Rain in the Grass

A rainy day in Iceland's Westfjords.

This did not keep me from taking photos, though.


 

At Látrabjarg

Látrabjarg in the Westfjords is a grand bird paradies. The cliffs are mulitple kilometers long and really tall. We visited the tip of it in strong wind, summer 2009.

Here is a series of pictures from there. 

don't get blown off! ...

...because it is THIS high!

Look at the person on top of the cliff above for a judgement of scale!

cliff side housing for a seagull

It is really hard to believe that they can cling onto that rock face, even in the adverse winds and storms. And they sit, they nest, they sleep, they raise their young ones.

and another one

 The white stuff on the rock is bird droppings. You can see where everyone lives very easily.

joint apparment for the bird families

flying by the nesting sites

Puffins are just cute

In the summer of 2009 we drove through the Westfjords. We drove the whole way to Látrabjarg. Unfortunately for us it was an incredibly windy day and we had to fight pretty hard to be safe out there. 

This puffin is squatted down hard onto the rock to hold on.

We did not see many puffins in the air that day, because the weather was just too rough.

The classic puffin photo (without fish) I can add in as well, though.

The weirdest tunnel of them all

The weirdest tunnel I have ever been in we came through on our way through the Westfjords when leaving Ísafjördur.

The tunnel started out as you expect a tunnel to behave. Then all of a sudden, the tunnel split into two directions. You just don't think, that roads underground, under a tall mountain would ever do that.

Well, the building of the tunnel was so much work in that hard rock that for the most part of it, it was a one lane drive. We were the unfortunate side: We had to get out of the way every time someone came the other direction. And that happend a lot, for whatever reason.

You don't believe this tunnel exists? Check it out on the map!

Here is a photo of our drive and you can see a truck coming up to us. 

We found out it is really hard to judge how close a vehicle is and how fast it is coming if you have no real reference point and no guage.

Please excuse the lack in photo quality. I was more focused on not getting hit by a truck and not losing my tunnel vision. I didn't want to keep the story from you, though.

We were there in the summer of 2009.

Driftwood Horse

This horse made of driftwood is placed in a lonely bay in the Westfjords of Iceland.

Waterfall in the wild

A rough and unrulely waterfall in the Westfjords. This is just the very top of the fall.

Foxie

We camped in the exact same spot out in the wild parts of Iceland as we did two years earlier. I mean the exact same spot. And our personal fox companion showed up to say hi to us a few times during that stay. 

There is something really special and calm about these foxes and the way they are entirely free of shyness towards people. They come closer than your neighbor's cat at home. Yet they are wild animals.

This one we named Foxie the first time we met her. We were happy to meet up with her this time.

Hornstrandir Panorama

This panorama was taken from the pebble beach of Rekavik in Hornstrandir, looking over towards Hornbjarg. Two photos, joined in photoshop.

view in large, please!

This one will be good in full size, check it out.

The Fisherman

This Icelandic fisherman is the museum warden in the fishing museum between Ísafjördur and Bolungarvík in the Icelandic Westfjords. He walks around the museum, wearing traditional the outfit and telling the stories of the fishermen of the Westfjords and the vilages around. I have only ever heard him speak Icelandic, but once our very kind taxi driver was being the interpreter for us and once a German group of adults was traveling around the area and happend to be at the museum at the same time. They had an Icelandic woman translate for them so we got to hear the strories. I loved his tales and facts of the old days - but was very embaraced of my fellow Germans. I pretended not to be on the same plantet with them.

If you care for the stories - of the guide and the Germans - I will tell them to you, but please be prepared that part of it is embaracing.

The fisherman, though, definitely is cool and a nice guy.

Rocks in the Fog

Rocks in the Westfjords of Iceland. Summer 2011.

The cold fog cover had lifted a little that day - yes, it had lifted. For a while it was resting on waterlevel. Now you can see some part - and almost the top - of Hornbjarg.

Down in the bay

This may look like a field of grass, but really it is one big swamp and grassland area that is deep and wet and uneaven. The fields are full of birds and there probably are tons of fish in the water.

Hiking in Hornstrandir

I have said before that hiking in the Westfjords - especially in Hornstrandir - is more and differnet than you expect and think. Here is a piece of one of the hiking pathes. Two other people had to climb that muddy and steep incline so I got to have my hands free for a photo.

Medows of intense green

In Hornvík the back of the bay is covered in lush greens and swampy water medows that are occupied by various waterbirds, such as swans and ducks but especially all kinds of sea gulls, skuas, arctic terns and such.

These meadows rise into steep and rough mountain edges that form the back rim of the bay. Waterfalls and rivers crash down these hills in all shapes.

Passing around or through this part of the valley is not easy for us, because you constantly would end up in swamps, have to cross rivers, climb rock sides, wade through water. But we really also do not have any business back there. We stayed on the kinds of pathes back there - which were hard enough - to not disturb wildlife.

