Iceland 2021 – Part 3: #07 Westfjords Hesteyri to Budir

30.06.2021

We drove almost the whole night from Vik via Dynjandi to Isarfjördur where the boat to Hesteyri in Hornstrandir departs. It took us around 9h. We had a quick stop at Dynjandi before heading to Isarfjördur.

The drive itself was quite exhausting, just because of its length.

Our plan for our Westfjords hike:

Day 1: Arrive at Hesteyri and hike to Budir

Day 2: Hike from Budir to Hornvik with a detour to the cliffs

Day 3: Hike around the Horn at Hornvik

Day 4: Hike from Hornvik to Veidileysufjördur to catch the boat at 10AM

Day 1: Arrive at Hesteyri and hike to Budir

Departure from Isarfjördur

The boat left at 2PM from Isarfjördur. Along the way they stop at several Fjords to drop off and pick up passengers. Of course we were the last getting dropped. The direct boat ride is about 1h but with all the stops it took 2,5h to arrive at Hesteyri.

The start of the hike is along the Fjord until a point where there were seals relaxing on stones. We spent quite a bit of time there knowing that the path ahead of us is long and steep.

The hike itself was quite difficult at times, especially because of the wet landscape from the melting snow around the passes.

At times there were big gravel chunks instead of a hiking path making it exhausting at times 🙂

When we passed the highest point for the day we were able to see the north side where we had to go.

So good the sun was not going down. We reached the highest point at around 9:30PM.

Amazing light! The midnight sun is really special.

The hike down to the sea was quite easy but longer than expected. When we arrived at the beach we decided to have dinner in the midnight sun 🙂

From there we had to search the path to the campsite, having a stream blocking our way and no path. When we arrived at the campsite there were 2 other tents, so basically empty.