After three nights in Egilsstaðir, we hit the road to Húsavík. On the way, we went to Vatnajökull National Park and saw a horseshoe-shaped canyon, basalt formations of all sorts from volcanic crater plugs to a cave, and a couple of waterfalls, one of which is the highest in volume in Iceland.

Today was a more relaxed day. We did a hike this morning up to Hengifoss, which was pretty steep going up. We then went to Skriðuklaustur, which used to be the home of writer Gunnar Gunnarsson. After that, it was relaxation time.

This was the first day of the group tour that we would be staying at the same place for more than one night, which made logistics a bit easier. We started by going to Borgarfjörður eystri for a boat tour, then to cliffs to view puffins, then spent part of the afternoon in Seyðisfjörður, an East Iceland town at the head of a narrow fjord which is known for its art culture.

This was mostly a driving day, but we did make some quick stops before doing a hike in Stuðlagil Canyon, with waterfalls, columnar basalt, and a bit of scrambling.

Even though we’ve caught glimpses of glaciers, today we went right up to one in a boat and saw the icebergs that have calved from it. Some of those icebergs were on a nearby beach. We then went to another beach to wander around the tide pools.

We did two hikes today, one in Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, a serpentine canyon with moss-covered walls and the winding Fjaðrá River. The second hike was the Svartifoss Trail in Skaftafell National Park, which has a waterfall over columnar basalt. We extended the hike to see the Selið turf houses.

We spent the morning around several waterfalls, and the afternoon looking at cliffs, a black sand beach, and puffins

In the morning, we went a bit north of Reykjavík to look at some turf houses and hot springs. Then, in the afternoon, we tried to see the eclipse.

We completed the Golden Circle by going to Þingvallahreppur, or Thingvellir National Park. We did some hiking in the morning, had lunch, then did another hike in the afternoon.

This was the first day of traveling as a group. We piled into two vans and went out to the Reykjanes Peninsula to explore a lighthouse and a bridge across two tectonic plates, then did part of the Golden Circle, seeing a volcanic crater, a geyser, and a huge waterfall.

Our last full day in Reykjavik, we took it easy and only did a few things during the day, meeting up with the rest of the hiking group in the late afternoon. It was our first day with clear weather, a nice change from the clouds and drizzle we’ve had the other days.

We had a lazy morning before going to the Settlement Exhibition. We stepped outside the door of where we are staying to see the start of the Pride Parade and took a dip in some heated pools

For our first full day in Reykjavik, we completed the last few stops on our walking tour, went to a midday concert at Harpa (the concert hall), and walked around the harbor area.

Melody and I arrived in Iceland a few days before our hiking group so we could do some sightseeing that wasn’t on the group agenda, as well as giving ourselves a bit more time to acclimate to the area and time change. After landing in the morning, we spent a few hours walking around Reykjavik.