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.
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| 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... |
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| Behind us are three "fingers" of the glacier that reach all the way to the bottom of the mountain |
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| 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- |
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| Quite a different walk than yesterday- |
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| 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. |
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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. |
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| A view worth the hike! |
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| 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!) |
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| 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
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| 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! |
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| 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. |
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| In the midst of the gawking tourists, a wedding couple was having a photo shoot- Their love must have been keeping the bride warm! |
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| 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!
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| The fog seemed to enhance the contrast of the white ice & the black sand |
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| 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.
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| Whooper Swans |
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| 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. |
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