Sunset was at 12:51 AM, and sunrise is at 2:21 AM. It won’t be dark at all tonight, and after the day’s excitement sleeping might be tough. The day started at 5:45 since we had to make the ferry to the West Fjords (westernmost point in Europe). Hawk had said that the weather report was for “wind”, and it turns out that in Iceland “wind” means 60+ mile per hour gusts. Getting caught by a gust on the ferry was enough to knock a person over (literally), which made for a fun crossing.
After arriving in the West Fjords the wind curtailed most photography, but we spent some time driving along high, winding dirt roads that would give a mountain goat cause for concern, past fjords, through small fishing villages, and eventually to our guest house for the evening. With the wind still blasting we paused for a nap before dinner, then headed off to the Latrabjarg Cliffs, home to thousands and thousands of Atlantic puffins, razorbills, black-legged kittiwakes and Northern fulmars. The cliffs themselves drop over a thousand feet straight into the ocean, and the birds nest just below the edge, requiring rather perilous excursions to look down the cliff face to see what might be lurking below. Everyone came away with a ton of great photos, and I also took some time to do some hiking, putting me out of sight of any other human on top of massive sea cliffs – by any measure, a very good day.