A moment of gratitude from Patricia P.

There are some things I have been infinitely grateful for on this trip.  I'd like to take a moment and list them - never fear, I will give credit where credit is due.  In no particular order:

1. warm beanies - head protection is critical in this climate

2. my Asolo hiking boots - thank you Lexy Green for strongly suggesting I take the time to get great boots

3. my snow mittens

4. under amour liner gloves - at the recommendation of Christopher Sinclair and to the benefit of all, these liners allowed my hand to keep warm enough to take the 700+ photos I have taken

5. my ski shell jacket - it's kept rain, snow, and hail from soaking my clothes (and the splash guard ensured that only my right leg got wet in the spill into the glacial river - my camera was dry and safe)

6. puffy orange coat - given to me a year ago by Jessica Gibson, it has completely blocked wind and rain, keeping my body warm and comfortable while exploring Reykjavik

7. Last for now, but nowhere near least, the amazing people with whom I am traveling.  I have enjoyed getting to know this group immensely and find each and every one of them to be an interesting, enjoyable, and lovely human being.

More pics from our Glacier adventure!

Sunset from our hostel.

                                           Another view from the hostel.

                                           Check out our tiny hikers!

                                 A glacial pond.

                                Doc Lane working on getting down the glacier.

An amusing diversion from the thread.

We thought you may like to see the flip side to our energetic adventures.  Enjoy!

Strokkur Iceland

Here it is again: a repost of the video of Strokkur geyser. Some of the eruptions are higher than others. They range from 50 to 100 feet. [The nearby "Geysir" (from which all other geysers get their name) doesn't erupt anymore. When it did, it went well over 200 feet (and known to hit 500 feet!).] Sorry, but I didn't frame my camera right, so I had to pan to get it. Hope you still get a sense of scale.

The road back

We didn't stop as often on the way back to Reykjavik. We went to Foss to see (more!) waterfalls and we saw the Dverghamrar ("dwarf cliffs"), where locals thought (think?) that dwarves live. Another place we stopped was in Kirkubæjarklaustur, which was once the site of an Irish monk monastery. When driven out by the Vikings, they put a curse on the place. A Benedictine nun cloister was also here: thus the name. A cool story is that when the the massive Lakagígar volcano erupted in 1783 (which was one of the most devastating volcanoes in history), the lava flow was heading towards the town, destroying everything in its path. The local pastor called the congregation into the church and delivered a powerful sermon. When they went out, the lava stopped just outside the church. One of the weird, cool things in town is Kirkugólf. When first found, people thought it was a remnant of the monastery floor because of its smooth, level, interlocking geometry. However, it is just a natural rock formation of basalt (volcanic rock). There are lava crater fields and falls here too.

We stopped in Vík again to get an egg-burger. Again, the weather didn't permit viewing the beach. We hit really really thick fog along the coast. Combine that with the fact that Iceland doesn't have reflectors on the dividing lines on the road, and it made for a white knuckle ride! There were a few other places we had planned to stop at along the way back home, but the dark (and our tiredness!) made us want to just get back to the warmth and comfort of our house in Reykjavik. We did so about 10:30 pm. Phew! That was an amazing road trip.

And we saved this for last!

Jökulsárlón (glacier lagoon) was a the highlight for some people on the trip. Only in the 20th century, water flow from the Breidamerkurjökull glacier suddenly got trapped from reaching the ocean. As a result, a natural lake formed that is now filled with chunks of ice that have broken off of the glacier. You may recognize the lagoon from movies like Die Another Day (James Bond), Lara Croft Tomb Raider, and others. We drank the pure water straight from the lagoon, picked up pieces of floating ice and liked them, and even stepped onto a floating iceberg. Man, this is so cool!!

The other side of the park...

After we trekked back to the information center (Patricia wet after taking a spill into glacial water!), we headed the other direction. It was a longer hike, most of it uphill. The first set of falls we found were Pjófafoss (the lower one in the photo) and Hundafoss (the upper one). All along the path, there were cool places to walk out on ledges and take photos.

It was another long trek to Svartifoss, the jewel of the park. They are "only" about 80 feet high, but they fall down into a canyon of these rectangular black basalt columns. And again, no one else is here!!!! You have the beauty all to yourselves to sit and reflect.