Incident on Þjoðvegur

Hvalfjörður, March 2004

It was my second trip to Iceland.

It had snowed on the day I arrived. In the morning the street outside of my guesthouse was covered with slush as I walked to the Hertz rental, a few blocks away. Getting my car, I headed out on Highway 1 to Snæfellsness to experience the glacier's spiritual essence. I drove under under a fjörd, through one of those creepy Icelandic tunnels, tunnels which looked as if they had been burrowed by Elves. As I emerged from the abyss the low clouds above me were extremely dark, yet the mountain tops in the distance across the fjörd were glowing, almost incandescent. I pulled the tiny rented Yaris over to the side of the road. The spectacle was so intense I began to doubt the reality of my senses. I took several pictures but they couldn't do it justice.

At that moment I knew I'd be coming back again.