After a couple nights we started driving north-east from the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. It was at least 4.5 hours to our destination in Hofsós, so we had to choose the stops carefully along the way. In the end we decided on doing a group of sights clustered near our starting point as there were fewer points of interest to us further north along the ring road. The sights were a bit off the main road, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to see them otherwise.

1. Selvallafoss
2. Deildartunguhver
3. Barnafossar
4. Glanni Waterfall
5. Grábrók

However, for our first stop we made a return to a place we visited two days earlier on the way up to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. About 20 minutes outside Grundarfjörður we stopped at Selvallafoss, where there was a nice panorama viewpoint and lake. What we didn’t know was that were was a waterfall just a bit below our viewpoint. We hadn’t done any by that point in the trip and we didn’t make the connection that “~foss” in the place name meant waterfall. Once we learned it we decided to return to the waterfalls we never saw. We were glad we did because it was the only one I was able to get behind!

Before heading back onto the ring road, we made the detour slightly south to take in a few sights. We went from the 50 highway to the 518 roadway and continued driving until we reached Deildartunguhver, a geothermal area attached to a spa (Krauma Spa). There was a small baths area, greenhouse and restaurant nearby. We just stayed long enough to check out the interesting geothermal activity.

Further down highway 518 we drove to Barnafossar, a beautiful set of waterfalls featuring aquamarine water. It was a short walk from the parking area to a view of the wide falls set across the river.

From there we headed back onto the ring road and began driving northeast. By now the weather started clouding over and it cooled down. Our next stop was Glanni Waterfall, located a short distance from the highway. It was also an easy walk from the parking lot and was a quick stop.

Only a short distance from Glanni Waterfall was Grábrókargigar (Grabok) crater. This stop was right next to the ring road and easy to access. Formed by fissure eruptions, it is a series of three craters set close to each other with a short hike up to the main one. The smallest crater had been seriously eroded due to mining before the place was declared a protected area.

With the weather worsening and still a long way to drive, we headed directly for the hotel. Along the way the fog rolled for awhile.

We finally made to to the tiny but pretty fishing village of Hofsós located halfway up the coast of one of the peninsulas that had been formed by the glaciers. Only having 200 inhabitants, the village was one of the oldest trading ports in Iceland, operating since the 16th century. However, for various reasons it never developed into a larger town.

Our stay was in a large home attached to the local immigration museum. The place was comfortable and it had a nice view of the harbour as well as the nearby river. While there we learned that between 16,000 to 20,000 people left Iceland between 1850 and 1914 to make a new life in North America. A sign stated that some locals had left the area to emigrate to places such as Gimli Manitoba.

Random Notes

-the weather changed substantially as we made our way to the northern part, with temperatures dropping and fog rolling in. It went from 17 degrees to 3 degrees during this portion. While driving in a valley we had a tricky drive through thick fog for about 30 minutes

-there was very light traffic on the ring road here, and at times it felt like we were the only ones around

-by this point were were noticing more and more sheep, both in the fields, along the side of the road and occasionally on the road. There were few fences so the sheep could move freely at will, requiring drivers to be careful. However, they moved slowly and generally stayed out of the way. It was also much easier to see them when there was no night driving to contend with