Bárður Snæfellsás, Arnarstapi, Iceland

‘There's something about the rhythm of walking, how, after about an hour and a half, the mind and body can't help getting in sync.’
Bjork
Quite a long day’s travel down south today, so our ‘tour guides’ have broken up the journey with a stop at a geothermal river about half way.
But first, a hearty breakfast for the journey and a visit to pay my respects to Bárður Snæfellsás, protector of the region and ‘Spirit of the Place’, a large stone statue created by Ragnar Kjartansson. The twisted and contorted cliffs where the lava fields meet the sea tell of the area’s turbulent genesis. We’ve had such a great time here and the weather has been so kind, so it makes sense to me to show gratitude to the place as personified by Bárður, a central figure in Icelandic sagas. The iconic Snæfellsjökull volcano which dominates the site was immortalized in Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”; this is a place steeped in history and folklore, where place names tell the story of the landscape, so it felt like familiar territory.
We made good time to Reykjadalur valley for the hike up to the hot spring thermal river, certainly a popular spot as the car park was nearly full. The steep ascent was punctuated by little diversions, like the ‘Sh’mae’ greeting we had from a group of youngsters on the way up, just past the steam gushing from a mud pool. We overheard several other Welsh accents on the way up, so we weren’t the only ones in town today. I had a good moan about the 700m sign, somebody must have moved it because it was a lot further than that to the bathing area. But the scenery makes the slog worthwhile and to then strip off and relax in the warm water felt sort of natural – must be my age. There was a boardwalk area along a stretch of the bank with some strategically placed steps to get into the ‘safe’ water area (warning signs of boiling hot water upstream), and although the place was popular we soon found a spot to relax and let go of the hike up. There’s no privacy for changing and I didn’t hang about when it was time to get out – it was about 6 degrees and a bit breezy when the sun went down behind the mountain so I wasn’t dawdling. That said it was an exhilarating experience and a lot of fun, a trip to Barry will never be the same again.