Hello again, Blogonauts!

Sunday…Day 1 of circumnavigating this quasi-arctic, often volcanic Icelandic isle. And it's June, during which the sky never gets dark…for the entire month.

OK…calendar announcements are out of the way, so let the story continue.

This morning I filled my trusty flivver with fuel and set Google maps to bring me first to Borgarnes, a modest village that fills an equally modest peninsula about 30 minutes north of Reykjavik.

I had read about the town, but it had seemed rather unexciting. But once I arrived, the unspoken charms spoke for themselves.

Across the wide inlet, in full view from the village rises a glorious mountain range, nude of trees but still dotted with snowfields. So everyone can take in the view of the mountains and the water, there is a pedestrian pathway along the shoreline, which was just delightful, even in the rain.

They have also constructed a monument to honor a too-complicated-to-explain-here local episode of the Icelandic Sagas.

(By the way, the Icelandic Sagas, which began in the 9th century, contain full-throated family drama, revenge, betrayal, murder, and very little genuine heroism. Visitors could well wonder how today's mannerly and kind Icelanders could have descended from such scoundrels…until we remember the scoundrels that inhabit our own lineage.)

From Borgarnes, the next stop was Grábrók Crater, the conical remnant of a volcano that last erupted about 3600 years ago. The rain continued, but this was my only chance to climb to the rim and take what photos I could of the crater and the surrounding countryside. (More lessons in not letting the rain dampen enthusiasm.)

From there it was time to head toward the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, a long, westerly-reaching bit of Iceland that contains a national park (my destination tomorrow). As I drove along, bald hillsides rose steeply into the clouds. The coastal land here is grassy and spotted willy-nilly with sheep, horses, and cattle, but the animals are dwarfed by the immensity of the landscape.

My first stop on the Snæfellsnes was Stykkishólmur, and I went there primarily to hike to the top of Súgandisey Island. It was an easy climb, and the view of the fishing boat harbor was a nice little reward. By this point it was getting late, so I headed east to my lodging for the next 2 nights near Grundarfjörður.

The rain was never heavy, so driving the lightly traveled roadways was fun. (Check the photos tab to see the album of today's snapshots.) I've learned already that you have to plow ahead in Iceland, without regard for the weather…

…which I will do tomorrow!

Blog to you later!