Icelandair Stopover Buddy Adventure with ATV – Óbyggðaferðir (Post 2 of 2)
As part of my trip to Iceland for Canopy by Hilton in November 2016, the Stopover Buddy service from Icelandair took us out of Reykjavík for an incredible adventure riding ATVs around Three Horn Mountain near Lambalækur, Iceland. Unnar Gardarsson of ATV – Óbyggðaferðir was our leader at the site, and I must admit he took us on one of the best trips I can remember as we slid through snow banks, forded icy rivers, admired waterfalls and volcanos, and then ate a wonderful lunch in an eighth-century monk's cave on a cliffside. As I said at the time, it was the most intense fun I've ever had with my clothes on. Unnar pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best possible way. And yes, there was some brennivín involved.
The first part of the day I covered previously, but let's go through the rest of the time there. The weather was gorgeously sunny, but biting, biting cold. Once we got all bundled up in our snowsuits, we hopped on our ATVs and rode off through horse pastures to wild, rugged country around Þrihyrningr, Three-Horn Mountain. The stark, desolate beauty of the volcanic landscape reminded me of my childhood in Idaho. But it was also otherworldly. I felt civilization was a million miles away and we were on a new planet. And I remembered, not too surprisingly, that Ridley Scott filmed his gorgeous mess Prometheus in Iceland.
How many times did all of us, including Unnar, get stuck in snow drifts, or even in cracked ice? I lost count. But we ventured over lava fields and across rivers till we reached the cliffside cave for our lunch break. Before the Vikings, a monk arrived here from Ireland and carved himself a home in the basalt. That was one tough monk. And in his honor we toasted our brennivín and beer, and then lunch included such traditional Icelandic dishes as sheep's head. Um, wow. And... sushi. The fun was off the charts; the scenery was beyond breathtaking.
And on our way back to Reykjavík we stopped to hang out with Icelandic horses. And then we arrived back at the Canopy hotel just in time for its grand opening celebration. See all my Iceland posts.
Nice person in Portland, Oregon, and beyond.
