As people at home in the US comfortably strolled outside to see the northern lights, extraordinarily bright and visible as far south as Texas, we in Iceland continued to travel under a thick blanket of gray cloud. But we still checked off a bucket list item by finally hiking a glacier.
Vatnajokull Glacier looked huge and foreboding in the distance as we checked into the outfitters at a tiny airstrip in a field. We were fitted with crampons, helmets and ice axes, which filled Marida with a mix of apprehension and suspicion that this extreme gear was all theater to add drama to a tame experience. This turned out not to be the case, as we soon were stomping our crampons for purchase on luminescent teal ice and relying on the axes to help keep our balance on the slopes. The spring melt carved sinuous blue channels of crystal clear water through the dust-covered snow. We carefully peered into pools and crevasses and admired the ice fall poised above us. It was just a short taste of going Into Thin Air, but it was the real deal. We loved it.
Glacier Lagoon
Nearby, we had a look at Glacier Lagoon and its floating ice floes drifting downriver from the glacier and out to sea.
Reynisfjara
We visited the famous black sand beach in a cold blowy rain that drove most of the tourbus hordes away.
Comments
2 responses to “Bucket List winners & losers”
If this is your first time commenting, Marida will need to approve you before your comments will be visible. Patience, grasshopper!
Your travelogues are terrific – fun, informative, interesting and well documented with photos. I love them and will try to add more comments to encourage you!
THANKS bro – I do wonder if anyone is reading. Your comments are really encouraging.
We are now in Western Iceland, staying at a historic hotel in salmon fishing country. The room up from us was repeatedly graced by Eric Clapton and later Ringo Starr. I guess they were salmon fishers? The hostess here has no clue.