Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE LÁTRABJARG RESCUE
One of Iceland's most daring
sea-rescue operations
occurred at Látrabjarg in December
1947, when farmers from Hvallátur set out to rescue the crew of a British trawler, the
Dhoon
,
which had been wrecked off the rocky shoreline during a severe snowstorm. After sliding
down the ice-covered cliffs by rope, the Icelanders pulled the sailors to safety using a rescue
line they fired across to the stricken vessel - although it took two separate attempts to hoist all
the men up the treacherous cliff face, from where they were taken by horseback to nearby
farms to recover. A year later, a film crew arrived in Hvallátur to make a documentary about the
accident, in which several locals were to re-enact the rescue - however, while they were
filming, another British trawler,
Sargon
, became stranded in nearby Patreksfjörður, giving the
film makers a chance to catch a drama on film for real.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
LÁTRABJARG
By bus
Between June and August it's possible to get to
Látrabjarg by bus from both Brjánslækur and Ísafjörður;
timetables are at
W
bsi.is.
Destinations
Brjánslækur (3 weekly; 3hr 30min); Ísafjörður
(3 weekly; 5hr 30min); Patreksfjörður (3 weekly; 2hr
30min).
Rauðisandur
East of Látrabjarg, the clifftop path rounds Keflavík bay and, after around 20km,
finally descends to the serene red-orange sands at
Rauðisandur
bay, where a couple
of farming families still live. The lush, open fields that slowly give way to the vast
expanse of sand that forms this part of the Breiðafjörður's shore have been cultivated
for centuries, and today flocks of hardy sheep wander from field to shore in search
of patches of grass. It's also possible to reach Rauðisandur along Route 614 which
heads south 12km from its junction with Route 612, a few kilometres before the
disused airport at Sandoddi and Hnjótur, all the way to the beach and the
Bæjarvaðall
lagoon.
4
The south coast
East from Brjánslækur and Flókalundur, the south coast of the West Fjords is all but
uninhabited. As the unsurfaced Route 60 rounds the head of Vatnsfjörður east of
Flókalundur, it's well over 100km before civilization reappears at
Bjarkalundur
, itself
little more than a hotel and a filling station. Although still dramatic, the mountains
along this stretch of road are less rugged and angular than those along the northern and
western coasts, and the coastline is dominated by small bays separated by high bluffs,
with wide areas of heavily vegetated flatland gently sloping down to the shores of
Breiðafjörður.
Bjarkalundur
Hiking
is just about all there is to do at the small service centre of
BJARKALUNDUR
,
126km east of Flókalundur, nothing more than a restaurant and a modern and
uninspiring
hotel
. Roughly 1km east of the hotel, a four-wheel-drive track marks
the beginning of a
trail
(7km) leading to the twin peaks of
Vaðalfjall,
, an extinct
volcano whose outer layers have eroded away, leaving just a bare chimney from
where there are fantastic views out over the fjords and islands of Breiðafjörður. To
return to Bjarkalundur, head southwest from the mountains to the old road that
leads down to Kinnarstaðir farm, from where it's a couple of kilometres east along
Route 60 to the hotel.
