the dailypic 4265 yr12 247 Gateway Plane

My favorite spot in Iceland, one of my favorite spots anywhere. When I was a kid I came across a photo/story about this plane in a book. My curiosity about Iceland began. The plane is American, in 1973 the Navy DC plane ran out of fuel and crashed on the black beach at Sólheimasandur, on the South Coast of Iceland. Not sure what drew me to it, being born in 73, the black sand, the fact that it was just left there to rot away, I wanted to see it.

In 2017 we took out the first trip to the island and it was the only thing I had to see. We toured the area on ATVs, I had 15 mins to work around a ton of tourists, with bad light and limited equipment. During my second trip, I was part of a planned winter tour group and it was not on the itinerary.

On this trip, I only had two goals, the volcano and the plane on Sólheimasandur. No tour this time, no ATVs, I parked and did the 4.5-mile round trip walk. I went later in the day to get what I had hoped would be better light. I saw two couples the whole time I was there. Most of the time I was completely alone. I stayed for a couple of hours long enough for the moon to rise. It is just a peaceful spot. You can hear the ocean, and that is it. I sat, took photos, flew the drone, I could have stayed longer but I forced myself to head back.

Standing in front of it, it feels fake. It is much smaller than you would think. The crew of seven lived. They all walked away from the crash. They were rescued by a helicopter. Thinking about it, an abandoned plane on a deserted beach is not the most obvious of tourist attractions, but I truly am appreciative of it, for it introduced me to a whole country that I truly enjoy. I consider it my gateway attraction to one of the most beautiful places on the planet. It deserved better photos than the ones I got the first time.

tr/trp