Iceland – Driving Snow between Flúðir and the Highlands

Geländewagen im Schneetreiben auf dem Weg ins isländische Hochland

Overnight a good 30 centimetres of fresh snow had fallen outside our hotel. Beautiful – but it made our plan to drive a loop towards the highlands a risky one. We set off anyway, to see how far we would get.

As far as the Hjálparfoss

The first stage took us to the Hjálparfoss waterfall. So far, so good.

Rider in the white expanse of driving snow near Flúðir — A few riders and nothing but white: snow flurries near Flúðir after a night of a good 30 centimetres of fresh snow.

Grey snowy landscape in thick driving snow — Sky and land blur together; only a fence still draws a line through the grey.

Wide snowy plain in the fog — No horizon left – the snowy plain merges seamlessly into the fog.

Snow-covered road sign in the white landscape — The road sign is half covered in snow – mostly just the distance can still be read.

Blurred mountain in driving snow — A mountain appears in the flurries and is gone again a moment later.

Dark Icelandic horse at the fence in the snow in black and white — An Icelandic horse at the barbed-wire fence, its mane full of snow – it takes the weather more calmly than we did.

Snowy road with crash barriers in driving snow — Crash barriers show the way, the road itself lies under snow – we set off anyway.

Black river in a snowy landscape under a grey sky — A black river cuts through the white, nothing but grey emptiness above.

Small vehicle in the snowy expanse — Small and alone in the white expanse: a vehicle making its way through the snow.

Off-road vehicle with big tyres in the snow on the way to the highlands — Tyres like these keep going towards the Highlands – the fresh snow had made our plan a risky one.

Snowy hills and bushes in driving snow — Bushes and hills under fresh snow, the rest vanishing in the flurries.

Wooded slopes under snow in the fog — Wooded slopes in the fog – on the way to Hjálparfoss.

Trees with hoarfrost on a snowy slope — Hoarfrost on every branch: pale birches in front of the dark conifers.

Snowy forest and mountain in the haze — White trees, white mountain, white sky – only the forest in between stays dark.

Dark forest beneath a snowy mountainside — A dark band of forest beneath the snowy mountainside.

Snowy ridge in the white haze — The ridge shows only faintly in the white haze.