"The Kodachrome trip"

Part 5/6

F338, F35, to the north

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I wanted to follow this track (F338) as a scout. I wanted to check if she booked surprises? If we ignore the delights of solitude it offers the traveler, there is not much to see. And then, it is covered by many high voltage lines which does not help.
However, it is possible to cross these pretty oases, small fragile flowers in a hostile desert.

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Hveravellir is a unique geothermal area in the world. I waited for the evening hours to keep a bluish memory.

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Typically the time you can find on Road 35 . Silver light on coal floor.

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Recognizable among all, the Kerlingarfjöll and its “caramel mountains” are part of the trip. I still have not found the light expected, but it was not raining, it’s already that!

On the wooden bridge I met three young hikers just back from a week in the Hornstrandir (extreme north of Westfjords , very isolated area accessible only by boat ). One of them showed me on his reflex the perfect moment where he could film an arctic fox mother playing with his little ones.

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8:32, ideal temperature and delight of a ray of sunshine. We take this opportunity to air the car before going to explore the Westfjords .

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Les Westfjords

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The road to Djúpavík to the Hornstrandir borders, the Norðurfjörður region is probably my favorite.

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There are deserted beaches collecting driftwood from Siberia . The previous visitors have left a message, this Icelandic flag tinkered with care, we do not know why, I do not know who for whom, but I pay homage here.

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Kambur Mountain . This mountain lace. This isolated house. This silver fjord. This light. This beauty.

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Arrived at Djúpavík at almost 23h, we discover some houses grouped around the historical monument of the city: the chimney of the herring factory.
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As in many Icelandic villages children improvise a small market made of odds and ends, pebbles, shells and small pieces of driftwood.
Andy was so happy to find children in a region (Norðurfjörður) where only 56 people live.

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The engine turbine of the abandoned factory of Djúpavík .

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Here we are inside one of the silos of the factory. Completely closed, in addition to the visual charisma of the place (the rusting lines of rusty metal, the material of its decrepit walls), the resonance inside is unique and I can not help but push notes that are repeated at infinity.
Small precision: there is no door, you must wink through the hole you see on the left.

It is in this silo that Sigur Rós recorded this track (which I really like):
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Anecdote : This place made me discover a destiny. Claus is German. Fascinated – I quote – by the islands, the remote and / or abandoned places, his life will switch when in 2003 his girlfriend of that time (“she probably wanted to get rid of me” he told me with mischief) him shows a newspaper article about the world’s most isolated hotel and the factory that faces it. Djupavik . All that Claus wanted was there.

Claus left everything: country, girlfriend. he became a factor at Reykjavik to be as close as possible to his “ Djúpavík” factory.

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The long gallery of the abandoned factory of Djúpavík . There are sometimes organized concerts and exhibitions.

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This pontoon faces Djúpavík , the city at the end of the world. When I say city, I measure my words since it is only a few houses that compose it, half of which are abandoned.
In the middle of the village you will find the wonderful Hotel Djúpavík whose Owners Eva and Ásbjörn are the only ones who have lived here all year since 1984.
I will spend one night in room # 9 in August 2016.

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These Westjords are the kind of unusual shelter. Located on a windy plateau the stray walker, the exhausted cyclist will find refuge for the night. Difficult to resist curiosity: what do we find inside? Let’s take a look.
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Here is the notebook I found . They are – in my opinion – objects as precious as aesthetic, patinated by the weather and the weather, filled with the energy of the people of passage, only real witnesses of the place. Until the cover is filled, who will have the good idea to leave a new notebook to continue the story?

The problem is not so much to have the idea, but especially because we rarely walk in these countries with a blank notebook! To remember for the next time.

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Frame in the frame, the window upstairs gives you an idea of the environment, desert and devoid of any shelter.

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I like this picture but I understand you did not see any interest.
It tells the rough side of the Icelandic rock, the difficulty of building a track. We take an immediate pleasure to the gigantism of the truck which takes all its size thanks to Andy.

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Another emergency shelter, ultra-modern this one. Andy obviously wants to enter. Lets go see.

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Space Shuttle Content : Moleskin benches, a blanket and a gas heater. A tablet on which we find some candles and food left by previous visitors (if possible from the country of origin to mark his identity).

There is an idea of transmission in these refuges: I leave a message (name, date, nationality, a few words, small sketches for the most daring) that will testify of my passage and animate the evening of the lonely hiker. A little food. There is also a radio transmitter for emergency calls.

You will appreciate the title of the novel, judiciously chosen.

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When the Arctic Ocean disguises itself as an Indian Ocean.

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The cliffs of Latrabjarg , the extreme west of the country, receive at this end of the day the fires of a sun marrying the horizon.
The first birds we see are these little pinguoins, yes, they are pinguoins Torda , “Razorbill” in English.

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The population of puffins (“Puffins” in English) has declined significantly in Iceland without explanation why. From 5 million to 2 million in a few years, we find these adorable companions only in a few corners, and sporadically. Creepy ! For example, I have hardly seen them in the Vestmann Islands of which they are the emblem.

Luckily I was able to observe it on the cliffs of Látrabjarg , unanimously recognized as one of the most beautiful “spots” with marine birds of the world. Many of us were there that day. Astonishing to see these photographers travel the world with their huge telephoto lenses in search of some birds.

Paying no attention to the landscapes, they come directly here. Their thing is birds and that’s all.

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