Day 13 – 66° North

I wanted to camp above the 66°N latitude. I planned out my route for the day, which would bring me to camp at Raufarhöfn. This was the northernmost city in Iceland, right on the edge of the Arctic Circle.

To make it more interesting, I planned a few things to do on the way.

First stop was Vopnafjörður. Nothing happening here. Just a harbour town with a supermarket.

Next on the route was Þórshöfn. Nope, nothing happening here either. There wasn’t even a supermarket.

I was getting some weird looks from people. I guess not too many people venture up here. Definitely not brown-skinned people.

At this point I had driven 200 kms and needed to get out of the car. My book guide suggested a hike in Rauðanes near Þórshöfn. Got to the turn from the highway and…

At this point, I was in no mood to camp at Raufarhöfn. From what I could tell, there was nothing up there either. A quick look at the map showed that I could still camp above the 66°N at Husavik. And the town had a decent campground with things to do the next day.

I drove on. Passed some gorgeous beaches on the way. I stopped for lunch/dinner.

I stopped in Vesturdalur at around 10 pm to do a hike in the horseshoe shaped canyon. I needed to stretch my legs, and this was the perfect place to do so.

The canyon has some really nice paths and waterfalls. I hiked along the known paths, and along the wall of the canyon until I got to a decent vantage point.

I left at around 11pm and drove on to Husavik. Getting into the town, I was kinda relieved. After not seeing too many people all day, it was nice to see other cars at the campsite. I pitched my tent as the sun was coming up. It was windy so I really had to peg it down solid.

Going to the north of Iceland wasn’t as great as I expected. There wasn’t much there, neither scenery nor people. The sun was harsh and it was windy. Well, I had driven right upto the edge of the Arctic Circle. I guess that’s something.

And I still got to camp north of 66°.