The Vestrahorn near Höfn has become widely known by now, and I had been here several times in recent years. This time, though, I stood right down by the surf for the first time, in the middle of the black sand dunes. The sunrise was amazing – apparently the first beautiful one in weeks, as the site warden told us, who by now is making a fortune from the entrance fees for this little patch of earth.
A morning at the Vestrahorn
A morning of light and shadow: the rugged rocks in the first light, and in front of them the soft lines of the dunes. The Vestrahorn is around 454 metres high and stands on the Stokksnes peninsula, which is privately owned – you pay the entrance fee at the Viking Café by the gate, right next to a replica Viking village built as a film set. The black dunes in front of it are covered in lyme grass.
Snowy mountains reflected in the lagoon at Stokksnes, dusk colouring the horizon.The Vestrahorn massif in still water, at the blue hour.Silhouettes on the shore: reindeer in front of the dark mountain, the last light behind.Birds circling above a snowy summit in the evening sky.Pink evening sky above a flat bank of cloud.Grassy dunes at Stokksnes, the Vestrahorn backlit.Right at the front for the first time: the Vestrahorn above the black sand dunes.Lyme grass and sand ripples in front of the snow-covered Vestrahorn.The summit of the roughly 454-metre Vestrahorn in the first morning light.The jagged rocks in the light, the soft dark lines of the dunes in front.The Vestrahorn reflected in the wet sand – the first fine sunrise in weeks.A photographer on the beach at Stokksnes, tiny in front of the mountain.Backlight: a photographer against the low sun.Patterns in the dune sand, the snowy massif behind under a deep blue sky.The sun bursts out at the rocky tip, a reindeer grazing below.Pink twilight over the sea at Stokksnes.A reindeer on the shore of the lagoon, nothing but stillness around.
