CELL Snaefellsness Trip

Josh: Our journey to the Snaefellsness peninsula began with an early drive through an Icelandic snowstorm, watching the headlights of our van illuminate the white flakes as they fell against the blackness of early morning. Passing through the outskirts of Reykjavik, we stopped briefly at a coffee shop to enjoy some warm beverages and sweet treats. the sun was rising and the snow had stopped as we piled into the van to continue our northward passage, driving through a tunnel under a fjord and then along Iceland's west coast, marked by mountains rising to the east and waves crashing to the west. We enjoyed the views while they lasted, mesmerized by the frontlines of the battle between earth and ocean, but soon the snow and wind soon returned. We felt the power of Iceland's weather and found a new respect for the cautious respect Icelanders show during harsh storms.

Thankfully we made it to our lodging for the weekend without any major mishaps, although we did get a chance to work as a team to help turn our van around in the deep snow drift at our guesthouse. We unpacked our belongings into our suite, complete with "CELL loft" and hot-tub, then started to make some delicious stew that would feed us for the remainder of our stay. By the time we had finished lunch, the worst of the storm had passed so we decided to head further out on the peninsula for some sightseeing. We found Snaefellsness to more than live up to our expectations, as we watched the sunlight play through the clouds over the ocean and soaked in the rugged landscape that rose sharply from the sea.

We eventually came to a short trail to hike along the rocky coast. Watching the waves crash against the rocks, I was reminded of the coast of Maine, except painted black by the volcanism of ages past. Our hike culminated at an impressive landmark: two massive stone pillars on the coast, towering over us like two giant trolls who had lost track of time watching the ocean one night and turned to stone at daybreak. We lingered over the view of the ocean, waves pounding against the coast, and the soothing rhythm of the surf. It was incredibly peaceful and inspiring. As we were allowing life to wash over us, we noticed a looming dark, grey cloud makings its way to where we were sitting, ready to wash over us with more snow, so we quickly headed back to our van to return to the safety of our house. Once there, we jumped in the hot tub to watch the whiteness engulf peak after peak as it moved toward us. We spent the rest of the night working on our knitting and pondering life's inner and outer mysteries.

We awoke the next day to the continued blowing of the wind and snow, which didn't stop some of us from running down to the ocean for a (very) quick swim and a jaunt back to the hot-tub to regain feeling in our appendages and sanity in our minds. The rest of the day we were driving around the peninsula, enjoying the sights when the snow would stop blowing, and doing our best to stay on the slippery roads through mountain passes. Frederick showed us around to some of the best places in Snefellsness. We decided to stay an extra night to avoid the possibility of being blown off the road by the wind, and headed back to Solheimar early the next morning. The entire weekend was a great opportunity to see more of Iceland, more of each other, and even more of ourselves.

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