Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Eastfjords and mountain pass - June 30,2011

We started our day with the Almannaskard tunnel.  It was neat in that we could see the rock walls instead of concrete.  The kids thought it was a long time to hold our breath though (1.3 km long).


Today's drive for the first part was along the east coast.  We made a few stops along the way to play on the rocks and watch the waves.  The coast was beautiful.





We found a place that had lots of "zeolites".  We found out that zeolites are formed by the water boiling in the crevices and then the minerals that dissolved form crystals in the cracks.  It turns out that 1/3 of the 50 known zeolites are found in East Iceland.  Below are a few that we found. :)


We stoped at the giant kettles that had formed a wonderful waterfall. 


We had a picnic lunch beside the kettle falls.  The kids are posing for the camera and just being their usual goofball selves. :)

After our lunch we headed for the Oxi pass - a shortcut during the summer time and what a shortcut it was.  We drove over the mountain this time and saw many waterfalls.



Wayne thought he would refresh himself in a glacier fed stream - Brrrr was it cold!  Sam of course didn't believe him and had to try herself.


Along our mountain ride we saw more waterfalls and this cool sheep with the curly horns (had to stop and take a picture for Sam).  Wayne (below on the right) enjoying the peace of the thundering waterfalls while the kids and I went looking for a geocache.




We finally made it over the pass to the other side and had one more stop to make before the hotel.  It was a 5km round trip hike to see the third largest falls in Iceland - Hengifoss (118 m high).  On our hike we saw many rapids and Litlanefoss.  Litlanefoss was similar to Svartifoss with the basalt columns.


What a view from our resting spot.


Litlanesfoss


We finally made it to Hengifoss.  The sound was LOUD.  We all thought it was pretty amazing!
The hike back was way faster and we spent the night at a wonderful hotel.  Today was another busy day and it turned out to be the day of waterfalls.