Day 4: Of Rainbows, Wind, and Country Roads in Iceland

Well, I'd hoped to have this post up on Monday, but with the looming government shutdown (recall, I am a civilian employee of the Federal government) it was all hands on deck at work to get through a crucial two-day meeting before risk of shutdown. And alas, as we all know now, the government has shutdown. I am furloughed, which in layman terms means that I am not allowed to work nor will I receive a paycheck until Congress appropriates (funds) the government again. Rumor has it RIF (reduction in force) notices will come today and tomorrow. I do not know if I will be RIFed or not. (To be RIFed means to be fired.)

I have strong feelings and opinions about it all, but at the same time, what is happening is out of my control. So I am choosing to focus on joy where I can find it - something I have complete control over. Part of choosing joy - and a small silver lining to being without a job right now - is that I have plenty of time to work on finalizing these posts! So buckle up, because I anticipate the story about the last few days of this incredible trip will hit the blog hard and fast now. 

A Slow Start and Seals

The decision was made this morning that we would ride. The winds were ample, but not so much to prohibit riding. We were told that we’d be on horses by 2p after a stop at a beach to see seals prior. 

I gotta say, the slow starts to our mornings were fabulous. They really helped balance the trip to feel like a bit of a relaxing vacation while also having plenty of go-go-go from all of our time in the saddle. Each slow morning, I’d enjoy numerous cups of tea while drafting posts for the blog. It was delightful. And I’m so glad I took the time to draft when I did! The details were freshest then. It’s time-consuming enough to embed media into these posts after-the-fact without also worrying about writing them!

En route to the horses, we went to the seal beach to see a few harbor and grey seals. I’ve seen seals countless times, so I didn’t bother capturing much media here. The most memorable part about this stop for me was when Siggi shared a story about a seal that adopted his dad/dad’s boat. Siggis’s dad is a fisherman (all of the seafood we ate was courtesy of him) and a one-eyed seal made frequent visits to his dad through the years for fish handouts. No matter how many boats were in an area, the seal would seek out his. This went on for many years until, presumably, the seal died. What a cool relationship to have! Nature is incredible.

Common eider and harbor seal

Kristín and Siggi. Siggi was talking to the seal in the water (dark rock-looking thing is it's head)

Gathering the Horses

Following the seal stop, we went to the horse pasture to round them up and tack them. The view  we rounded the horses up under was wildly picturesque: sunbeams striking down through patchy cloud cover to illuminate green pastures and give contrast to moody grey skies over the mountains while striking water droplets in the air, placing a rainbow overhead for the duration of our time at the pasture.

Tacking up was a little challenging due to the wind. Have you ever had your saddle flaps just fly up and wave in the wind? Yeah, me either until this day! However, we made due and were on the horses right around 2p. 

Picturesque

The waterfalls in the distance are my favorite thing about this photo

All the pretty horses

Torra in the foreground as we push the horses toward the small area to be tacked

To my back, this view continued

All the redheads

Visa, head into the wind, patiently waiting

Not my photo and from lunch not the tacking up session, but a good example of the winds we endured 

Riding into the Wind

This day of the tour was by far the windiest riding day of my entire life. The wind was steadily in the 28-35 mph range all day with intermittent higher gusts. Would I do ride in wind like that again? Yes - with the caveat that I’d make a better choice in tights for the day (I chose poorly and wore summer tights vs fleece ones after I’d been too warm in fleece ones on the first big day). Womp womp.

The first 5.5 miles of this ride were along the road and not much to write home about beyond the impressive whitecaps on lakes and lake water being thrown from those crashing waves to dampen us many meters away! There was so much road riding because some “rich man” bought a whole bunch of property along the beach and wouldn’t let anyone on it, I guess. And so we walked and tolted along the road, heads down, as we endured the wind. 

Despite the wind however, there were smiles all around. I think most of us realized we could do nothing but laugh at the situation. To top it off, we paid to enjoy that mild suffering! Horse people, we’re nuts. (Or what’s the common saying? Not all horse [pet] people are crazy, but all crazy people have horses [pets].)

The horses were such troopers. I really felt for them all. Visa was such a little professional. She was definitely Not Thrilled with the wind and extra noises it created as we traveled past places, but she kept her wits about her and trucked ever onward. Every one of the horses was such a settled professional about it all. 

In fact, Visa was offering a lot more trot than tolt on this day. At first I tried hard to keep her in tolt, but then I quickly realized that this diminutive (but mighty!) mare was working hard for me in this ridiculous wind. The least I could do was let her work a little less hard and just trot. Don’t get me wrong, we tolted a fair bit, too. But I just couldn’t bring myself to micromanage her too hard about it. 

That is a lake....

Blowing manes, blowing tails, and flattened grass

Rainbow continues over another lake

White caps, not a pot of gold, lie beneath this rainbow's end

Bebe!!

Amused with our circumstances riding in the wild wind

Jacquline and I

Jacquline adored Torra so very much

Don't worry, my fascination with the dual hand horse setup was still strong on this day. And yeah, that's a lake not ocean in the background 

Butts to the wind

Visa's wind-flattened tail

Crossing to the lunch spot

Everyone so bundled up! Kristín's chaps and hand knitted Icelandic wool sweater were ideal clothing choices on this day for sure!

Approaching the lunch spot

A Break, Blowing Wind, and Beaches

After a good while traveling parallel to the road (including one stop to let the horses have a break sans riders and graze), we finally veered toward the coast. This put the wind at our backs instead of to our left/head on. A welcome change, if you asked me! We crossed the river to a tidal islet and took a break for lunch after letting the horses drink their fill in the river. 

