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Precipitous mountains
and steep screes frame cove Bolungarvik.
To the north is Mt Skardsfjall (502 m) and in the south Mt
Bolungarvikurbjarg. It is,
however, rather wide and short. Its
lowland area is considerable and partly boggy.
Cove Drangsvik cuts into the spit of land called Drangsnes and
both names are derived from the most prominent dyke in the middle of the
cove. The nearest cove is
called Naust, which means a boat landing, which it certainly was, and
reminders of the past, such as an old winch and ruins of houses.
The sandy beach and most of the lowland area was created by the
constant transport of material from the mountains by the river and
brooks. The estuary of the
river is forded during low tides and further inland is the so-called
Church Ford, just above Lake
Kirkjuvatn. These names suggest the existence of a church in the valley
in the past. The coastal
area is dotted with skerries, where seals lie basking and two of them
were colonized by eider ducks, Storasker and Landsker.
Two farms stood in the
valley in the past, Bolungarvikursel at the foot of Mt Skardsfjall
(abandoned in 1944) and Bolungarvik on the southern side of the cove
(abandoned in 1949). The
most valuable advantage of the farms was the driftwood.
Nowadays hikers in the area are offered sleeping bag
accommodations, kitchen facilities showers and a camping site.
It is also possible to arrange boat transport to or from
Bolungarvik.
Just above the
abandoned farm Bolungarvik are two stones occupied by elves.
When the farms were still inhabited, the children were warned not
to play too close to them and be careful not to disturb the elves.
Once a group of teenagers did not heed those warnings and their
parents were warned in their dreams to ask them to behave.
The parents forwarded those warnings, but the children continued
frolicking by the stones. The
elves drove one of the boys mad and later he was found dead further
inland in the mountain slopes.
Dvergasteinar (The
Dwarf Boulders) are short distance below the Bolungarvikurheidi
Moorland. They were
occupied by dwarfs according to the tales of old men.
Once a baby fell seriously ill at the farm and the weather was
too bad to attempt fetching the physician.
The parents eventually were out of resolve, when the father
decided to try to get one of the dwarves to help.
He went to the boulders and knocked.
He had to wait for a long time in the bad weather before a door
was opened. He asked the
dwarf to help his child. The
dwarf did not answer and closed the door only to appear soon again and
ready to go with the farmer. He
inspected the baby, gave it some medicine and used some ointments, which
he then left behind. The
baby soon recovered. The
ointments were conserved for a long time and only used when everything
else failed, and always with good results.
Hiking routes
Above the abandoned
farm Bolungarvikursel is a route through the Gongumannaskord Pass to
Cove Bardsvik.
The route to the
Hrafnfiord Bay across the Bolungarvikurheidi Moorland is steep and high
lying (421 m)
The
route to Furufjordur bay lies along the seaside of Mt Bolungarvikurbjarg,
preferably during low tides. |