Stuðlagil Canyon Tag 7

Tag 7: Stuðlagil Canyon

We have now arrived at Icelandic time. I sleep in until half past 7 today. Evenings are getting later as well. Nonetheless, we usually leave the campsite before the other campers. It's noticeably quieter in this part of the island. Many only drive to the glacier Jökulsárlón. Our route takes us along the coast. We see many birds in nature. The water on one side and the rocks on the other. We have to take a detour of an hour, as we are not allowed to drive our camper on a mountain pass road. Around noon, we reach Egilsstaðir, the largest city in the east. It has 2,300 residents. We go shopping and refuel there. Otherwise, the town doesn’t have much to offer us. So, we head for the Stuðlagil Canyon. It is about an hour to the west. We make a short stop at a collection of grass-roofed houses. Unfortunately, the residential houses were demolished for the road, but the two barns are still there. We can visit them from the inside. As I’m leaving, I overlook the low door beam and walk straight into it. The headache lasts for a while. I hope there won't be a bruise. People in the past were probably shorter.
Around 2 PM, we reach the parking lot of the canyon via a fairly bad road. There are two access points. We now hike the 2.5 kilometers on a path to the canyon. Then it appears before us. Here the water has carved into the basalt stone. It's only been possible to admire this natural spectacle since 2016, as the river was diverted, causing the water level to drop and exposing the basalt prisms. Due to the varying heights, the stones are very suitable for climbing. We descend into the canyon and can even touch the water. It is icy cold. We climb for a while and are alone in some places. It’s fun, and the colors of the river are a brilliant blue.
Then we make our way back. The return route seems much shorter to us. At the parking lot, we can still enjoy a cappuccino and hot cocoa; it's good that we have the camper.
Since the number of campsites in the region is limited, we still have an hour of driving ahead of us. The last 8 kilometers are on unpaved road. But the campsite is very nice. Here, there are new grass-roofed houses, including a restaurant, a hotel, and our campsite. We set up and are visited by a reindeer right by the car. It is a young animal. We learn later that it lives on the farm. Its mother has died. It is free but stays nonetheless. The young Icelander tells us that it behaves like a dog. We are excited because it's the first time we see reindeer in the wild today.
In the evening, we play cards.