I spent my last full day in Iceland touring the Snæfellsnes Peninsula starting with Mount Kirkjufell, one of the more photogenic mountains I have ever encountered. The lighthouse at Ondverðarnes overlooks the western tip of the peninsula where the mighty Atlantic pounds the cliffs of lava.

Djúpalón is a small cove surrounded by extraordinary lava formations and known by Icelanders for its black pebbles, called “djúpalón-pearls” and giant sea stacks jutting out into the ocean.

Hellnar is another small (seal bearing) cove where the ocean has carved out holes, narrows and arches in the interesting lava tile rock formations.

The harbor at Arnarstapi is very picturesque with sea stacks rising from the ocean brimming with birdlife.

It seemed fitting to end the day at this small black church in Buðir. When photographed from the right perspective (which took me an hour to find in the adjacent lava fields) it provides a dramatic foreground to Mount Helgrindur in the background.