Roadtrip! Volcanoes, glaciers, icebergs, and geothermal waters.

On Sunday morning Jesse and Vanessa picked us up and we headed southeast. Our destination that night was the small town of Höfn in the southeast part of Iceland, but we had many things to see along the way. The landscape changed dramatically once we exited the city; trees were few, mountains were plentiful, and rugged terrain was everywhere. Driving on the Ring Road (which encircles Iceland along its outer edges because the center of the country is isolated, desolate and harsh) we made good time and made two early stops to see waterfalls. We could walk behind and around the first waterfall, and the second one had a nice rainbow and short hike to its top.

Both of these waterfalls stem from glacial melting and runoff from around the summit of Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano made (in)famous by its lengthy, flight-grounding eruption earlier this year. From the road and below there was no discernible peak or caldera, but on our return trip to Reykjavik the area to the east of the volcano was engulfed in a hazy, dark sky from ash that it was spewing that day.

Driving through the south-central part of Iceland we came to our first glaciers and the Skaftafell National Park, home to Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe.  Knowing we would visit on our return trip, we moved on to our primary target for the day, Jökulsárlón. Jökulsárlón is the name of a glacial lake which is full of giant (and sometimes bright blue) iceberg chunks that have broken off the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and are stuck there until they melt or slide out to sea.  After snapping some photos, we took an amphibious vehicle (a functioning boat and land vehicle) out into the water to see them up close in a steady rain.  We learned that some of the icebergs take seven years to melt, and bit off pieces of a small iceberg chunk that was over 1,000 years old; the oldest thing we'll ever eat.  Some smaller icebergs that were slipping out to sea had been beached by the tide, which gave us the opportunity to carefully climb on them.  Several films have had scenes shot at Jökulsárlón, including Die Another Day, Tomb Raider, and Batman Begins.

  The next morning we returned to Skaftafell to see part of the glacier up-close and to hike to a mountain waterfall.  We approached the glacier after parking are car and found a place to stand on its edge.  It is not recommended to walk far on glaciers, and with good reason.  There are dangerous fissures that can break open; even standing on the very end it was very slippery and muddy.  Arriving at the visitors' center at the park we found our hiking trail and proceeded up to two more waterfalls, the second one complete with beautiful rock columns.  Late that afternoon we arrived in the small town of Vik for dinner, and that night bathed in the outdoor geothermal hot tubs at the hotel where Jesse and Vanessa were staying.

After breakfast on Tuesday morning we hiked up to the mountain range above Vik to get a view of the surrounding beaches and countryside.  The hike would have been nice, were it not for the brutal, hurricane-strength winds at the top.  At first it was fun and we took some pictures jumping with the wind at our backs.  But as we walked along the exposed ridge, there were sustained winds of probably 70 miles per hour, with gusts even stronger than that.  Going with the wind we were sometimes forced to run not to fall forward, and going into the wind was a slow, challenging ordeal; it was so strong that it even knocked Vanessa from the path at one point.

Tired from the hike, we headed back toward Reykjavik in search of geothermal baths along the way.  Our first stop was a failure, though it turned out to be a funny one.  When we arrived at the baths we read about in our guide book, we found that they were closed and quite muddy.  After looking around, we started investigating some abandoned farm equipment.  At that point a local appeared and we deciphered through his body language, and his use of a small surgical mask, that the area had some dangerous fumes.

Fortunately our final stop was very successful.  We parked our car near the town of Selfoss and did a hike up the mountain ridge and into a valley.  Along the way up we encountered bubbling hot water and mud springs, and a lot of steam.  On the top of the ridge we overlooked a beautiful canyon and waterfall, but our destination was the mountain stream heated by geothermal waters.  We found a suitable spot and lay in the running water, which was warm and pleasant, especially considering the cool outdoor air.  The spot we chose was just below where two streams combine, one too hot and the other too cold for swimming.  However, once the two streams collide and mix, the water becomes the perfect temperature.  After a long soak in the stream, we hiked out and returned to our apartment in Reykjavik.

Overall it was a great, activity-filled road trip and a lot of fun.  We got along great with Jesse and Vanessa, and enjoyed a lot of good meals, sights, and conversations together.  The next day they flew home to the United States, as Siobhan embarked on her journey to the Westfjords.