Long Arctic nights

Europe » Iceland » South » Vík
December 14th 2013

Published: March 5th 2015

"Why on earth would you go to Iceland in the middle of winter?", was usually the first thing out of anyone's mouth when I told them of our travel plans. Well, for one thing, it's about halfway between Europe and the US, so it makes a logical meeting point for Guillaume and I. Also, I've always wanted to go to Iceland, does the time of year really matter? Seeing the northern lights has always been ... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 101, Displayed: 21

Sky water

Dark drama

Cairn building

We also left stones for good luck.

Lonely Village

While driving we went past miles and miles of nothing at all, but every once in a while there would be little concentrations of houses, or a house, all alone. I guess this is to be expected in a county of 300,000 where 200,000 live in and around Reykjavik.

Hiking path

This is the path that led to the frozen lake above kierkajerklostur.

More paths in the snow

Icelandic handcrafts

Knitwear is big here, you can find it everywhere. It's all real wool and very nice quality, because it's important to stay warm here!

Ice day!

It begins at Jokulsarlon.

Ice gazing

Ice floes

The thin white ice is just seasonal winter ice, water that froze this season, not the really old glacial pieces that float farther out.

Ice circles

These circles are found throughout Iceland. I never got a chance to ask what they signified.

Glacial flow

Not the best photo, but you can kind of see how the glacier flows out off the mountain. It reminded me of a rushing river, but frozen.

Cave tour

Getting the crampons on

Within the cave

It was a photo tour, we all were taking photos.

In and out

This was how we descended into the cave.

Water, flowing and frozen

Cave river

Over exposed

It's hard to take pictures here, because the exposure levels needed to catch the blue in the cave mean any of the outside snow is over-exposed. Still, I think this gives a sense of the place.

Coming out

Leaving the cave

You can see the layers in the glacier, the dark dirt lines are each one summer, trapped between layers of winter.

Sentinel

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Long Arctic nights

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