Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.08.2018, Qupperneq 52

52 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 15— 2018
After a visit to Ólafsvík, a sleepy vil-
lage nestled in between the sea and the
northern foot of Snæfellsjökull glacier,
we hit the road southwards with the
aim of following the mighty glacier to-
wards the other side of the Snæfellsnes
peninsula.
Route 570 starts out steep, as if to
scare off any people who might want
to conquer the road without a four-
wheel-drive. After only a few minutes,
several magnificent waterfalls come
into view. The route seems to want to
impress from the get-go and it defi-
nitely succeeds, even as we are sur-
rounded by the falling rain.
Into the clouds
As we continue our journey, I’m re-
minded of C.S. Lewis’ quote “This is
the land I have been looking for all my
life, though I never knew it till now…
Come further up, come further in.”
Indeed, it feels like we’re continu-
ously driving further up, ascending
the mountain and subsequently fur-
ther into a thick blanket of clouds. The
scenery changes slowly but surely from
lush beds of moss to rough stones as
the clouds absorb the last dappled sun-
light.
Suddenly, we can’t see anything
and slow down, driving at a walking
pace in an effort to avoid the potholes
in front of us. There are only few cars
crossing our path and all of them seem
to have chosen to drive the opposite
way. I’m glad to have brought my knit-
ting, as it distracts from the seemingly
endless fog around us and simultane-
ously keeps my knees warm.
Yet, when I think we will never be
able to see any stone again, the fog
suddenly gives away to two massive
walls of snow and ice around us: With-
out noticing, we’ve driven right into
the foothills of the glacier.
Icey fairy tale
I’m impressed at how gigantic the
eternal ice around us is and can’t help
but marvel at the frozen mass. It feels
almost unnatural to see steep walls
of snow right and left, in such stark
contrast to the almost black road. The
mist still hovering above further rein-
forces the impression of being caught
in some sort of dream or fairytale, and
I half expect a troll to dart across the
road at any minute.
Back to civilization
As we descending southwards, we stop
at the Sönghellir cave next to the road.
The song cave gets its name from the
echo it produces, but I resist testing
the cave’s quality myself. A legend says
that a settler—a half giant—and his
family used to live here. He’s now sup-
posedly guarding the area.
As we finally reappear out from the
clouds, I’m amazed by the view of the
sea shore below. The sparkling water
glitters a most wonderful shade of
turquoise. The vastness of the ocean
is further emphasized by the contrast
to the almost claustrophobic feeling
when previously driving through the
walls of snow. I exhale as I look at the
movement of the waves. Pure peace-
fulness.
Distance from
Reykjavík:
200 km
Car provided by:
Go Car Rental
gocarrental.is
How to get there:
Drive Route One
North, then take
54, 574 and then
F570
Further Up
And Further In
A Journey Through Misty Mountains, Eternal Ice and Singing Caves
Words: Noemi Ehrat Photos: Art Bicnick
Seems like somebody engraved their favourite song lyrics into the song cave