ICELAND DAY 6 – GLACIERS AND ICEBERGS

 

(readers note: I changed the format, so the pictures follow the relevant paragraphs.  Be sure to read all the way to the end.  Click on any picture to see all the pictures in full size)

We leave the Umi early, a big day of adventure planned.  It’s cold and rainy again, but we steel ourselves for whatever the day brings.  Icelandic horses are all over the country, with their signature long flowing manes.  Unfortunately, images of horses with their manes blowing in the wind in front of waterfalls and mountains have become super cliché over the last 50 years, overdone on sides of 70s vans, velvet paintings, fuzzy velour blankets and tramp stamp tattoos.  That being said, here is a gratuitous photo of Icelandic horses with their manes blowing in the wind in front of twin waterfalls and mountains.

The first half of todays adventure is a glacier hike.  An online article entitled 100 Ways To Die In Iceland, glacier hiking makes the top five, as the ice is constantly changing and hollowing out just below the surface, so any next step may end up in a perilous drop.  We opted for a guided hike, this one with a pair of professionals leading our group of 12.  We gear up with harnesses, ice axes, helmets and spiky crampons that go over your hiking books like the metal roller skates we had as kids.  Once on the ice, the crampons give us super traction, by far not the greatest superpower, but a useful one just the same.  When moving, we stay single file – if the guide doesn’t fall through, we should be good – and explore several features of the glacier.  One of the most fascinating is how a small trickle of water becomes a deep, narrow funnel down into the ice, eventually carving ever-changing shapes and contours.  We drink from the fresh glacier streams and even try some free climbing with the axes.  The views are everything we hoped, and Guiseppe, our Italian geologist guide is a wealth of information.  We have been really excited about this hike and it exceeds our expectations, the bit of snow along the way makes us feel like real arctic explorers.

Back at base, we lunch at Goodie for Foodies, a food truck using only local ingredients to make updated versions of Icelandic classics.  We get the lobster soup and fish and chips.  I watch the chef add a big scoop of fresh lobster to the base as he prepares the dish to order.  The fish and chips is made with fresh cod, a staple in the local waters.  It’s as good a meal as we’ve had anywhere here and perfectly satiates our well-deserved appetites as we eat in the front seat of our SUV.

Lunch done, we head to part 2 of our day’s adventure, kayaking on the Glacier Lagoon.  Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon is the body of water created by a tongue of the massive Vatnajokull Glacier that dominates Iceland’s entire southeast region.  The water is crystal blue and is dotted with a hundred or so icebergs, massive chunks of the glacier that fall off during melting and bob in the lagoon until they are small enough to be washed out to sea.  Thankfully, the weather gods dry up the rain, calm the winds and even send a little sunshine as we pull in.  Here the gear is full dry suits over our hiking gear, a life vest and a two-person kayak.  Six boats plus two guides in our group, the launch goes quickly.  My first impression is that our bright red kayak is a cherry floating in some massive Mardi Gras drink, trying hard not to hit the ice cubes.  The most impressive icebergs are 60 feet out of the water (and another 540 below), bright blue and have long straight diagonal edges jutting towards the sky.  Our guide explains.  Like all icebergs, only 10% is above the water.  Because the lagoon is tidal salt water the ice under the water melts faster, forming a sort of wear line, and eventually making it top heavy and unstable.  When this happens, it capsizes, rolling such that the heavy top is now underwater and explaining the strange lines.  The bright blue color is caused by the lack of oxygen in the ice, the weight of hundreds or thousands of feet of ice compressing out everything but the pure blue water.  Being on the water next to these silent giants is a surreal experience, peaceful, pensive, as the water laps the sides of our little vessel.  On one of the smaller chunks, we a large white/tan seal, just chilling, watching us watch him.  He rolls and shows us his belly for a few pics.  We’re on the water for an hour, and finally loop back to the starting point. 

Spent, we head to the Fosshotel, a swank Mod Luxe hotel we would call a boutique back in the states.  Checking in to our sweet suite with a volcano view, we quickly pop down for a restoring pre-dinner soak in the hot tub overlooking the lava fields and the ocean.