to the end of the road

It seems most reasonable to drive to Strandir in one go instead of going slowly with stops. There’s some hope that tomorrow could be just cloudy without rain there.

The plan was to have a look at Hvalá river and some of its neighboring rivers and do something like in this video but it would not be much fun in the rain. The Hvalá river will be dammed some time in the future. There are some big waterfalls and after damming not much of those will be left. Of course they have a lot of other waterfalls here. Opinions differ wheather locals would benefit from all of it meaning electricity and jobs. It not then they just let their surroundings to be spoiled.

Up on the mountains is frost. I watch the frost through weather forecast everyday to know when it‘s going to climb down to the road. Clouds slide between the mountains with pretended indifference. Sun slips through where it can. Rivers glitter in valleys, sea is sky-blue. Again a landscape that distracts driving. After Hólmavík seals bask on the rocks in the sun.

Strandir is the beginning of the Westfjords from this side. The road goes slowly worse and then ends totally. Last stretch after driving through a river it scratches a little at the bottom of the car. Next to this river lives a farmer who strongly supports the damming project. In his yard stands the tractor that he used last summer to block the road to the waterfalls. All kinds of dubious folks on the move. Road department and court found that he has no right to close a road that’s in the public road registry. So people with bigger cars still have the possibility to drive until Hvalá.

Slow going on the rough road takes so long that I have no time anymore to go and see one of the bigger waterfalls today. I can only have a look at the one that’s right by the foot bridge in the end of the road. Hvalárfoss. Roars carefully past the rocks. It starts to drizzle already. Sleeping arrangements are a bit complicated because the car is full of things and the ground full of rocks. I still manage to find a spot covered with moss. If there will be a power plant then the moss will be trampled anyway.