Northwest Iceland: Rare sunshine and lots of snow

Leaving Westfjords we rejoined Highway 1 to continue our circumnavigation of Iceland. First stop after a long drive from the Westfjords was a luxurious rural guesthouse near Gauksmyri where we treated ourselves to a rare restaurant dinner and, due to rain, made the most of the offered late checkout the next day. We did little on this day - just a few scenic stops and a bit of shopping for Elise (an Icelandic woolly hat).

It was obvious we were heading quickly towards winter with an overnight frosting of snow to the hills around Varmahild where we stayed the next two nights. The snow was low enough (near sea level) that Samuel and Eric could make snowballs out of the icy residue on our car the next morning. Luckily our accommodation had two outdoor hot tubs (one hot and one hotter). It was great for Eric to relax in the outdoor tubs after chilly evening runs in howling wind.

The morning after the snowfall the weather continued to improve with a glorious sunny morning breaking up the grey skies. We did a short circuit around Skagafjord and into the surrounding hills taking in some of the sights.

The next day we hit the road to Akureyri. We took the scenic route following the coast rather than Highway 1. The views were, of course, incredible even if the clouds were back.

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