easier than trying to pronounce it, but it is worth the effort. There are a few waterfalls that aren’t accessible, but the beauty is the deep canyon and lush green walls.
Another of my favorite places is off the beaten track. It is a tongue of the Vatnajokull Glacier, Europe’s largest glacier. Over 11 percent of Iceland is covered by glaciers and they are beautiful. At our little remote spot you can see the glacier coming down from the top of the mountain and it has created a small lagoon at the bottom. The glacier is a lovely green and it is hard to get a feel for the actual size.
After I drove the van back out of the rocky dirt path, we got back on Highway 1 and headed to one the coolest places in Iceland: Diamond Beach. A nearby glacial lagoon fills with sea water and chunks of glacier float into the ocean and up on the black sand beach. When the sunlight hits the ice they can look like diamonds. We weren’t lucky enough today to have sunlight but it is fun to shoot the ice strewn beach.
Between out hotel in Vic and Diamond Beach is a large rock outcropping, I don’t know if it has a name but it makes for some tremendous pictures. I love getting low with an extreme wide angle lens, putting some rocks and water in the foreground and shooting up at the mountain. It made for a nice reflection.