The wind during this break was absolutely brutal. We were out in the midst of it with nothing to hide behind. The horses were butt-to-the wind, with a bank of grass in front of them as a buffet, but we were just stuck sitting/standing in it. 

Our jackets whipped, our saddles (that we’d removed from the horses) were blown over, lunch containers blew around, saddle bags flapped. It was delightful. <sarcasm>

At first, I sat with my back to the bank attempting to eat my lunch (peanut butter in some flat bread and a sandwich with meat and cheese). However, Visa was very demanding about me sharing. So, logically, I shared the peanut butter treat with her (whereby “share” means I had two bites and she had the rest). I then lay with my belly on the bank and my back to her and the wind to eat my sandwich in peace (“peace” from Visa’s mugging). 

After eating, I just did my best to try and find warmth within myself as I stood being beaten by the wind. As I’d catch the eye of those standing nearby doing the same thing, we couldn’t help but just giggle at the ridiculousness of it all. We were all thinking of the sauna that would await us at the end of the day and enduring this moment as best we could. 

In due time, we tacked back up, mounted, and headed to the beach. While this stretch of beach was some of the most beautiful sand for galloping we’d seen so far, we kept to the tolt for the day due to the wind and blowing sand. 

The miles on the beach flew by in comparison to those along the road. The wind didn’t seem nearly so brutal when surrounded by the soft sound of Icelandic horse hooves on firm sand. My perma-grin was firmly installed on my face for much of it. …well, maybe not so much during moments of blowing sand, but I was smiling in my mind!

After a time, we took a short break sheltered behind a high cutaway hill to hide from the wind. It was a MUCH nicer break than the last one! Several of us took that opportunity to get a few posed photos with the horses. 

To the beaches!

We were really giggly as we left lunch as we firmly accepted that while the wind kind of sucked (okay, okay, it BLEW...har har har) we all very much WANTED to be here and were loving it

I love Visa's windblown tail cameo in this shot

Very bundled up humans

Windblown and a touch chilled, but very happy. Also, the one strap pack I'm wearing held my DSLR. It's taken over a decade but I finally figured out a solid setup to bring the DSLR along on rides. Game changer is having a mirrorless camera body and a prime 28mm lens; very streamlined setup compared to what I used to have. That said, the very large majority of riding photos were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S25 phone's camera. 

Such a dramatic coastline

Single file through a tricky bit of coastline where there was quicksand

Little queen

Laughing about the wind 

Kisses for Visa

Hiding from the wind behind the cutaway hill

After brushing sand from the horses and their girths, we remounted and headed back down the beach for a time. At an unspoken point, the guides navigated uphill off the beach and we followed a gravel road for a mile or so to that night’s pasture. A fast tolt took quick care of that final mile. 

Once at the pasture, everyone untacked and stored their saddles in short order. Then the horses were turned loose and we all fled to the shuttles to escape the wind and head back to our nightly accommodations. 

Another bebe!

Happy rolling horses

Visa seeking the perfect spot

Sure, yeah, right there in the gravel seems great, Visa, you weirdo. (In all seriousness, I noticed many of the horses opting for rocky ground numerous times when rolling.)

My GPS track of the day.

Music to End the Day

That night, following some time in the sauna and a simple non-traditional Icelandic meal of pasta with bolognese with a traditional Icelandic dessert of cream and caramel sauce over blueberries, we were treated to an hour and a half of music by one of our guides, Atli. He sang both popular classic rock songs and several traditional Icelandic songs. Our other guide, Kristín contributed stunning harmonies to many of the Icelandic songs.

Atli is incredibly gifted; his skill on the guitar was formidable and his voice carried such an impressive range! Kristín's voice was unearthly: high, pure, and luminous. When she wove her harmonies around Atli’s melodies, the sound became something otherworldly, as if the music itself were weaving a spell. The songs in English were ones everyone knew in some capacity, so they became sing-a-longs. The Icelandic songs were new to us all and special to listen to. I was grateful to him for his generosity in sharing them with us. 

The final song Atli sang in English was one beloved around the world, yet especially meaningful to West Virginians (despite its lyrics describing geography that isn’t ours) John Denver’s “Country Roads.” Atli mentioned it was the first time he’d ever performed the song for people actually from that place. Kate and I had even wagered earlier that this song would likely be chosen at some point, and we laughed when he announced it. I insisted that if we were going to sing it, we had to do it the “West Virginia way”: arms around each other, swaying gently, just as we do after WVU games, win or lose. Everyone joined in, and it became a truly special memory - standing together in that cozy common room, voices from around the world lifted in song. The Icelanders even playfully swapped some lyrics to fit their own country, which somehow made it feel even more perfect. It was only later that I discovered the night of our singing coincided with WVU’s victory over Pitt in [American] football - our fiercest rivalry - a serendipitous echo of home.

For each Icelandic song, Atli paused to share its story and meaning, an offering I deeply valued. His favorites, saved for the close of the evening, carried lyrics of sorrow and longing - even the tender lullaby song. Though I could not understand the words themselves, the weight of their emotion was unmistakable, carried in the rise and fall of his voice. Those final songs lingered in the air long after the last note faded, leaving me with a feeling I know will stay with me for years to come.

Reflecting

As I look back on this day, I can’t help but feel grateful for every bit of it, the laughter in the wind, the grit of the horses, the warmth of music and song at the end. These are the kinds of moments that linger long after a trip ends, the ones that remind you why you set out in the first place. And through it all, Visa carried me forward with steady determination, a reminder that the best adventures are shared. What a gift to have lived it and to know there was still more magic waiting just ahead in the coming days as we traveled over the mountains to the northern coast of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.