day eight. we awakened in our little campground on a fjord in east iceland, borgarfjörður eystri, hoping to avenge the previous evening’s failed puffin viewing attempt. we raced over to climb to the little cliff overlook viewing platform and settled in. we had big plans for the rest of the day, so we were hopeful […]
hiking
iceland. day seven.icelandic buffet, hengifoss, long drives
the southern section of the ring road around iceland is packed with lots of things to see and do. as we approached the eastern coast on day seven, and began to make the counterclockwise turn up to the northern section of our trip, the travel times would be longer and the things to do would […]
iceland. day six. glacier hike, a waterfall, and a glacier lagoon.
day six was one of our best days in iceland, jammed packed with cool stuff from start to finish. first up, we made the short drive from our campsite to a meeting location for a guided hike on an actual glacier. as with many of our more adventurous (and guided) activities, it took good a […]
iceland. day five.vik, black sand beach, lava show
on day five in iceland, we awakened (once again) to gloomy, drizzly skies in the southern port town of vik. this is pretty common in vik though, as it sits just south of a massive glacier and something about the wind and science and meteorology and blah blah. anyways, we bundled up, and made our […]
iceland. day four.waterfalls galore.
prepare yourself for an onslaught of waterfall photos, because the entirety of our fourth day in iceland was spent visiting numerous locations of various volumes of waters cascading over cliffs of assorted heights. some of the waterfalls are iconic iceland attractions, not too far off the beaten path, and with large parking lots and amenities. […]
iceland. day three.landmannalaugar (highlands).
our third day in iceland also happened to be derek’s birthday. how did we celebrate? we woke up bright and early (a recurring theme) to catch a bus that would take us into the highlands for a hike in landmannalaugar, aka: a breathtaking spot that is featured in our apple tv screen saver. in order […]
iceland. day two.silfra fissure, oxarafoss, bruarfoss, gullfoss.
while we would have liked to have slept in on our first morning in the campervan, a snorkeling appointment was on the books, so instead we were up bright and early and ready for another day of adventures. but first. coffee. getting geared up for snorkeling was quite an ordeal. turns out, when you’re planning […]
iceland. day one. reykjadalur thermal hot springs.
whelp. i’ve procrastinated it long enough. in august, derek and i embarked upon a 10 day trip to iceland, sans children, to celebrate our 20th anniversary. and i’m about to post a barrage of blog entries, with vague details from the epic but whirlwind excursion. so, i’m actually going to begin on day zero. we […]
mount lafayette of the white mountains
for our last hurrah in the white mountains and our 2023 summer road trip, anna and i embarked upon the mount lafayette and franconia ridge loop, an 8.6 mile “challenging” trail with 3800+ feet of elevation gain, and three different summits. with several new england hikes under my belt at this point, i knew that […]
mount willard of the white mountains.
there’s a zillion hikes in the white mountain wilderness. but a lot of them are no joke. long. steep. brutal. but, derek researched and discovered mount willard, a popular hike that gives a great bang for your buck. it’s only about three miles out and back, with 900′ elevation gain. and, i sound like a […]