Can black beaches be that pretty? \u00a0Some sayeth “No”? \u00a0Well let’s see…<\/p>\n

But first, while Winnie and her folks were having breakfast, I strolled a couple hundred meters over to V\u00edk \u00ed M\u00fdrdal town’s black volcanic beach for a preview of the day’s coming attractions, where I shot an image of those spires in the distance.<\/p>\n

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Those spires are basalt pinnacles in the ocean just off the cliffs of Reynisfjall. \u00a0Legend has it that they were formed when two trolls attempted to drag a three-masted ship to shore. The plan failed when the sun came up and turned the trolls into rock pinnacles, stranded just off shore forever.<\/p>\n

Unlike this particularly warm and sunny day, the sea around the Reynisdranger is often quite stormy and rough. \u00a0For this reason there is a monument to the memory of drowned seamen there on the beach. \u00a0Sadly, I didn’t see a monument to the trolls. \u00a0Too bad.<\/p>\n

Our first stop of the morning was Halsanefshellir cave. \u00a0Talk about easy access, we drove into a sparsely populated parking lot, parked, and strolled about 50 meters… and there it was.<\/p>\n

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Halsanefshellir cave<\/h3>\n

Halsanefshellir Cave is a vaulted cavern on the beach of Reynisfjall. \u00a0It’s made from columns of basalt rising from a black sandy beach and was created during the volcanic eruption that formed the island oh… maybe about 100 thousand years ago. \u00a0Or so. \u00a0Does this remind anyone else of a pipe organ just off the apse in a cathedral?<\/p>\n

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These columns form an easily climbable series of steps for ten or twelve meters up the hillside. The columns are \u00a0hexagonal and made me think about a honeycomb. \u00a0You too?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Oh, and that beach everyone’s on? \u00a0When the weather is normal (bad) that beach can be gone in a few minutes as tides around here can reportedly range up to six or seven meters. \u00a0That’s a lot of water movement, and no matter how strong a swimmer you think you are, you’re not going to beat the tides, winds and\/or undertows here in this part of our hemisphere.<\/p>\n But enough of this. \u00a0I can see\u00a0Dyrh\u00f3laey (Door Hole Island) off in the distance. \u00a0And it beckons..<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Four legs on the ground, one spindly one off the edge.<\/h3>\n For many years, boats were launched from Dyrh\u00f3laey when people still rowed out to sea to fish. \nI sat on a rock on the edge of the cliff and pondered that a bit… Row boats? \u00a0Today was a magnificently beautiful day by Icelandic standards… any season, bar none. \u00a0(Immediately prior to our arrival a few days ago, though, one of the locals told me that they had experienced fifty (50) consecutive days of high winds and rain.) \u00a0I tried to imagine these tough sailors rowing heavy wooden boats through the wind, rain, and waves to GO fishing, instead of running from the storm… \u00a0I’ve been in some pretty rough seas before, but not in a dang wooden boat! \u00a0Criminy! \u00a0I imagined some souls quaking, and swallowing their fear to press on, to satisfy the need to feed the family. Inwardly, I wondered… “Would I do it?”<\/p>\n Would you?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Winnie’s pic of Dyrh\u00f3laey. \u00a0Sun was in her eyes, couldn’t see little screen in back. \u00a0She pointed. \u00a0She shot. \u00a0I think that she got a WINNER !<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n Our traveling companions, Winnie’s Dad and Mom,<\/div>\n George and Pat<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n Another view of “Door Hole Island” (loose translation from Icelandic)<\/h3>\n It’s kind of cool to note that there are three, doorways beneath the promontory’s cliffs at water level. \u00a0That one on the left is the largest, and boats of up to 30 tons can pass through it. \u00a0And although it’s unthinkable to me, some daredevil pilot flew his airplane right through the door. \u00a0Who would do such a thing?! \u00a0\ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/p>\n Dyrh\u00f3laey<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n A view of \u00a0Dyrh\u00f3laey from the beach. \u00a0Light breeze, warm sunshine. \u00a0Shiny black pebbles crunching underfoot that seem to sparkle ebony light along the beach always just ahead of me as I strolled, marching along between me and the sun.. \u00a0The smell and taste of the salt air. \u00a0Truly a magical place on our tiny blue planet. \u00a0There are so many things that I dearly wish all my friends could see, just once in their lives.<\/div>\n <\/div>\n Dyrh\u00f3laey, boasts steep cliffs (perpendicular is about as steep as you can get) that extend upward from the sea to it’s highest point (there on the left) measuring 115 meters. \u00a0That’s a long way down, when viewed from the top.<\/div>\n <\/div>\n Can’t (don’t want) to guess how high that is? \u00a0Here’s what it looks like up close and personal…<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n