Iceland Day 5- Day of Ice & Power

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Our itinerary today is titled "Ice and Power!"  We are to experience the Vatnajokull glacier via SuperJeep and Snowmobile.

All geared up for the snow but it is a little warm here at the bottom...

...now appreciating all the layers!

We had a 45 minute super jeep ride up the steep, winding and narrow mountain road that was covered in fog but...

...once we break out of the fog-white plains as far as the eye can see!

Skidoos- Two & Two

This guy REALLY wishes he was old enough to drive-
(it will be sooner than I am ready for!)

The scenery was just amazing and it sure is fun to go fast!

A rare photo of all 4 of us

Once back down the mountain we could look up to where we had just been-

See the winding road!

Every town that we have passed by, through or have visited boasts a town swimming pool.  It is an integral part of the local community to meet at the (heated) pool to swim, soak in the hot baths and for some, take a dip in the ice bath.
After the morning in the cold we thought it might be good to go for a warm swim.  Note that for Icelanders the pool activity do not seem to be weather dependent...when we visited, it was only 9C (48F) and lightly raining- loads of families with young children and elderly gentlemen were there with us.

First the "hot pot"

Then the ice bath! but not for long...

The boys braved the ice bath twice but Matt alternated from hot to cold nearly 10 times!  

Slides are much more fun!

Hofn is known as the lobster capital of Iceland so we could not pass on the opportunity to have lobster for dinner.  The "lobsters" here are really langoustine- a smaller version lobster that is only caught in the waters of the Northern Atlantic or the North Sea.

"Pakkhus" is translated warehouse. This restaurant sat right on the harbour.  Here we ate the most delicious dinner we have had in all of Iceland.  The langoustine was delectable all the ways we tried it- steamed, in soup, on pizza, with cream sauce...YUM!!!

The waitress told us that it was likely that the lobster was caught on the boat that was parked right in our view from the restaurant window-

Good to have satisfied stomachs for our road trip ahead!

Iceland Day 4- Kirkjubaejarklausturi to Hofn

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Yesterday we were up close and personal with the glacier and today as we continue our drive east we get to admire the glaciers from a little further back-
The agenda today includes hiking in Skaftafell National Park and a glacial lagoon.

A better writer could find more words than I am able to describe this...
to me it is a tiny glimpse of the majesty of our Creator...

Behind us are three "fingers" of the glacier that reach all the way to the bottom of the mountain

Skaftafell National Park is part of the larger Vatnajokull National Park
and offers many trails for all levels of hikers- anywhere from a 20 min to 12 hour long trail...
We chose a 3 hour trek-

Quite a different walk than yesterday-

Svartifloss (Black Waterfall)-
is named for the black columnar basalt rock formations that flank it.
These columns are similar to the ones we first saw at Black Beach.

It is difficult to tell but we are on a high ridge over looking this beautiful river of ice that flows down the mountain and has formed a small pool at the end.

A view worth the hike!

This gives a sense of how high we are-
just to the left is the glacial pool complete with floating icebergs
(Not even a taste of the Glacial Lagoon we visited later in the day!)

Matt's close-up of the ice plateau-
notice the blue colored ice and the deep crevasses that are typically 30+ feet deep.

We are now traveling in the Vatnajokull National Park.  Vatnajokull ("jokull" means glacier) is the largest glacier mass in Europe and covers over 3100 square miles, 8% of the country of Iceland. A part of this massive glacier, the Breidamerkurjokull, has it's own lagoon (formed from the melting ice) and is the "crown jewel" of Iceland's nature-

The Jokulsarlon Lagoon

Even with the fog blocking the view of the glacier behind us, it is still an astonishing scene-
another wonder of nature that we have never before experienced!

Many of the icebergs are bigger than a house-
The little dot in the water is a seal swimming along- in the winter there are hundreds of them feasting on the abundant fish in the lagoon.

In the midst of the gawking tourists, a wedding couple was having a photo shoot-
Their love must have been keeping the bride warm!

This brilliant blue color is just amazing to see-
It has something to do with the density of the ice absorbing the red color wavelengths...

Matt asked if we should to go to Antartica next?!?!?

The lagoon flows through a short waterway and under this bridge carrying some of the smaller icebergs out to sea where the waves wash up pieces of ice onto the black pebbled beach.

