DAY 7
Höfn to Eskifjörður
Moving past Höfn and into the East Fjörds, we’re getting more remote. Most tourists stopping in Iceland don’t venture much further than Jökulsarlón, a fact getting more apparent by the lack of much traffic at all. The winter of 2015 was a long one with a lot of snow, and most anyone I’ve talked to is weary and ready for any hint of spring or summer. Traveling up the East Fjörds, it’s certainly not here yet. With each fjörd, and the further north we travel, the more snow covered and monochromatic the landscape becomes. People seem surprised to see tourists!
Aside from stopping to take some photos at viewpoints, there were only a few stops along the way. First, Stöðvarfjörður where Petra’s Stone Garden awaits. Petra - who passed away a few years ago - lived her entire life in this town, and through her 90+ years collected stones from the area, eventually amassing over 100 thousand geological samples. A stone museum sounds a bit boring, but it actually is so overwhelming and extensive that it’s well worth it. After driving though endless areas of black sand and basalt, it’s hard to believe that so many varied pieces of rock are just lying around out there. Not much further along the road is Fáskrúðsfjörður, which surprises you with a pretty healthy street arts program. The harbor is a near gallery of pieces that pulled us in for nearly an hour.
We ended the day at Myoeyri Cabins at the water’s edge at the end of Eskifjörður, where a welcoming chocolate lab named Stella followed me around. Chocolate labs with red collars get to me…
