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Published: December 10th 2017
Today was going to be another long day of driving so with that in mind, I made sure that we set out at an early hour this morning. We continued driving along Route 1 and crossed the Skeidararsandur, a large flat alluvial plain consisting largely of volcanic sands. Up to this point, we had been seeing glaciers out in the distance that appeared to be held back by the mountains. Now the glaciers were spilling out from between the mountains out onto the flatlands. Our first stop for the day was Skaftafell National Park where I had wanted to do a little hiking. We did a quick walk over to Skaftafellsjokull, a glacial arm of the larger and massive Vatnajokull glacier. This trip was the first time that I had ever seen a glacier. Now I was hiking towards one in order to get a closer look. I was so excited! We hiked over to an overlook that allowed you to see all the jagged edges and crevices that a glacier consists of. It looked very different up close than the view from afar where the glacier appears to be quite smooth. I would have liked to have walked right up
to the glacier. However, there was a lake at the foot of the glacier that impeded any hiking directly to it. So I was satisfied with the view from this overlook. We hiked back to the Visitor's Center where we had breakfast before hitting the road again. I had hoped to do another hike here to Svartifoss waterfall. However, we had so much ground to cover today and had already seen 3 amazing waterfalls that I decided it was best to just get back on the road.
After our quick hike at Skaftafell, we continue eastward on Route 1 to the most easterly point we would venture to on this trip, the famous iceberg lagoon called Jokulsarlon. Nothing could have prepared us for the sheer amazement of seeing this place for the first time. The icebergs with their various shade of blues and whites coupled with the huge Vatnjajokull glacier in the background made for one of the most amazing things that I have ever layed my eyes upon. The icebergs break off the glacier into the lagoon before eventually making their way past the bridge and to the ocean. It was amazing to learn that this lagoon was
formed only 60 years ago. Back then the Vatnajokull glacier reached the shoreline. Since then, the glacier has been in retreat and the melting water and runoff formed a lagoon which has grown rapidly to cover almost 6 square miles. Some of the icebergs were huge and it's hard to imagine that only 10% of the icebergs are visible above the water! We chose to take a boat tour that cruised around the icebergs in some sort of wheeled boat type of vehicle. Life vests were given to us to wear as if we would really be able to survive in this freezing water if we somehow ended up in the water. The tour was about 30 minutes as we weaved in an out between the lagoon's icebergs. A zodiac boat which was following us, delivered a small chunk of iceberg to our boat and our guide passed it around for a taste of 1500 year old ice. After the boat tour, another moment of amazement happened while we were on the shoreline taking photos. We heard a loud crackling thunder like sound. When we turned back, we saw a huge chunk of ice fall from one of the icebergs
and into the lagoon creating a mini tsunami. Afterwards, we walked over to a black sand beach to have a closer look and play on some of the icebergs that washed ashore. Vita who was wearing waterproof boots decided to wade into the water and climb onto a few of the larger icebergs. Jokulsarlon was probably the highlight for me of the entire trip. It is one of the few places on Earth where such a scene can be seen. Despite it's isolation, it's a worthwhile and must see place if ever in Iceland.
We left Jokullsarlon on such a high after seeing such an amazing sight. It was now a long drive across southern Iceland in order to get back to Reykjavik. We were nearing the end of our time here in Iceland and we had seen such amazing natural sights. We stopped in the small town of Vik, a small coastal town about halfway from Jokullsarlon and Reykjavik. Vik is known to be the wettest part of Iceland with up to 90 inches of rainfall annually. However, today we had none of that and were treated with sunny blue skies. We stopped for lunch at a small
restaurant called Halldorskaffi, along one of the main streets in Vik. After lunch, we walked around the town checking out a small park and creek. I was having such a great time checking out the town and enjoying the nice day here in Vik. Then the ultimate mood killer happened. I had stepped in a huge pile of dog poop as I was just about to climb a small hill. There was a small creek nearby where I tried to clean off my shoe as much as I could. After inquiring in a few shops, I learned that the famous black sand beach is just outisde of Vik down Road 215. We left Vik and found Road 215 and drove past a few sheep farms before parking at a lot next to a beach littered with volcanic rocks. The waves here were ferocious and definitely not for swimming. As if swimming was an option with the cold weather and winds. Offshore there were some pretty sea stacks. An arched one to the west and to the east were the Reynisdrangur sea stacks which legend has it that they were trolls who tried to drag their boats to sea and were
caught by the sunrise. Despite the howling winds, we had a great time exploring the amazing rock formations and sea caves. Having studied geology and earth science in school, I loved the volcanic basalt columns. I had seen this type of formation before, but never this close and to be able to climb them was a real treat. I wish we could spend a little more time here, but the winds were a little unbearable. We were running a little short on time so we made contined the long drive back to Reykjavik.
When we were last here 2 days ago, Shea wasn't able to hike behind the waterfall with Vita and I. So on our return to Reykjavik, we made another stop so that Shea could do the easy hike behind Seljlandsfoss. It was a long day of driving today and we didn't arrive into Reykjavik until after 9:00pm. Our hotel for the night was the 4th Floor Hotel on Laugavegur. We parked in a spot in front of the hotel and quickly emptied out the car. The rental car company would then come and retrieve the vehicle. After settling into the hotel, it wasn't until a little
after 11:00pm when we decided to seek out a place for dinner. Every single place that we walked up to was either closed or in the process of closing. We walked up to a pizza place and they told us that there was a fast food place up by the waterfront that was still open. So on our last night in Iceland before heading into Norway, we dined on fast food. It was such a long day of driving. We were all so exhausted that we just chose to stay at the hotel tonight instead of having a drink at the bar. Tomorrow we were off to Norway.
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