This area of beachfront is known as Diamond Beach-

The next series of photos were taken as we walked among these "ice diamonds".  It was great fun for the boys and both Matt & I could have spent hours here just examining each piece sculpted by nature. In just 4 days we have already beheld so much unique natural phenomena in Iceland...this beach is possibly my favorite so far!

The fog seemed to enhance the contrast of the white ice & the black sand

The boys broke off pieces of the ice and sucked on the pure glacial water like popsicles

Even though it wasn't getting dark, it was time to continue on our acommodation for the next 2 nights in the town of Hofn (means "harbour" and pronounced "hup"-rhymes with "cup").  Of course, we were not disappointed by the sights along the road.

Whooper Swans

Icelandic Horses huddling together to brave the weather-

**We stopped for a quick photo of these horses and ended up watching them for several minutes, during which they remained motionless- they did not lift a leg, flick a tail, or shake a head.

Interesting that we were headed to a guesthouse on a horse farm...the Arnanes Country Lodge.

Iceland Day 3-Grimnses to Kirkjubaejarklausturi

Monday, May 22, 2017

This is our first official full day of traveling the Ring Road and we are driving east along the southern portion of the country. Top on our list today are waterfalls and the Solheimajokull Glacier Walk.
As you can tell from the photos, the weather is a bit different than yesterday with gray skies and a bit of rain and wind...

Not more than 10 minutes in the car and a bit off the road, with a tip from a friend, we found this small but really beautiful fall- Urridafoss

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall- is one of the most visited falls-
 It is 60m high and you can pass behind it on a narrow stone ridge- Prepare to get wet!

...or you climb a small hill and view behind the falls while staying dry!

Even without the blue skies, the landscape is  stunning-

And for this mom, these smiling boys are pretty stunning too-
They add so much to the trip!

Turf houses that look like they are growing out of the mountain... 
OR the mountain is growing over them!

Sheep farms dot the countryside & the majority of the buildings are topped with red roofs

May is high lambing season here & the little ones were so cute to watch-
what you can't see here is the baby's little short tail swiftly wagging back and forth while nursing

We visited Skogar Folk Museum & were able to go inside turf houses that were common among Icelanders until the late 1940's/early 50's.  The houses were very modest dwellings of interconnected rooms & the turf provided great insulation against the harsh climate. In the smaller homes, the bedrooms were built on the second floor directly above the animal pen/barn so that the heat from the animals would rise up and heat the upper floor & room!

Notice the wooden boards on the bunks-
These "rumfjol" kept the warm covers from coming off and the children from falling out.  The boards were carved with a nightly prayer so that the children would not forget to thank God for His blessings- 

R wanted to recreate a photo we took of him with Topi antelope horns in the Serengeti

Very near the museum was Skogafoss- one of the five largest waterfalls in Iceland at 197 feet high.
You could not walk behind this one but climb to the top- which we did-

Next up: The Solhheimajokull Glacier Walk


Solheimajokull is the fourth largest glacier in Iceland.  It is called the shrinking glacier as it has retreated about 1 kilometer in the last decade.  We were fitted with crampons, an ice axe and harnesses to tackle the ice.

First rule of glacier walking: Never go without a guide!  

We were so fortunate to have the trusty Murk to lead us up the mountain-

You may imagine a glacier to be pure white or blue ice but we learned that frozen inside the glacier that is over 900 years old  is ash & pumice from previous volcanic eruptions.

Murk says that you must first do a Viking push up to earn a taste of the glacier waters-
the younger tries it first...

...now the older...

...and finally, the oldest to demonstrate the one-armed Viking pushup!

Ice axes really puncture the ice!

I mentioned earlier that the weather had turned a bit windy... well, it was extremely windy and even though the photos on the glacier represent a good time & some playful moments, it was pretty tense up there on the ice.  It was so windy & precarious that we had to stay in a single file line with the boys no more than an arm's length away in case a gust of wind came along.  At several points during the walk we had to pause, put our ice pick into the glacier and bend down with our shoulder into the wind to hold steady...  We decided it was not safe enough to walk the plateau that would allow us to see the crevasses and other dangerous topography.  Nonetheless, it was an exciting experience on the glacier!

Our final stop of the day was Reynisfjara-
the world famous black beach with it's basalt rock formations.
We had never seen anything like this before!

It is hard to describe the beauty of the formations...

And one final waterfall vista before we stopped for the night-

We have a one night stop over at  Hotel Laki in Kirkjubaejarklausturi just east of the "charming village" of Vik.