We set out on day seven with a plan, and we more or less kept to it. We drove around the southern point of the little lake we were staying just off of and got to see some of Iceland's most forested area. Deforestation has been a huge problem in Iceland, and this particular area of Iceland near Fljotsdalsherad has been deemed one area that should be relatively easy to reforest... hence there are lots of patches of new forest. We couldn't get over how closely together they packed the trees!
Next we stopped by a visitor centre where we learned about some of the wildlife in Iceland. Essentially all animals (except for the foxes) were brought to Iceland, but the breeding lines have stayed so pure that they have become very distinct breeds (take for example, the Icelandic horse that has 5 gaits). From there we popped over to the "mansion" pictured above. This building was built by the writer Gunnar Gunnarsson in 1939 and this type of stone building style was a rare thing at that time. I love how it still has a sod roof though. It wasn't open yet, but we came back again later and enjoyed a slice of cake along with some traditional Icelandic pastries. The cake was the fluffiest cheese cake I've ever had in my life... it was so good!
Next was our hike for the day. We had plotted out two possible hikes - this one and one that would take us part way up a mountain, but seeing how I seemed to tire much more easily than usual and couldn't go for long without access to a washroom, we opted for this shorter one up to a few of the cascades.
Josh at the first break point. Behind him you can see the lake.
I find it amusing that Josh was hiking in a sweat shirt, while I still had my winter coat, hat and gloves on.
Does this fall look familiar? It was featured in the newer batman movies. It was really cool to see all the basalt columns and imagine how the lava would have flowed to form this.
Further up there was still snow and ice all around this upper cascade. We hiked a good ways toward the base of this falls, and were surprised to realize how much rock and gravel had recently erroded cause you could see the ice and snow underneath it all. There were certainly moments when you realized that the only thing that separated us from the river water below our feet was icy/snow and the rocks that had come down on top of it. We also learned here that the bright orange/red layers you can see in the rocks are formed by a thin layer of growth on an older lava flow burning as it is covered by a new flow of lava.
After our hike and cake we headed to the northern shore to do some puffin watching. Along the drive we got to pass through the mountains again, and this time we got to appreciate the view as we followed the switchbacks up and down the mountains.
As for the puffin watching... I've never been a bird watcher, but it was so awesome to watch these funny looking birds waddle around and jump into flight. I imagine if a penguin could fly it would likely fly in a similar fashion to a puffin.... which includes a lot of frantic flapping.
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