So it begins

What crater? Oh THAT crater!

Published Date : June 19, 2013

Today was a long day in the car.  Before leaving the Mývatn area, I stopped off at Námafjall, an area of high geothermal activity.  I had driven by yesterday, but the parking lot was full of buses, so I decided to swing by early this morning on my way through.

The plan to avoid the people worked brilliantly – I had the place to myself.  Avoiding the flies didn’t work out quite so well.  There was a fairly stiff breeze yesterday when I rolled into town, so the flies weren’t much of a nuisance.  Today was another story.  Every time I stepped out of my car, I was completely swarmed by the irritating beasties.  They didn’t bite, but they were extremely annoying with their intense interest in exploring my eyes and ears and flying down the back of my shirt.  So after making a quick tour of the hot pots, steam vents and mud baths, I escaped back into the safety of my vehicle.

As I was leaving, I also drove past Hverfjall Crater – a 1km wide mountain of black earth that I had somehow completely missed yesterday.   I must have driven past the crater a half dozen times yesterday and didn’t once register its presence.  How the hell I managed to miss a giant black crater right in front of me, I’ll never know!!  I briefly contemplated taking an hour or so to climb it, but with a long drive ahead of me, I decided to save it for my next visit to Iceland.

The first leg of my drive, to Egilsstaðir, was uneventful.  The young town isn’t much more than a transportation hub, but it made a convenient stop to buy gas and stretch my legs.  Without much noteworthy scenery to catch my eye along the way, I had driven non-stop and made good time.  I decided to make the most of the extra time and the free car wash at the local gas station and clean some of the grime off my car.  After a week of driving through swarms of flies and on dirt roads, it was sorely in need of a bath!

I had been looking forward to the second half of my drive through the small fjords of South-Eastern Iceland.  For the first time on my trip though, I was met with rain.  With heavy fog and low clouds there was nothing to see.  The drive became the adventure as I passed over the mountains on single lane dirt roads that had turned to mud in the rain.

The clouds finally parted late in the afternoon and I was rewarded with stunning coastal scenery around Höfn.  Dramatic, steep cliffs interrupted by vibrant green pastures met the sea.  After a quick pit stop in town to stock up on food for the next few days, it was back to driving.  I stopped several times along the final stretch between Höfn and Vagnsstaðir to just sit and enjoy the incredibly landscapes.

I eventually arrived at the hostel in the early evening.  I chatted briefly with a middle-aged German couple while I prepared my dinner.  However, I made a quick escape once I was done eating.  I’ve had pretty much the same conversation for the last three nights now and I’m just over it.

“You are travelling alone?  As a woman?  You are so brave!”  Turning to their companions, “Hey, did you hear?  She’s travelling alone!  So incredible!”

It’s a common refrain that I used to hear all the time when I was younger.  It made more sense to me when I was in my teens/early twenties and back then I took it as a compliment.   It takes a lot more confidence (or just raw guts) to travel alone as a youth.    However, as a 32-year old adult, it was just irritating and really kind of insulting.   The implication that it is somehow daring or rebellious for an adult to travel alone really rubs me the wrong way.  Last time I checked it was the 21^st century – women no longer need an escort every time they leave home.

To be fair though, the Austrian family I was sharing the dorm room with last night thought that I was in my early twenties.   They were far less impressed with my travels once I told them my actual age ��  I should probably just assume the others all thought I was younger as well and take it as a compliment!

All About the Glaciers

Published Date : June 20, 2013

It was a bit of a strange one today.

Since I had elected to rent a car rather than use the buses to travel around, I knew I was going to be spending a fair bit of time alone this trip.  To inject an opportunity for some socializing, I booked myself on what I thought was an organized day tour with Vatnajökull Travel.  Far from being an organized tour, it was closer to a private guide service.  Ideal for small groups without transport to see some of the places around Vatnajökull Glacier and Höfn, it was a total waste of money for me.  I basically paid someone to drive me around to places that I could have driven to myself.  Sigh.

