{"id":37108,"date":"2023-08-19T15:42:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-19T15:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/?p=37108"},"modified":"2024-06-02T16:04:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T16:04:46","slug":"last-three-e-biking-rides-regular-life-reboot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/last-three-e-biking-rides-regular-life-reboot\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Three E-Biking Rides & Regular Life Reboot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[Photos taken 19 – 31 August 2023, posted online 02 June 2024. Iceland has elected a new president!<\/a> (The Wikipedia article is in flux, but it will hopefully settle down soon). It’s a mostly ceremonial position, the only real power is vetoing legislation, which almost never happens. Thankfully nobody is alleging election fraud and the baton will pass peacefully.<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guided e-biking group began riding again for the fall. I would manage to go on three rides before an ache in my left shoulder disqualified me for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bjarki got his practice driving license, and frequently asked us to go out on drives with him. I tried to remain calm. We all returned to school and work, and I managed to also keep going to the gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small home improvement projects got implemented, and the summer house also got some love and attention. I even managed to read a book outside in the backyard, gasp!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday 19 August 2023 <\/h2>\n\n\n
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The e-biking group gathered at the 2006 \u00dathl\u00ed\u00f0-church<\/a>, about an 80 minute drive from the capital area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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The sky at 10 in the morning. The days had begun to noticeably shorten.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The route as recorded by Strava. It was about 22 km.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We biked up a hill I’d once ridden horses up<\/a> (\u00dathl\u00ed\u00f0 has both a farm with a horse rental, and a large collection of summer cottages). Then we aimed north-ish for Br\u00faar\u00e1rsk\u00f6r\u00f0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Pretty nature getting double attention.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Looking backwards, people entering the gully.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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As far into the gully as we could get with bikes. Time to refuel!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Some “Sarah-bread” by Anna, and dried mango.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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There were also wild blueberries here and there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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All of a sudden we could hear a loud noise, and a chopper appeared.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It flew pretty much straight over the gully.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A better photo of the hillside opposite us.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Canine #1.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Canine #2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Exiting the gully area the same way we’d entered it. We would then continue onwards on the road to the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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There were massive erosion-tracks in the grassy field, where at some point a tractor had made tracks that had probably turned into small rivers, and then into serious gashes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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New terrain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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If you feel unsafe, it is better to walk your bike.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The sun came out, and we began shedding layers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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That white thing in the distance is the “Long glacier” i.e. Langj\u00f6kull<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Starting to see the forested area where we came from.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Not the funnest terrain, but quite doable on an e-bike.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Navigating more rocks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Somebody ran into trouble, but thankfully it was nothing serious.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We passed a gate, and were suddenly back to civilization, made up of summer cottages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We were back at the church at 13:30, so there was plenty left in the day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u00dathl\u00ed\u00f0 is only a 10 minute drive from the Geysir hot spring area. I decided it would be a good idea to go there for a late lunch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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All. The. Buses. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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After a lovely lunch, I decided to check out the hot springs on the other side of the road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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There weren’t all that many people on the walkway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Obligatory photo of Strokkur<\/a> erupting. It’s always cool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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One day I’ll give myself time to hike up on to that hill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Walking back to the carpark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Do not put any part of your body into the flowing water!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It was a gorgeous day!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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At home, some of the shrubbery was flowering, and parts of the yard thumbed their noses at me as I’d totally failed in my weeding-duties that summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Hmmm… probably time to clean out the bottom of the BBQ?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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All that remained of dinner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sunday 20 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Cleaning out the bottom of the BBQ. Lovely!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bjarki needed to get a book for school, so he drove himself (and me) to the west-end of town. I tried to remain calm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A weirdly nice book-store out in the middle of an industrial area by the sea. So weird.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Since we were in the neighborhood, we said hi to mom. She had a canine visitor!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Reading a book outside at 9 in the evening, under a thick blanket.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Getting murky around 22.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tuesday 22 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Proof of gym at 8 in the morning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Did a 100 m rowing sprint, and I was pretty happy with that speed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Clothing-hanger-rod installed in Emma’s room. Success! (She’s mastered the art of regularly reminding me that I had promised to do something for her…)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wednesday 23 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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First day of Emma’s school. Rainbows FTW!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The new principal thankfully spared us the “reading up of names” and just told every 5th grader to follow one of the two teachers to their classrooms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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I showed up to the music school scheduling session super early to try and co-ordinate when Bjarki and Emma had their lessons, only to find out that their respective teachers did not have compatible schedules. Sigh. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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That evening I attended an introductory meeting for parents of new students at Bjarki’s school. Again, they struck me as doing a really good job.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thursday 24 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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“Sunshine-coffee” outside in the sun at work. Somebody had brought in some cake!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The e-biking group gathered at 18:30 a short hop outside the capital, by the geothermal power station at Hellishei\u00f0i<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The main power-plant building<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The route as recorded by Strava. It was a bit over 24 km.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We biked up the hill by the station, and kept moving upwards for a bit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Drillholes visible from a distance. There are a lot of pipes in the area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The start of a slope that I had a little too much fun speeding down, at one point almost falling, which would have been a bit of a disaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Crossing rivers on bikes is fun too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A few members of the group were more sensible than others and went down the hill quite slowly. We had to wait for a few minutes for them to catch up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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All together now!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The last of the river crossings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The sun still blaring at 19:40 as we stopped to eat and drink a little something.