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Monday
Jun022014

* * Day six in the Land Where There Is Still Lots of Snow on the Ground

We had a layover day here in The Land Where There Is Still Lots of Snow on the Ground. We're in Flateyri, a tiny village of around 250 people in the heart of the Fjord land in the far northwest. Yesterday's trip was arduous, so we're happy not to be spending so much time in the car.
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Jane and I decided to take a hike this morning. We had bought a hiking book before leaving home and it described a hike up and over the mountain above town and down the other side. We would have no transportation from the other side, so we hoped to simply hike to the top of the mountain, then return. 
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Our hike was on an old, now unused road, basically a goat path. The mountain is a steep face, linear, steeper at the top than the bottom. There were still significant patches of snow covering the slope. The road/trail contoured gently up the side of the mountain. In a couple of places, we had to cross snow patches. We finally reached one that was too steep to allow us to cross comfortably. I decided I would try to climb straight uphill and go over the top of it, a distance of a few hundred meters. Jane headed back to town. 
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I climbed uphill through heather and grass, alongside the snow patch. I got most of the way to the top, but it started to rain and the steep slope became even steeper, and rocks that I kicked rolled far downhill. I decided I didn't feel safe continuing. So I spent many more minutes retracing my steps back down to the trail, and then back to town. 
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The entire excursion took only a couple of hours. 
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Back at our lodging, we had some lunch and took naps and then drove to the town of Isafjordur, the largest community in the Fjordlands. It is about a 20-minute drive, It goes through the longest tunnel in Iceland, which interestingly has three entrances and a junction in the middle! Much of the tunnel is one-way with turn-outs where cars coming the other way can pass. 
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In Isafjordur, we bought groceries, gas, and (most importantly), wine and stout. (We spent around $80 to fill the tank of the CRV (which was just under half full) and $20 for a six-pack of stout.) We walked through town and saw a mariner's museum and the many fishing boats that harbor there. At the information table, we were directed to the local fish market where I bought a fish dinner to cook for myself. The man behind the counter couldn't have been any more helpful or friendly, like everyone else we've met in the entire nation. He took the time to tell me about every fish meat in the cooler. The dinner I bought was chunks of several white fishes in an onion sauce. 
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We drove back to Flateyri where sun breaks illuminated the vast fjord. 
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I spoke with our landlord, Sigurbjorn, who at one point had served in the Iceland Coast Guard, their only military service branch. He told me about the Cod Wars, where in the late 1950s, Iceland "battled" Great Britain over territorial fishing rights and managed without firing a shot (but after several ship collisions) to convince Britain to honor extended territorial fishing rights to Iceland (and eventually to countries around the world) that allowed Iceland to control the fisheries around the island. 
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Jane and I fixed dinner together. My fish was the best I've ever eaten, and all I needed to do was put it in a frying pan for 10 minutes! Hey, I'm supposed to have the best fish of my life in Iceland, yes?
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After dinner, we walked the perimeter of the village. The side along the water is rimmed by a large-boulder rock wall. Sadly, many of the houses are "beach front" but can't actually see any water behind the wall. 
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It's 20:25 now and the sun is still high in the sky, with sun breaks casting bright glow onto the snow patches. Quite stunning! Tomorrow's drive will be another long one, leaving the Fjord area. The northerly escape, we're told, is all on paved roads. The next overnight stop is in Skagastrond, a place Jane wanted to go, although I'm not sure why. 
 

 

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