Iceland Day 4: Snow and a wild puffin chase

Borgarfjodur harbor

We were able to get on the road just before 11, even after a hearty breakfast including plenty of homemade bread and jams.  Not surprisingly, a recurring theme for us during our time here in Iceland has been that we wish we'd scheduled a longer visit.  There is plenty of ground for us to cover but proportionately more enticing distractions.  Many of the areas we were most interested in exploring are in the southern part of the country and we've spent plenty of time here.  Which is to say that we have a lot of driving still to do in order to complete the ring road loop by Monday evening.
 

Plenty of reindeer along the roadside today and no reindeer (or any other) roadkill seen

We'd promised ourselves not to make many stops today but still couldn't resist some of the photo ops along the way.

One of many lighthouses today, with orange as a recurring theme 

Blue sky was a rarer commodity today 

Eastern Iceland Fjords everywhere you turn

All in a day's work

The map above shows our route for the day, assuming no detours or stops, as if that were even remotely possible.  We started in Hoffell and have settled for the night in Egilsstaðir.  Part of the official ring road, Hwy 1, is still closed for the year for snow and ice.  The grey, circular arrow icon to the upper right of the red pin is where the lovely town of Borgarfjodur and our puffin chase are located.

Clouds almost as dramatic as our tired kids 

Though we were a bit tight on time, we couldn't resist the allure of a detour off the ring road to a puffin colony just past Borgarfjodur, to the northeast of the ring road.  As has happened in the past, getting there ended up being a large part of the adventure.  We knew that this place was a bit off the beaten path but underestimated what it would take to get there.  The dirt road was in good condition, offered incredible views and soon began an impressively steep and curvy ascent to a snowy, muddy mountain pass.  This was the moment the all wheel drive rental was worth the extra expense.  

Suboptimal driving conditions

The descent begins, with the road and the Norwegian Sea (we think) beyond

 About 1.5 hours after leaving the ring road, we excitedly arrived at Borgarfjodur's famous puffin colony.  According to our sources they arrive en masse in April, nest, frolic, breed and leave in August.  Unexpectedly, however, there was not a single puffin to be seen despite our search efforts in the cold wind.  We did see plenty of gulls and other seabirds but none of the most famous local denizens, known in Icelandic as lundi.  Plenty of their burrows were around but were not clearly being used currently.  Has there been an unprecedented delay in their arrival?  Was every single one of them out to sea?  Everybody snug in their burrows?  There was nobody around to ask and the information sign didn't help.  A mystery for sure.  .  .

Where are the puffins?

Our trusty RAV4 rental, now just a bit muddier

All in all, another great day.  We finally calculated the cost of gas because it's seemed pretty expensive.  About US $7.60 per gallon!  Tomorrow, we continue west.