Remember last year when I said I was going to make my bud run the Grand Canyon next time? Well, I did it. Here he is all sweaty after running back up. New year, new attempt at the Bright Angel Trail. Pokin and Wing didn’t do the whole hike last year, so they went back to try again.
The morning started bright and early. We were taking the shuttle over and because Pokin was worried about having enough time to do the hike, she made them take the first shuttle out. It meant they started the hike when it was still dark.
It being dark apparently didn’t prevent all the runners from booking it as soon as we got off the shuttle. I was trying to be considering and so I was with Pokin as I watched all the lights blink and rapidly disappear down the canyon.
I could see my bud was feeling jealous and feeling impatient. But we all stuck together at first.
Soon the sun came out, and it appears like it’ll be an overcast cloudy day! Lucky for Pokin, as it’d be otherwise a scorcher of a day.
What started out as relief of the cool day turned into worry as it looked like it was going to start to pour. I wasn’t feeling thrilled.
My bud though – he got the opportunity to run! Wing and his friend weren’t feeling great from the hike (because they started injured) so my bud ended up running up Grand Canyon – first back to the hotel to drop off his bags to come back and assist.
In the end we all made it up, and I managed to stay dry, so everyone was happy. Grand Canyon 2023 edition was a success!
We had time to kill before lunch, so Chiara took us to Pienza. Unlike many of the other towns in the region, Pienza was built during peaceful times, so it didn’t have the typical fortifications common in the area.
Pienza as it looks now came to be thanks to Pope Pius II. Story has it that Pope Pius II was born in the region back when Pienza was known as a small village named Corsignano. He felt like as pope, he should come from a more beautiful and representative town for a pope, so he had Pienza rebuilt for use as his summer residence. Pienza, “city of Pius,” is known as an ideal Renaissance town, and was one of the first towns to apply urbanist planning concepts that were later applied to other cities across Europe. It also seemed to be the centre point for many spots around Tuscany. It was super hot and sunny so I wasn’t that up to explore, but we snapped a few photos before heading on to lunch.
Our next stop was to Il Casale, a Dairy Farm that produced a variety of pecorino cheeses. This was when Pokin learned that Pecorino cheeses described any kind of sheep’s milk cheese.
Apparently cheeses were brought in by the Sardinians. Tuscany used to be a really cheap region, and so many Sardinians immigrated to the area, bringing along their cheese technique.
Il Casale was perched up on the top of a hill, with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.
I was impressed. I got a few pics. Everyone sat to eat lunch. The food was good. For them. They liked some sort of salad leaf named mizuna (portaluca in english). I didn’t. I’m not a goat.
Then it rained. On all of us. I was less happy about that. This giant raindrop landed perfectly into Pokin’s espresso cup which splashed coffee all over her. That was a little amusing.
The next morning I was dragged up again at what I think was nearly sunrise.
I think it was nearly sunrise because it was pouring rain…so visibility wasn’t exactly there for me to tell much of anything.
One unwilling driver, one grumpy bear, and one hopeful photographer packed into a car and headed for Reynisfjara, the sunrise edition.
We parked at the beach, Pokin bundled up and went out —
and promptly came back. Not only was it rainy, but strong winds were blowing her backwards. Combine that with dangerous waves and even this crazy person found her limits.
So we sat in the car to see if weather conditions would improve. While sitting in the car I spent my time watching the wet sheep.
There, in the pouring rain, in windy conditions were the sheep, calmly munching away as though nothing was amiss. IT’S SO WET OUT THERE YOU CRAZY SHEEP!!
Due to the geographic isolation, the Icelandic sheep are considered one of the purest breeds in the world. They originate from the Northern European Short tailed stock of sheep, introduced to the country in the late 9th or 10th century by the vikings.
The fleece is apparently double coated, making them highly resistant to cold. There are apparently over 800,000 icelandic sheep to a population of ~390K Icelandic people.
I guess that makes them tolerant this dampness better? I don’t know. Give me hot cocoa by a toasty fire any day.
After I watched sheep for long enough, and after Pokin waited for long enough to know sunrise had most definitely already certainly happened, we drove back to the hotel to get ready for our day.
Today’s agenda? Waterfalls!
Wasn’t it wet enough already?
It was still raining a little when we set out, so we decided to first swing by to the Dyrhólaey Lighthouse because at least that was visible from the car. The rain was nice enough to stop by the time we got there, so we got out.
And immediately regretted it because it was so windy. I clung on to Nicholas tightly, I was that worried about being blown away.
Dyrhólaey Lighthouse marks the southernmost point in Iceland. The light station was first built in 1910, and the actual lighthouse built in 1927. The lighthouse was prefabricated in Sweden. Dyrhólaey stands for Door Hole Isle, named for this rock structure that sat below:
Nice peninsula. Nice lighthouse. Too cold! Back in the car.
Our next stop was Kvernufoss, which is located a short drive away from the more famous and touristy Skógafoss. Pokin picked this place because she thought there would be less crowds. There were, but it was made up for with more drones, which she shortly discovered from all the buzzing she heard.
I saw more sheep. Naturally.
The waterfall was wet and sprayed water everywhere. Naturally.
I helped out where I could, while doing my best to stay dry.
And was overall glad when we were done and hiking away from this waterfall.
Even though I knew it was unlikely, I still hoped Kvernufoss would be a one and done waterfall for the day.
“Next stop, Skógafoss,” announces Pokin. “It’s only a couple minutes away.”
“You’re lucky” said our host at the time she picked us up from the airport. “It’s been raining the past few weeks but it looks really nice right now and I think you’ll have beautiful weather all week.”
Well she ought to eat those words. She almost caused me an unnecessary bath.
Cabanas Rapa Nui Orito wasn’t exactly located close to anything, so after I got tired of parading around in my new leis, we packed up and started the 30 minute walk to town.
In that time, the horizon went from light and bright to slightly grey to really grey to grey with definite appearances of impending rain.
I had just enough time to dive back into my plastic bag inside the backpack before a downpour hit everyone.
Fortunately I stayed dry. Can’t say the same for Nicholas or Pokin but at least it was warm. Well at least it was warm for me inside the bag.
They dried up sufficiently by the time we got close to town, and we got to have our first glimpse of the coast up close.
