Travel

Day 7 was largely heading back to Reykjavik, picking up geocaches along the way, and doing a food and drink walk tour to become familiar with the town (and eat something different than skyr and granola). Urriðafoss was the first stop, and barely registers a paragraph in my tourist guide, but was a nice quick stop. Its name means “waterfall of the salmon,” and it’s located in the river þjórsá. According to the local description, its flow is the highest volume of water in Iceland at 360 cubic meters per second, with a drop of 6 meters. For comparison, Dettifoss, which is supposed to be the second most powerful waterfall in Europe, has a flow of “only” 193 cubic meters per second. The waterfall can freeze in the winter, which must be a spectacle to behold. Urriðafoss ...

For today, I had booked a (small) tour through the hostel. The Midgard Surprise is what it sounds like, the guide picks a route based on weather, road conditions, expertise, and whim. Today’s was to Gígjökull, Þórsmörk then a couple of waterfalls. According to Discover Iceland, Gígjökull is a 7.5 km long crater glacier and one of the outlets from the glacier volcano Eyjafjallajökull, famous its eruption in 2010 that wrought havoc with air traffic as well as being difficult for non-Icelanders to pronounce. (I’m told that it sounds like “Hey I forgot the yogurt” if spoken very quickly.) Eyjafjallajökull ...

What a difference two days makes. After visiting Gullfoss and Gljúfurárfoss on Monday, in the heavy rain and wind, I rolled into parking for Skógafoss, stopped maybe 10 minutes, then noped out of there for different, equally blustery options. Because of the orange weather alert and closed roads, yesterday’s highlight was … clean laundry. Thus, this morning’s cold, clear and calm was extra alluring. I mean, what about this doesn’t just say “go outdoors, now. Okay, you can have breakfast first, but then get outdoors!”? ...

Despite some noisy hostel-mates, last night was my best night’s sleep since I arrived in Iceland. I woke up feeling great, and had no problem getting out and on the road to avoid potential road closures. As of this morning, I still couldn’t find a first-hand source of the potential closures, but took it to be likely given the weather conditions forecast. I rolled into Hvolsvöllur around 8:30 a.m. and had a “Now, what?” moment. This is not a 24-hour metropolis like New York City (that I still need to write-up). Moreover, the Midgard Base Camp, like most hostels, closes during the day to clean. I passed the time sleeping in the car, walked around the neighborhood photographing random information signs for an art project Meryl is (I think) working on, and shopped in my first Icelandic grocery store. Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive. ...

In my trip planning document weeks ago, I had a note indicating today’s itinerary was likely going to be the wettest time here. Today, with the added benefit of the weather, that lived up to its promise and then some. The first stop of the morning was Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall located approximately 20km east of Hvolsvöllur. It is not the largest, most powerful, or voted most likely to become class president, but it is a spectacular site with a near-constant roar. As you might be able to tell from the photo, it kicks up a lot of mist. ...

The jet lag last night was rough. I think I had a total of nine hours sleep (which is good) but spread over 13 hours attempted (not good), including some surreal dreams. But I was feeling more human again. I started off the day with a latte and an Icelandic vegetarian breakfast of chia pudding and toast with hummus and chutney. Tastes better than it looks! Having abstained from coffee for two weeks prior to my trip, the latte had the effect of perking me up quickly. First stop of the Golden Circle was Þingvellir National Park, which became a UNESCO site for the historical significance — the AlIÞing‘s (Icelandic parliament) formation over a millennium ago. It’s as equally interesting geologically, as it’s the intersection of two continental plates. Just say no to crack? ...

After clearing customs, fetching my luggage, finding some coffee and scraping ice off my rental car, I headed over to Garðskagaviti to pick up a geocache near the lighthouse. The cold helped wake me up from the overnight flight until the coffee could kick in. Next, I drove down the Reykjanes peninsula to the point where you could walk between continental plates. This is the intersection of the North American and Europe’s continents. Another great opportunity to walk and marvel at geology ...

For ham folks who stumble here, the tl;dr is I’ll try to activate four parks on the air as TF/WT8P. I will be QRP, which means CW or FT8 are preferred modes. Logging should happen pretty quickly because Iceland is well-connected. I’ve been overthinking my trip to Iceland, but this is what I’ve settled on: Day 1: Arrive 6:15 am and rent a car. Overnight in Reykjavik. KEF to Blue Lagoon earthcaches, some puzzles, then Reyjkavik ...

The second half of my geocation was in Colorado. With some potentially dicey weather en route (midwest Thunderstorms), my plan was to drive from Mt Sunflower all the way to Tarryall (GC18), the oldest cache in Colorado, then pick up caches (as weather permitted) on the way back to my motel. Departing Mt. Sunflower, KS This part of Western Kansas/Eastern Colorado feels endless with no official rest stops. I stopped a few times to stretch my legs, grab a quick park-and-grab cache (enough to claim the county), and pee. The night before, I picked up some extra tamales at Los Jarochos food truck in Colby to munch on at an appropriate point. Cell coverage was very limited, I was really glad I had pre-downloaded music and a few (good) audio (meh) books (great). I wish the Netflix app would let one play just the soundtrack to music without having the video screen go. The scene before Lake Urine spontaneously appeared next to my car ...

Day 1: Denver Intergalactic Airport to Arikaree (GC31) and Mingo (GC30) I took the early flight from Seattle to Denver, not checking a bag to hasten my departure from the airport in hopes of grabbing Mingo (GC30) — the oldest active geocache — and Arikaree (GC31), nearly as old. I soon ended up on a very lonely road, headed east to Nebraska. The first stop was the triple-point intersection of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, a completely arbitrary waypoint that I’d have no other chance to stop at and claim a virtual cache. Unbeknownst, I’d not only left Settlers of Catan running in the foreground, I also hadn’t plugged the charger cable in right. No battery. I plopped the alternate battery in near Texas Trail Canyon. Hey, I’m in Nebraska! (Also, we really fucked the locals over.) ...