Don't be mistaken: It may look like a field of grass, but it is more like one big pond.

Here is the path to the large waterfall on the right hand side of the bay. This one is relatively easy to get to.

rain rain rain

I am sick of the rain driving down infront of my window and driving me nuts. Where did summer go? Or, why did it never show up?

These photos are from the Westfjords of Iceland in summer of 2011. We were spending 3 days in a lonely fjord without any sunshine and pretty constant percipitation. That did not keep us from taking photos, though.

On Hornbjarg

Standing on top of Hornbjarg in Hornvík, Icelandic Westfjords, you can overlook all of the Hornvík bay and the jagged cliff edge forming the eastern border of the ridge.

Looking to the north you can only see the polar circle.

If this place was easier or quicker to reach or easier to stay at, it might be crowded. But getting there across the Greenland sea by boat and camping out in the wild with no facilities does not make this a tourist place.

Please take our recommendation seriously: Do not attempt Hornstrandir or Hornvík without propper equipment and preparation. This is not a vacation park but wildernis and you have to be 100 % self reliant to be able to stay out there. The next person - litterally and really - can be miles away and days. 

Wilderness camping and hiking surely is not for everyone but I hear the wow and awesome comments about our Hornstrandir photos all the time. That does not mean that there is no risk - well, there also is fun, if you know what you are doing.

Look at all the birds flying off those cliffs. There are thousands and there is constant motion and screaming!

The cliff edge looks like razor blades and falls straight and deep down towards no beach section or anything but drops right into the ocean and into nothing.

These birds are nicely safe on those cracks and ledges. People don't disturb them, foxes don't get all that far and there is safety in numbers a lot.

By the way: yes, these colors pop out a lot. But the sky really WAS that blue that one day. There is near to no pollution out there and the weather was splendid. And there is such an abundance of buttercups - I was posting photos of them earlier, I know - that the green grass turns saturated yellow and lush vegitation. These colors are real, that is what I want to tell you.

Hornvík

Hornvík, Westfjords of Iceland.

ship wrecked in Iceland

This wreck we came by on the way to Latrabjarg in the Westfjords. The map location is an estimate, since I did not record the exact spot.

Long Way around the Fjord in Isafjördur

In summer of 2008 we came to Isafjördur in the Icelandic Westfjords for the first time. We were lingering in the airport after landing and were checking on our bags, reconsolidating the backpacks and adjusting to differnet - nice - weather. To sum it up: It took us a bit to get out of the building. 

We were looking around for the bus stop. Well, there was no bus line. There is a fly bus service that is fabulous and always there. It is, right after the flight gets there. We missed it. So we walked all the way to the town. Mean thing: The town is right across the water, as you have seen in a bunch of my other Isafjördur postings. But there is a fjord inbetween. We were conscious of the distance. But it was managable.

On all following trips to Isafjördur we made sure to catch the bus and were always fine with it.

For a photo from midair (taken from a plane) take a look here: http://trans-pond.blogspot.de/2011/07/isafjordur.html
The airport is on the right, the town on the left. The penisula is the harbour area.

me hiking around the fjord

Isafjördur - local museum 5

Yes, there is more from the local history museum in Ísafjördur, Iceland.

Fishing is the main industry in the Westfjords, but there is more.

Guillemot eggs - They are being collected for consumption. People climb into the cliffs in the fjords to collect a small number of eggs from the nests. The birds instantly replace these eggs so the populations are not endangered.

Lummen Eier - Diese Eier werden für den Verzehr gesammelt. Menschen klettern in den Fjorden hoch in die Klippen hinein und nehmen eine kleine Zahl Eier aus manchen der Nester. Die Vögel ersetzen die Eier sofort wieder, sodass die Population nicht dezimiert wird.

Seal skin trunk and seal skin hanging on the wall. This is a historic exhibit. These items are not made anymore.

Seehundsfell-Koffer und Seehundsfell an der Wand. Diese Ausstellungsstücke sind historisch. Solche Gegenstände werden nicht mehr angefertigt.

O. Mustad & Sön - fishhook-manufacturers - Estabilshed 1832 - Oslo - Norway

This display of hooks looks just so nice and normal.

Isafjördur - local museum 4

There of course are even more photos of the local museum of Ísafjördur, Westfjords, Iceland. Here is another collection.

Natürlich habe ich noch viel mehr Bilder aus dem Lokalmuseum Ísafjördur, Westfjorde, Island. Hier ist noch eine Sammlung.

Painting stencil for fish barrels. The fishermen used tar to lable the pickled hering barrels as you can see in the next photo.

Schreibschablone für Fischfässer. Die Fischer benutzten diese Schablonen, um die Fässer eingelegten Herings zu beschriften, wie man auf dem nächsten Foto sieht.