Iceland: Day Five

Today is the day! I am finally going to drive to Jokulsarlon.  This is probably number one on the list of things I want to see in Iceland.  Real icebergs, in a surreal sort of lagoon-thing caused by a retreating glacier. It's quite a long drive from Reyjkavik; about 5ish hours.

The drive was rough, it was very hard not to get distracted.  I promised myself that I would limit the stopping on the way there - I could always take pictures on the way back.  I did stop a few times for food, but otherwise drove straight through.  That was difficult for someone like me.  Probably about half of the drive is quite bleak - black sand as far as the eye can see or endless fields of moss-covered lava.  It was beautiful, in a weird way.

There is just something different about how Iceland looks.  I think that is part of the allure.  Cover an ordinary lava field in this silken green moss and it becomes something new and alien.  Or take a beach/dune and make it black.  You get the point.

Along the way, I caught a glimpse of an iceberg water and I allowed myself to get distracted.  It turns out that it was an ugly little brother version of Jokulsarlon - didn't quite catch the name... but it was something+sarlon.  It was cool to see - officially my first icebergs.  I messed around there for a little bit, but soon was in the car headed to my destination.

Jokulsarlon is awesome.  Clear blue water with frosty blue and white icebergs of all sizes floating aroudn.  Add the dramatic backdrop; a huge retreating glacier, and you have yourself a natural wonder.  I only stayed for about 30-45 minutes though... such a long drive for such a short amount of spectating.  Still, it lived up to my expectations and then some.  Also, as with most places, I was the only tourist there.  So I didn't have to worry about anyone in my way for photos, etc.  That also meant that I couldn't take a boat tour out into the lagoon... I will have to come back in the Summer I suppose.  I did find a beached glacier and break off some ice and taste it - tasted like snow, very old snow. :)

The drive home had considerably more stops.  Anything that I noted looked interesting on the way got visited.  A lot of them were just 5-10 minute photo stops, but two of the stops are worthy of sharing:

One of the excursions I wanted to do is glacier hiking, but I couldn't work out a good time or price.  Which kind of bummed me.  Glaciers of this magnitude are not found anywhere near Seattle, so I have never seen anything like them.  That makes them mysterious to me - an elusive, but giant, sheet of frozen water that can reduce a mountain to gravel.  Something about it just calls to me.  So I did what any smart, rational person would do.  I hiked onto a glacier.

Alone.  No experience, no equipment, no one knowing where I was, in tennis shoes and a softshell.  Probably one of the more reckless things I have done in my life.  I had a pretty good idea of what could go wrong, so at least I knew to watch for chasms, loose rock, stuff like that.  Obviously, since I am posting this, it went well.  So now I can say it was totally worth it.  I would definitely like another go around but with a guide and equipment.  A glacier is a special sort of natural beauty that I would like to explore more.

The other big stop I wanted to make was Svartifoss.  A waterfall that cascades over a wall of columnar basalt.  Every picture makes it look awesome, and I was driving right by. Mostly.

It turns out that Svartifoss was off the road quite a bit.  A few miles drive off the ring road I came to the base of a trail head.  Svartifoss was a little over a kilometer hike, uphill.  Normally I wouldn't have flinched at that, but the day was well underway and I still had at least 4 hours of driving back.  So I mulled over whether to skip it or not for a few minutes before deciding to go for it.

I am so glad I did!  It was truly beautiful.  Not the most impressive waterfall as far as size, but definitely in an amazing setting.  I spent almost an hour on the hike and photographing.  I don't know if it is possible to take a bad picture though. 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful after that.  A few more photo stops, but otherwise just a drive back to Reykjavik.  I got home pretty late, and couldn't muster the strength to return the rental car.  Just bed time.