All the K roads around our ring road route today were closed. Bummer. Good news is that we got some cool shots on a random offshoot with amazing backdrops. Screen grabs below.
This little drone takes some cinematic shots for sure.
The K roads we passed today as we went towards Hellnar were all closed. Bummer. Looks like this season they didn’t open early towards the west/NW side of the island either. In any event, the lava fields were cool and we saw a few (20ish) seals at yri tunga beach after venturing to get where they hang out. Tomorrow’s itinerary is in flux as we made great time today on the drive. To be continued…
You’re going to have to zoom in for the seals. Check the waterline from left to right for easiest spotting.
Tried another F road today on the West/NW part of the island. F584 (Eysteinsdalsleið). We got off the pavement as I saw the sign and I was ready for whatever awaited us after the journey. We made it approximately 100 yards and I saw signage indicating “impassable.” Initially checking the road website for iceland to confirm (I was hoping signage just wasn’t correct as it looked odd), it indeed was listed as closed. Damn. I didn’t have a spot to turn around, so I cautiously proceeded for options. Shortly thereafter, I saw a two space parking area for a third tier trailhead (which I’m sure is lovely) and turned around. I don’t know what’d be worse: the fine for going on an “impassable” F road or turning around “off road” in Iceland? Good news: no fuzz around to jam us up either way on this misadventure. Pic below for clarity on yet another F road closure.
Yep. That’s red alright.
Tomorrow starts the slow glide path home. It’s been an awesome time and I hope I have made some core memories for my kids. I’d of liked more F road adventures, but that’s just not in the cards this trip. Maybe next time.
Hardware I can remember seeing:
60 series: one unmodified I saw next to a barn on the way to a shark museum.
80 series: a couple modified lifted 35” plus tires
100 series: a few diesel modified and lifted 35” plus tires. One LX 470 unmodded stock look.
200 series: one 2015ish unmodified 5.7L; two 35” tires and the one 33”ish (above pictured). Fewer than I’d imagined I’d see. Thanks for being still for your glamour shot, 200!
I’m surprised at the amalgam of cars I’ve seen. Everything from 3/4 ton domestic pickups to BYD electrics. Everything between too. Weirdest spot? Functional Willys jeep today. Seriously.
I forgot to give the prado’s some recognition in last post! I saw a TON of 150/250 variants there. About 30/70 modified/stock best I can tell just based on the tires.
I turned in the rental. We put 2120 miles on her for this saga and it was a hell of a road trip. The kids said their favorite part was “the drive.” Again - my hope is that a core memory was activated for this trip as that’s what I’m driving for.
The rig held up fine, but wasn’t without issues for sure. I had a Christmas tree of the dash which was ultimately due to dirty radar/rain sensor/windshield sensor fairly early on. Either that, or my battery didn’t like the few start/stops we did in fairly quick (comparatively) succession that day. I don’t know. It’s not mine, so I’m taking the return of cruise control and the stopping of the serial warnings of abs unavailable, radar cruise unavailable, start/stop unavailable, pre-collision malfunction, etc as a win after cleaning off the sensors mentioned earlier as a win. The rental agency offered for me to take it to a mechanic around where I was for the day (assuming the warnings remained). A few ignition cycles and miles later after my cleaning and they resolved.
This was a really good trip overall. I am glad we went with the bigger tires as I think a 250 would’ve struggled on a couple of the water crossings we faced. I would’ve been mortified if I bogged a 250 midway through a water crossing on an F road and potentially nuking their asset and ruining a day or so of this trip. Thanks for following along as I hope this thread helps someone in the future or you just enjoyed the ride.
Every bit of my build and my travels, and a majority of my motivations in general come from my father who flew me in his shares-owned ancient Cessna to the Rio Grande when I was 8, skiing from when I was 6 on, and just a general curiosity about things.
If you just drove 2000 miles and the kids said their favorite part was the drive, you did good!!
Way to go, dad!
