Hornstrandir

Bjarnardalur

One of the many valleys we had to cross. The river Bjarnarfjarðará is fed by the glacier, icy-cold and a "refreshing pleasure" to ford. Walking along the coast meant a constant up and down, a ridge-valley-ridge pattern.

Church In former days there have been small settlements along the coast, which were abandoned after WWII. The chapel of the one in Furufjöður is still standing.	Graves An overgrown cemetery surrounds the chapel. The names suggest that only a handful of persons occupied the place. Some of the old houses are still in use for vacationers.

Beach From our camp in Furufjöður at low tide. This was one of the official sites equipped with a toilet and with a rescue hut.	Shore The view goes along the shore, basaltic rocks sticking out of the water and the Dranga Glacier in the background.

Needle A spectacular basalt rock stands in a small bight after the cape of Drangsnes.	Valley The valley of Barðsvík with the river Barðsvíkurós, which we crossed higher up to avoid the high tide.

The same Valley

The Barðsvík valley from the other side with the pass on the right. The evil-looking weather can only be called "fair", since it didn't rain.

Waterfall The world suddenly ends for the river Drífandisá, and it falls down the cliff.	Cliffs The coast seen from Digranes through cliffs in northwestern direction.

Birds Seagulls dominate the area. At the pool in Reykjafjörður the atmosphere is polluted by attacking arctic terns. No puffins.	Fox Arctic foxes don't give a toss about the presence of humans. I nearly stepped on one.

Flowers In spite of the arctic latitude the land was plastered with flowers.	Lighthouse Látravík is an old lighthouse offering accommodation and also a place for a tent at monopolistic prices.

Basalt A basalt dyke in front of a waterfall in Hornvík Bay.	Hut The rescue hut at Höfn, also located in Hornvík Bay.

View The bay of Hornvík, seen from Miðfell. People camp at Höfn across the bay and make day hikes over the cliffs.	Stone On the beach of Hlöðuvík Bay, the next one to the left from Hornvík, during low tide.

Night

The Hornvík bay from Rekavík at night. Near the Arctic Circle in July photography is a round-the-clock game.

Tank No one knows where this scrap of metal came from, settled in midst the river at Kjaransvík.	Trees A wall of driftwood mainly from Siberia, an important raw material source of the past.

From Pass

A view from Almenningaskarð to the northwest, one of the many passes we had to cross. Only 360 m high, it nonetheless takes an effort with the heavy packs.

Lakes

Þorleifsskarð, the next pass, at almost 400 m, with some very nice lakes down in Þorleifsdalur and the Fljótsvatn further down almost at sea level.

Swamp

The Fljótsvatn from Glúmsstaðir, another official campsite. The Fljótsvatn is surrounded by swamps, the campsite is dry but doesn't really offer a level place for a tent.

Slope The Fljót from Nónfell, a 275 m high step during the ascent to a plateau. Down in the valley are a few summer houses and an airstrip.	Plateau Nearly having reached the almost 500 m high plateau, we step on a large snowfield and have a last look back at Fljót.

Mouth The river Stakkadalsós flows into the bight of Aðalvík. The tide left its marks in the sand.	Clouds Evening on the Stakkadalsós. The weather thinks about what to cook for us, but apart from stronger winds we came off lucky.

Morning

If the weather in the evening looked suspicious, it became threatening on the next morning. Thanks god nothing happened, soon the sun took over.

Destination After crossing a final pass we reach Hesteyri on the Hesteyrarfjörður, where we took a boat back to Ísafjörður after having walked for fourteen days.	Town With 2500 inhabitants, Ísafjörður was raided by the passengers of three big cruise ships when we arrived. There are some nice old wooden houses.

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