Iceland- Day 3
Friday- July 13th
Thursday night (last night) I stayed right next to a trailhead for the night, because I was too exhausted to hike that night. So- FIRST thing Friday morning I started on this hike. And I was the only one again #icouldgetusedtothis. The hike was called Fjaðrárgljúfur. And I have no idea how to pronounce that. I’ve pretty much failed at learning basic Icelandic pronunciation. Though there are so many tourists everyone defaults to English so that’s nice for me :)
Fjaðrárgljúfur was amazing. I cried. Seriously #icryoverweirdstuff. I talked to a guy trying to preserve the salmon in the canyon and then I sat around and wrote in my journal... until I realized that it would take an hour to get to a tour I scheduled that started in 30 minutes!
I scheduled a glacier hike- and the Vatnajökull Glacier was kinda far from the spot where I spent the night. I sped. I was still 25 minutes late- but I missed all the sitting around and making sure everyone was wearing waterproof clothing (I had thought about that before) so like 2 minutes after I got there we left. Super glad I didn’t miss that one because the glacier was so cool!
My coat was a little less waterproof than I would’ve hoped- and it rained the whole time. Everyone in my tour group was from Spain, Portugal, or Germany. Including our guide. But the tour was in English :)
I scheduled a glacier hike- and the Vatnajökull Glacier was kinda far from the spot where I spent the night. I sped. I was still 25 minutes late- but I missed all the sitting around and making sure everyone was wearing waterproof clothing (I had thought about that before) so like 2 minutes after I got there we left. Super glad I didn’t miss that one because the glacier was so cool!
My coat was a little less waterproof than I would’ve hoped- and it rained the whole time. Everyone in my tour group was from Spain, Portugal, or Germany. Including our guide. But the tour was in English :)
While part of the group was attempting to scale the side of an ice wall I chatted with our German guide Marcus and found out he had been in Iceland for 6 months and before that he had trained huskies to drive sleds in Norway! I want an exciting life like that! Though maybe somewhere warmer... last year on my Thailand trip I met another German who was doing the same thing- working temporary jobs to see the world. That sounds amazing.
Marcus also told me the only reason they cancel tours for weather is because of wind. Ya if they cancelled on account of rain they wouldn’t make any money 😂
The glacier hike took 4 hours- and I was freezing. So I went to the back of my van, stripped down, and ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich.
There was a hike I wanted to do at the same place- but I took a nap first to physically and emotionally prepare myself :)
When I woke up to head to the hike guess who I met? Remember my melodramatic comment on day 1’s blog post? Those Americans I met right after I landed? I said I would never see them again? Well they they were at the very hike I was about to embark on!! Four hours away from Reykjavik! #whataretheoddsthattrapdoorwouldleadouthere??
So we hiked Svartifoss together. Svartifoss is a waterfall over black basalt columns. It looks really cool.
Marcus also told me the only reason they cancel tours for weather is because of wind. Ya if they cancelled on account of rain they wouldn’t make any money 😂
The glacier hike took 4 hours- and I was freezing. So I went to the back of my van, stripped down, and ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich.
There was a hike I wanted to do at the same place- but I took a nap first to physically and emotionally prepare myself :)
When I woke up to head to the hike guess who I met? Remember my melodramatic comment on day 1’s blog post? Those Americans I met right after I landed? I said I would never see them again? Well they they were at the very hike I was about to embark on!! Four hours away from Reykjavik! #whataretheoddsthattrapdoorwouldleadouthere??
So we hiked Svartifoss together. Svartifoss is a waterfall over black basalt columns. It looks really cool.
After that I said goodbye to my American friends (yes I do realize most of my friends are American) and headed to the glacial lagoon. It’s a Lagoon and a beach with huge chunks of ice from the glacier. Iceland has a few glaciers- the one I hiked is the biggest. Marcus told us it would fit NYC 11 times. Though I’m not sure what that entails. I’m sure it’s just a line he was told to tell his groups :)
The rest of the day was driving. And it was pouring rain so I didn’t really stop :/ there were a few inlets on the east coast that had swans (at least they looked like swans... remember= pouring rain) but I didn’t stop because I wanted to cover as much ground as possible to get close to Húsavík
The rest of the day was driving. And it was pouring rain so I didn’t really stop :/ there were a few inlets on the east coast that had swans (at least they looked like swans... remember= pouring rain) but I didn’t stop because I wanted to cover as much ground as possible to get close to Húsavík
I’m also learning the map app on the iPhone isn’t the most reliable here. There are certain roads that require you to have a 4•4 and they’re labeled as ‘F’ roads. My drive towards Húsavík took me on this super sketchy back road- but I was promised (as much as a map app CAN gpromise) that it was a regular road. It was a dirt road (even the main highway is a dirt road at parts) but it was like winding steeply up a mountain. I legitimately feared for my life. Also it was still pouring rain. Also the higher I got- the thicker the fog got. As you have probably deduced I made it out alive :) I have mentioned to a couple people that my guardian angels have a lot of work to do when I get on the road. I’m not the safest driver :/ but dang on that mountain it was touch and go for a while there. You know I can be a tad dramatic- but this drive deserves the reputation I’ve placed on it.
I stopped at a campsite about 2.5 hours away from Húsavík- the campsite was pretty crowded- if you arrive after hours they have an ‘honesty box’ and ask you to put in the cash you owe. That was pretty cool. Up until Friday morning the only food I bought after my initial grocery run was that ice cream from day 1. Not bad right???