Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.10.2015, Page 25

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7. Dagverðarnes
By the time you reach the sign to
Dagverðarnes, you will have no doubt
noticed the geography has started
getting interesting again. You pass
through an Icelandic forest that’s actu-
ally pretty big, with trees way too close
together, as is the Traditional Icelandic
Way. There’s also a cool grave/memo-
rial thing near Vogur.
Mountains! They’re back! Okay, turn
down the dirt track to Dagverðarnes.
Our Mini seriously struggled with this
road, with massive jagged rocks ready
to tear the bottom of your car right off.
We are irresponsible, so we carried on.
Boy, was it worth it.
The long dirt track will take you
down to a pretty spectacular archi-
pelago of little islands and lakes. It’s
worth taking slow, as it’s actually a very
unique area geographically. Stop and
have a sandwich and look at the distant
mountains and the birds or something.
Neither me nor Art, the photographer,
are particularly superstitious, but we
felt a very strange change in energy in
this area, No joke. It’s pretty magical.
At the end of the road, there’s an
old church and a house. I don’t know if
anyone lives at the house. There wasn’t
anyone there when we were there. Be
respectful and leave stuff alone any-
way. You can’t enter the church alone
as there is a massive circular boulder
blocking the door (why are people al-
ways locking Jesus in with big circular
boulders? who left the boulder there?),
but the area is worth wandering around.
There’s sheep shit, small beaches, a
graveyard, and some mysterious tracks.
There are strange things afoot in
Dagverðarnes. Don’t disturb the magical
peace, really. Forces much bigger than you
are at work here.
8. Rock hole—picnic!
Once you’re back on the main road,
head west to a passage through the
rocks. It’s a bit like that lame Pod Race
valley in Star Wars Episode I, but small-
er. There’s a picnic table here. Have a
picnic and look out at the place you just
left. Walk through the rock hole and
feel the wind on your skin.
We turned around here for time
purposes, but you can also carry on
through the rock hole and travel around
the rest of the peninsula.
Who put the road through the rocks?
How did it get here before we had an app
to do it? Some say an ice giant snorted
a line of rocks, which in ice giant land is
sort of like crack. Is the crack the one you
snort? I wouldn’t know. Either way, there’s
been a road through the rocks ever since.
9. Laugar,
Sælingsdalur valley—swim!
Laugar is said to be the home of the
lady of the tracts of land, and up on the
hill is her ORIGINAL POOL! It’s a really
good pool—it’s free to use, relatively
natural, and looks cool as well. There
are a number of great hiking routes
into the mountains from this spot. If
you have time, go for a hike, then have
a swim. There’s also a campsite here if
you want to camp.
The valley here is the setting of
many Sagas, in particular 'Laxdæla
saga', one of the only Sagas to feature a
woman as the main character—Guðrún
Ósvífursdóttir.
If you look out from the hill by Laugar,
you can just about envision all that medi-
eval high school drama taking place here.
Well, it’s true. It did.
10. Stop for
ice cream again. Why not?
At this point, we started heading back
to Reykjavík. But that doesn’t mean you
have to! You can carry on north from
here up to the Westfjords, or you can
head down to Snæfellsnes. You can go
your own way!
On the way back, stop for ice cream
again at Erpsstaðir. They might look
at you weird. “Why are you back here
again so soon?” they will ask. “Trust
me, I know what I’m doing,” you will say.
If you still have some time left once
you get back to the area around Bifröst,
go and check out Háafell goat centre
and Deildartunguhver (a geothermal
river). Play with some goats. Buy some
goat soap. Eat some fresh local toma-
toes at the river and look at some mist.
It’s all here! What a fun day!
Distance to Egilsstaðir
146 km
25The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 16 — 2015 TRAVEL
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