Today, we woke up to a cloudy day. It was misting a little and very cold — 37°F. We decided to go to Mt. Hverfjall. Mt. Hverfjall is a huge crater that was formed in an explosive eruption 2,500 years ago. It is the biggest tephra crater in Europe. We were the only ones there.
We decided to climb to the top. It is a very long way up. The walk starts out pretty easy, but the higher you get, the steeper the trail becomes.
Jay did not think that I was going to make it to the top, and there were times when I doubted whether I would make it as well. But I kept thinking about the little engine that could from the childhood storybook. You know, the one about the little train engine trying to get up a steep hill while repeating to himself, “I think I can, I think I can,” until he finally made it to the top.
Well, I did the same thing. I kept telling myself, “I think I can make it to the top.” I would stop and take a break for a couple of minutes, and then I would start again. Each time I stopped, I would look up and see that the top was getting closer. Finally, I made it to the top. I felt triumphant, knowing that I had succeeded. Just like the little engine said when he made it to the top, I said, “I thought I could.”
The view from up there was magnificent. After Jay took his pictures, we headed back down. It was a lot easier going downhill than it was going uphill.
Our next stop was Akureyri. We parked our car and walked around town. This was probably the most people we had seen since we left Reykjavík. We went shopping and ate lunch at a restaurant while we were in town. Jay had a hamburger and fries. I, on the other hand, went with a traditional Icelandic dish: lamb stew with vegetables. It was good.
After lunch, we did some more shopping — mostly just looking around — before heading back to our car.