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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That blue thing in the distance is the Atlantic Ocean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Biking over tufts of grass\/moss is eeeeh… tricky.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Looking at mountains to the north, before biking south.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Following a pretty track on the other side of the main auto-road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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So glad to have sunglasses plus a visor on my helmet as the sun did its very best to blind us on the way back.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The drillholes we’d seen from a distance earlier.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Back across the big road (there are two tunnels, so you don’t have to risk life and limbs to cross the road). The big pipes visible along the road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Another ridiculously fun hill to speed down. That’s the main power plant below.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Close-up on the structures. The pipes run zig-zag like this to better tolerate earthquakes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Friday 25 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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That morning I drove mom to the airport, as she had a ticket to fly to Sweden to stay with my newly emigrated brother and family. Just as we were parking by the terminal at 8 in the morning, this message came through…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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… and some five minutes later this one arrived.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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I’d given mom a late birthday\/early Christmas gift of upgrading her ticket to Saga Class, so she ended up spending the entire day lounging in the Saga Class Lounge!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Off she went!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Saturday 26 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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One of the local grocery stores had a pop-up farmers-market!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It looked pretty good!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Quick food-stop en route to the summer house…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sunday 27 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The weather was lovely enough to eat outside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Our guests had brought their pizza oven, which now seems to have reached “everybody-must-have-one”-status.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Finnur working on his big staining\/oiling project of the summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Halli and I finally made some headway with this game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Before heading back to town, I grabbed a few of the red currants growing outside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Pit stop at the usual cafe… and the view lovely as usual.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The cafe-dog keeping watch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Some of the carrots survived being left in the south-facing window for a week while we were away!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Monday 28 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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A sweaty gym-selfie!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tuesday 29 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Lots of new gear arrived at the gym, as they were outfitting a whole new room. I thought the actual vax seals were pretty cool!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Sewing club about to start. That’s just a reminder that a lot of houses in the capital area sit on old, but not that old, lava-fields.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wednesday 30 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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All the garbage-sorting items had finally arrived at Ikea, and it was time to install them! This was after I’d taken the old bin out, ugh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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I must applaud Ikea for this design. Relatively easy to install, and works really nicely.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Sorting-ready!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bjarki out practice driving late at night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thursday 31 August 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n
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At this point I was unaware, but due do a shoulder-injury, this would be my last e-biking-ride of the season, even though there were five more rides planned. We started out from a parking lot in the western part of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, and headed south-east.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Strava recording of the path, we went counter-clockwise, and it was about 24 km long.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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This is also the newest part of Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, but if you look at a map you can see that it sits on a not-so-old lava-field. Geologists are not fans of this town-extension-placement.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Turning off the car-road onto something more wild. See all that oldish lava there in the background?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A bike needed a bit of attention.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Through e-biking I’ve discovered that where there are electrical pylons, there are also roads, … which tend to be bad to nasty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Unexpected red-rock-hole.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Sadly, also a dumping ground according to some.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We finally reached the end of the electrical-pylon-access road…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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… and found ourselves on an earthen path. Much nicer!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The endless lava-field on my left.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A young forest!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The sign points to the way up to Mount Helgafell, but also along the hillside I’d just ridden under, where a forest has been planted.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Mount Helgafell itself. I’ve now hiked around it, but I’ve yet to actually climb it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Then there were lupines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The best, most fun, kind of track. Hard earth, not too rocky.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We parked our bikes, left a watcher, and… <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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… walked a little ways into the old lava-field.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Can you spot the old shelter?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It’s those black holes in the lava-formations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Somebody had built a sheltering wall a very long time ago.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Looking out from the second shelter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Flat rocks as a mini-roof\/windbreaker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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This site is a part of a treasure hunt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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More “roof”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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There was even an outer\/courtyard wall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Heading back to the bikes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We then ended up in yet another forest. I didn’t know there were so many around.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A very still Hvaleyrarvatn<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The scouts have a base by the lake. There was zero wind, that doesn’t happen often.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Going up again. This is an area I should get to know better.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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By about 9 in the evening we met proper civilization again, and then drove on home. Thus endeth August of 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Photos taken 19 – 31 August 2023, posted online 02 June 2024. Iceland has elected a new president!<\/a> (The Wikipedia article is in flux, but it will hopefully settle down soon). It’s a mostly ceremonial position, the only real power is vetoing legislation, which almost never happens. Thankfully nobody is alleging election fraud and the baton will pass peacefully.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

The guided e-biking group began riding again for the fall. I would manage to go on three rides before an ache in my left shoulder disqualified me for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

Bjarki got his practice driving license, and frequently asked us to go out on drives with him. I tried to remain calm. We all returned to school and work, and I managed to also keep going to the gym.<\/p>\n

Small home improvement projects got implemented, and the summer house also got some love and attention. I even managed to read a book outside in the backyard, gasp!<\/p>\n

Saturday 19 August 2023 <\/h2>\n
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The e-biking group gathered at the 2006 \u00dathl\u00ed\u00f0-church<\/a>, about an 80 minute drive from the capital area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friends","category-hrefnas-family","category-us","post-container col-md-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37108"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37238,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37108\/revisions\/37238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}