Searching for Inspiration in Iceland 3.5

We're back at it with adventure 3.5. It was such a busy day I had to break it up into sections so here we go!

"Abandoned Airplanes"

As mentioned in the last blog, our new found method of looking out for places with lots of cars we'd pull over. Some of the country there is clear signage of natural landmarks, and other times its completely up to chance.

After a little while of driving we stopped at a spot where we saw a few cars. We saw some people, not as many as the falls walking toward a sign in front of a wide, desolate back sand & gravel landscape.

* Black sand on desolate Iceland before heading to Vik

On the sign there was a picture of what we read about before the trip - the abandoned airplane. The abandoned airplane was a result from a crash of an American aircraft. According to the book, "Lonely Planet" (which has so much great information!) all of the passengers and pilot lived but the airplane was left in the black sand desert. It was so far from civilization and became one of Iceland many points of interest. One thing that Jeff and I fault on while traveling, is not really reading signs and sometimes our spontaneity gets the best of us. With high hopes we began our journey toward the abandoned airplane.

There was no clear pathway ahead of us, just yellow reflective poles in a line that we assume would lead us to the plane. There were some people on the path but not many. It was sunny and the wind howled, spinning rock and debris in the air around our feet. The path was very rocky and hard to walk on, between that and the wind it slowed us down.

*Rainbows and mountains as we head toward the abandoned airplane

Behind us were large mountains covered in moss on top of the black rock. In front of us, nothing. As we walked the parking lot and cars grew smaller and smaller. We had been walking for over an hour and the plane was nowhere in sight. The tables were turning in my head and I almost wanted to abandon this journey. Just as soon as I wanted to give up a huge rainbow bent over the landscape behind us, it gave me hope to keep going.

After another hour of howling high winds and a few spots of drizzle, the sun peeked out and the weather became more mild for the rest of our journey. Finally, we saw just beyond the black sand gravel the airplane! Me made it! Finally! It took about 2 hours!

*Abandoned Airplane

As we approached the aircraft we saw a small sea of tourists crowding around taking selfies and some photographers waiting patiently to get a photograph without so many people. There was a moment where one of the tourists climbed on top of the plane and began jumping around trying to get a video or photo acting foolish. The aircraft is decades old an dilapidated. Pieces were pulled off from the visitors over time and was covered with bullet holes and some graffiti. It was kind of sad to see, but not surprising. Everyone waited patiently for the man to get off the aircraft and I was finally able to get my photo which was one of the main reasons why we went on this journey in the first place. This was the last time I saw a tourist be disrespectful of the land on the trip, so I was thankful for that. Beyond that, there were others using this opportunity to take photos for shoots. One woman was dressed in a moon suit, it was a sight to see!

Once we got our fill, the wind kicked up and the sun looked lower in the sky we knew we had to head back to the truck and endure another cold night. Another 2.5 hours of hiking we finally made it back to the truck.

We drove to Vik that night and for some reason it didn't feel as frigidly cold. We camped on the side of a large cliff that overlook the town with a church hanging just above our camp site. We peeked out the back windows throughout the night to see if we could catch another glimpse of the northern lights, but the clouds covered the sky and we fell into a deep sleep only to be woken by the morning sun and the wind howling around the truck.

In the next blog we explore Iceland's south east coast. Southern Iceland houses the most beautiful and interesting formations and is quite warmer than the rest of the island making exploring much easier. I hope you enjoyed this weeks blog, until next time!