That spring, I was in Iceland with sunny weather

Photos & Text by murphybj4
 
After brushing shoulders with the Aurora goddess, my travel companions and I drove back onto the Ring Road, continuing our daydream adventure in Iceland. The scenery outside the window kept changing as we headed toward the southernmost part of Iceland, but we had only just begun to appreciate the beauty of the place when nature gave us a harsh lesson.

Just as mentioned before, the weather in Iceland is more unpredictable than a woman’s mood—just a moment ago it was sunny, and the next strong winds blew. On our way to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Iceland’s black sand beach, we encountered fierce wind and rain, with our speed dropping to less than 30 km/h. When we reached the black sand beach, the sea winds were violently crashing waves ashore, so we only took a quick glance before leaving.

When the rain gradually let up, we stubbornly drove up to the Dyrhólaey Peninsula, hoping to get a bird’s-eye view of the spectacular eroded sea caves. We even nearly had the wind rip the car door right off when opening it. Travelers driving in Iceland must remember to park facing against the wind to avoid unfortunate accidents.

After passing through Vik, the most bustling small town in southern Iceland, we hurried to the world’s most beautiful canyon, “Feather Canyon,” hoping to catch a glimpse of its beautiful face. But the weather wasn’t on our side. After parking and walking 30 minutes in the cold wind to the entrance, we met the staff who told us that due to the severe weather these past few days, the canyon was temporarily closed. So there we were, standing at the entrance, gazing at it from afar—I guess this is the furthest distance in the world.

Early the next morning, we received news even more demoralizing than the Feather Canyon incident the day before—our long-awaited glacier hike was also canceled due to bad weather. Still unwilling to give up, we decided to drive to Vatnajökull Glacier anyway. We found that even without joining the hike, we could still walk into the national park and see the very front part of the glacier. We carefully walked around the glacier’s edge and even spotted some ice formations. Though small, they at least helped lift our previously gloomy mood.