Ice-land
Today was all about ice — glaciers and icebergs specifically.
We started off this morning with a breakfast buffet at the hotel. It's been a loooong time since we've done a buffet, and using tongs, serving spoons, and other serving ware that many others have used made us a little uncomfortable, so we made sure to use hand sanitizer often. We needed a big breakfast because our itinerary today did not allow for time for lunch.
Our first stop was Skaftafell, one of the many glaciers that branch out of the enormous glacier, Vatnajökull. The parking lot for this attraction is large, but unfortunately for all of us, there was only one working pay machine for parking, so there was a 30 minute line just to pay. Remembering our experience at Þingvellir, I left Nick in line and headed to the visitor center and asked if there was a machine there, and there was (once again, only 1 working machine out of 3). So I paid and then messaged Nick, who then told some others who then followed him to the visitor center. Oh, another thing to note about paying for parking at the parks is that you need to give them your license plate number, so make sure you know that before you pay.
After that ordeal, we started the 30 minute walk to Skaftafell. At first, it was so warm, that we took off our jacket, but as we got closer, we put it back on and wished we had another layer. It was crazy how quickly the temperature changed in such a short amount of time. Once we got there, we were greeted with a large glacier:
There weren’t many people around, so it was great to be able to stand in the sand and enjoy the beautiful scenery around us.
Then we walked back to the visitor’s center and then headed the opposite direction to see Svartifoss, a waterfall that cascades over some cool looking lava rock. After our many stops so far, I got super spoiled with the short hikes from parking lot to main attraction. The hike to Svartifoss as around 2km, with a mild elevation gain, but the heat of the sun made it seem more difficult than it really was. Still, we were rewarded with an amazing waterfall:
The upside down columns made for a fascinating backdrop for the waterfall to come cascading down off of. From here, you could continue walking up and above it, but we needed to head back to the car to head to our next stop: Svínafellsjökull.
This is another glacial branch off of Vatnajökull, but it was only a 10 minute drive away. However, the walk from the parking lot to the glacier was long and boring. I think it took us 40 minutes each direction, but it was on a gravel roadway that used to be drivable, but was closed due to recent landslides. We couldn’t really see the glacier while we were walking, so we started to question whether it was worth it. Soon, we got our answer:
We thought it was better than Skaftafell. The size of the glacial cliffs seemed more impressive to us. Nick wanted some of the glacier to break off, but that wasn’t going to happen.
We spent a few minutes here for a short snack, and also to prepare us for the equally long and boring walk back to the car to see Bílastæði, an ice fall:
It was a short jog from the car, but we'd both gotten too lazy to put hiking boots back on, so we didn't hike as close as you could.
And then off to see more ice, but this time floating in water. First was Fjallsárlón:
It was beautiful seeing the many icebergs of different sizes floating in the lake. You could hear them crunch as they hit each other. Some of them even started to flip over, but none of them did, although if we had waited long enough, one of them probably would have.
The next one we went to was Jökulsárlón, which also had many wonderful icebergs floating in the water:
Our final stop was almost across the street, the Diamond Beach. Here, the many icebergs that float in the nearby lake come rushing through a small channel out into the ocean, and then wash ashore onto this beach. The many chunks of ice on the black sand beach is what gives it the name Diamond Beach:
We loved seeing the ice, and also the larger pieces closer to the water, which were still being battered by the waves. They created some cool patterns on the ice. One of them looked like the tail of a seal. Speaking of which, we saw a seal in the channel, but only for a very brief moment as it then quickly descended back into the water.
It had been about 7 hours since we left our hotel, and we still had another hour left, so we headed to our next guesthouse. But first, we stopped in the town of Höfn for dinner at a restaurant called Otto’s. It’s a cute, but small, restaurant, but the food was great. We got there around 6:45 and had to wait for one table to leave, but during the hour we had dinner, there was a large group of people wanting to eat dinner here and most of them had to be turned away, so it was good we got there when we did. Apparently, no restaurants in Höfn take reservations, so keep that in mind if you’re ever in need of dinner there.
Finally, we headed to Hrafnavellir Guesthouse. It’s similar to the previous guesthouse we stayed at near Hella, but this one has 7 cabins, and instead of horses, there are wild sheep nearby. After having stayed in a hotel, where we could hear people walk up and down the hallway, I’m starting to appreciate staying in these small guest houses:
Tonight, we’ll need a good night’s sleep, because tomorrow, we drive to North Iceland and to the city of Akuryeri. The drive will take over 5 hours, but we might stop by a small town on the way. We’re going to go with the flow, and listen to a ton of podcasts.
Oh, but before I end this blog, enjoy a photo of Nick getting a little sunburnt in Iceland!
