After filling our water tank at the campground, we departed early from Hofn - the camp facilities had gotten quite busy with a large tour group. Back on the Ring Road, our day started with a 6 km tunnel under a mountain. We found a nice picnic area on the other side, where we pulled over to make breakfast and coffee while enjoying a stellar view of the Vestrahorn mountain.
Much of the morning was spent winding along the gorgeous and undulating fjords of eastern Iceland, often climbing along sheer ocean cliffs as well, though at times the fog made it hard to tell. There were also times when we could see the open ocean, or so we thought, only for the fog to reveal just mountain tops "floating" on the other side of the water.....in what turned out to be the other side of a fjord.
After a quick washroom break in Djupivogur, we continued to follow the fjords until the Ring Road turned inland at Faskrudsfjordur, and through another 6 km mountain tunnel before emerging on the other side to descend a long valley in Egilsstadir. We also saw our first police (Logreglan) car of the trip, though they do apparently also make efficient use of speed cameras in place of people.
We grabbed lunch at the N1 (yes, hot dogs again), and a few groceries at the Netto next door. Then we set off to the southwest along the Lagarfljot lake before crossing a causeway and beginning another long hike UP (of course) to two different waterfalls.
It was another three-hour tour (round trip), and Jane was utterly convinced that I was trying to kill her with my rough itinerary. We also met a very nice Dutch couple (Kothar and Janni) living in France, who had taken the ferry from Denmark with their camper van and were just finishing up six weeks of travelling in Iceland.
After the long walk back to the van, we returned to Egilsstadir before taking Road 93 up and over another mountain, culminating in some merciful switchbacks down the other side and into the quaint little town of Seydisfjordur. With high fjord walls all around on three sides, the ferry from Denmark docks here at the only open side.
After walking the town, we opted for a nice dinner at El Grillo - it's very expensive to dine out in Iceland, but it seemed like a good night to treat ourselves before returning to the van for the night. It was a cool night, and we actually ran the diesel heater for a while to take the edge off.
We were also favoured with a nice Northern Light show in the starry skies - in spite of most nights having a strong Aurora, cloud cover had prevented us from seeing anything thus far.
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