The activities though, were fantastic!  First order of business was snowmobiling on Vatnajökull Glacier.  Vatnajökull is the largest glacier in Europe and the third largest in the world, surpassed only by the two polar ice caps.  After a hairy drive up to the glacier, I was met with fresh snow and clear skies – perfect conditions.  I also discovered I would be going out with a large group.  Interestingly, since I didn’t book directly with Glacier Jeeps, I ended up getting a sled to myself without having to pay the extra fee.  Sweet!

It took a little while to get everyone geared up in warm suits and helmets.  After we ran through a quick safety briefing and some instructions on how to handle our snowmobiles, we were off!

For 18,000ISK I got to spend an hour bombing around one of the largest ice caps in the world on a snowmobile.  Awesome doesn’t even begin to cover it!  We stopped several times to enjoy the views and engage in some epic snowball fights.  Comfortable with our ability to handle our rides, for the trip back to base camp our guides let us open up the throttles.   Ripping across Vatnajökull at 70km/hr is without a doubt going to be a highlight of this trip for me!  It was a brilliant way to spend my morning!

Back at base camp, I stripped off some of my extra layers of clothes and enjoyed my usual lunch of soup and bread.  Meeting up with my guide again (I never did catch his name), we drove back down to the main road.  We had been running a little bit behind schedule this morning, so on the drive up we hadn’t had time to stop and enjoy the sights.  We had blown past a herd of reindeer on the way up and I was hoping we would see them again on our descent.  Alas, they had moved on.

Next on the agenda was Jökulsárlón, a large glacial lagoon which is the deepest lake in Iceland and probably one of the country’s most famous tourist destinations (it’s a very popular filming location, most recently seen in Batman Begins).  Glacial lagoons are created when a glacier recedes.  The melt water is trapped between the glacier and the moraines (piles of debris) that they leave behind.   Eventually the water breaks through the moraines creating rivers, or, in more catastrophic ruptures, massive floods.

Jökulsárlón empties directly into the sea, but it is in danger of disappearing entirely in the next couple of decades.  The lagoon is under threat from two different directions at the moment.  Vatnajökull is melting at a dramatic rate, and the sea is rapidly eroding the shoreline.  In the 1970s, there was about 2km of land between Jökulsárlón and the sea.  Now only about 500m of land separates them.  The ever changing landscape is the only constant in Iceland.

After taking a 20-minute boat ride around the lagoon to experience the icebergs up close, I spent some time exploring the area on foot.  I could have spent hours just sitting and watching the bergs float by.  It was particularly interesting seeing the thick streaks of black ash through some of the bergs – a remnant from the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010.

My guide dropped my back in Höfn around mid-afternoon.  Enjoying the fantastic weather, I decided to treat myself to a nice meal rather than cook.  I pulled up a seat on the patio at Humarhöfnin restaurant.  They specialize in lobster, but I had a hankering for lamb.  I enjoyed a delicious meal of roast lamb, roast vegetables, salad and a bottle of the local beer for 6000ISK.  It wasn’t cheap, but was it ever tasty!

Back at the hostel, I made plans for tomorrow.  This was a part of my trip that I had never really finalized.  I want to visit Laki craters (volcanic fissure that last erupted in the 1780s), but I can’t drive there in my rental vehicle, so I’ll have to join a day trip with Reykjavik Excursions from Skaftafell.  If that falls through, my back-up plan is to enjoy some hikes around Skaftafell National Park.

I also planned out my final day in Iceland.  My co-worker, Mike, had mentioned something about going inside a volcano with his tour group.  A little bit of research led me to Inside the Volcano – a company that takes groups inside the dormant magma chamber of þrihnukakigur!  They lower you 120m into the mountain and let you explore the giant cavern.  Fan-fricking-tastic!!!  I booked the 37,000ISK tour without hesitation.  When will I ever have an opportunity to do something like this again?!