I often go for a walk out to Helgafell, behind Hafnafjörður, when I have this urgent need to get out of town, but didn't plan anything, or have much time. It's one of my favourite walks near town, only about 40-45minutes from the car, and it's really a nice area. Off behind Helgafell though, is Húsfell. I'd often meant to come back and do the walk over there, or even take a bike trip there, as the road that leads to the base of Helgafell seems to continue in that direction.

So one day, I headed out to try just that.

Except, well, it was a bit late, and it was bit colder out there than I expected, and it was a bit further away than I expected. Part of that was because I went a completely different way, walking around the north side of Kaldárhnúkar and then across the lava pretty much straight towards Húsfell. While this was a lovely change, and I found quite a few possible cave entrances, it was also a lot slower than following the road from the carpark to the base of Helgafell.

But, with the sun about to set, and bring a good drop in the temperature, and after running into a series of rather large rifts, I decided to head back, rather than gun for the summit, and then have to negotiate the rifts in the cold dark night.

And, turning back, I got to see the sundogs over Helgafell, something I would have missed completely if I'd continued hiking east until it got dark :)