Ice Ice Baby

If you know me well, you know I’ve been waiting to use that title. Today was a long day, 13 hours of on the go. I was thankful for another solid 8 hours sleep last night (and super thankful I could bring my sleep-aid of choice with me on this trip) and was packed up, hair breaded (the official Laura travel hair), and out on the road by 9:30am. I had a lot of ground to cover today. I had over 4 hours distance to my next AirBnB and had about 7 planned stops I wanted to make along the way.

I stopped in the town of Vik to gas up the car and grab some food. Fun fact: two out two restaurants I tried to find in Vik had zero signage outside. I had some breakfast and stopped in a grocery store to buy a sandwich for the road since I had no idea when my day would land me near food. I decided to try a more Icelandic flavor profile and grabbed a smoked lamb and bean salad sandwich and some paprika pringles.

Just 15 minutes outside of Vik I arrived at the Hjorleifshohdi. There was supposed to be a beautiful cave there and a hike up to the top where one could find the pagan gravesite of the second settler in Iceland, and some beautiful views. I couldn’t get to the cave as it was closed for a special event (I have no idea what and didn’t confirm myself but took the word of some dude I passed on the road) but I decided that a little morning hike was in order. I had thought I had seen the tip of the tomb at the apex of this cliff from the road and figured I’d get my blood flowing . Holy crap. Did I ever get my blood flowing. And my heart pounding. And my knee aching. I could tell the very start of this hike was quite steep and figured it would level out and become more gradual. Boy was I wrong. Very wrong. This trail was scary. It was very soft, very loose sand, only maybe 8″ wide in some places, and had a sheer drop off the side among much of it. Like if you try to put your two feet side by side one of them was going over the edge. For an asthmatic with shitty depth perception this was terrifying. Not to mention the extra balance challenges of my pack. As I climbed the steep narrow path my heart regularly surged past 170 and I’d have to stop, wait for it to get back down to under 150, and continue on. I knew not to doubt myself that I could do it and remained chill about taking my time and breathing. When I finally reached the top I was rewarded with the very cool gravesite and amazing 360 views of the ocean to one side and a glacier to the other. I looked at my watch. I had come a very steep 2.5 miles and the equivalent of 63 flights of stairs to get to this point. Damn, no wonder it was a struggle. I enjoyed the views and the chilly air (I had my sleeves rolled up to my shoulders, tempted to strip down to my sports bra, sweating on the way up), admired the tomb, signed the guestbook, and found the trail down the other side.

The trail back down was also quite steep and narrow but not as wet and more compressed than loose sand, and almost all downhill. As I navigated down the steep incline and my knee was starting to let me know it was not happy, I leaned my shoulders back and penguin waddled for balance to make it past the sheer drop off edges! It was a beautiful hike down. I thought for a moment about my upcoming trip to New Zealand and decided that when I am in New Zealand I am going to start to write a book. One chapter a night shall be my goal. I have no idea what the premise of this book should be but if I could get 14 chapters out of this trip it could be a fun challenge for myself. The trail down the other side had some beautiful scenery and I passed quite a few sheep who may have been judging my lack of agility. I also passed a man hiking in some wonderful hiking shoes but fully clad in slacks, a button down shirt, and a blazer. People are fascinating. I wish I had gotten a picture of him.

As I drove away I began to notice all the glacial runoff streams I was driving over that flowed into the ocean. I found myself in awe for a moment as I realized that watching this glacier water was literally observing global warming in it’s most literal sense. Pretty trippy.

Laufskalavarda was my next destination, a lava field with a lava mound. You are supposed to stack rocks in and around the mound to bring good luck. It was pretty cool. I stacked some rocks for my luck and even made a wish and then moved along.

As I was driving down the Ring Road the landscape changed to these stunning moss-covered rock formations that looked like rolling green mini hills. I saw a spot where a couple other folks had pulled off the road safely and decided to stop and check it out. I took a step onto this surface and it was like walking on pillows, so soft beneath my feet. It was truly one of the most unique and beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. And the moss was insane. It sprang right back up after each step. It turns out the “rocks” beneath were actually a smooth lava flow that had been overtaken by wooly moss. As I drove throughout the day I saw many areas like this.

I ate a local protein bar, Barbells Cookies & Cream, in the car and it was delicious!!! The bar tasted like a rocky road candy bar and had 20 g of protein. I may need to stock up on these before heading back to the states. With a happy belly I arrived at the Fjadrargljufur Canyon trail. Again with the uphill. I should add too, after yesterday and getting caught soaking wet in the rain I made sure my pack was prepared today. I had three jackets (rain, scuba-style, and puffy warm) in my pack plus a beanie and gloves but so far today I had been fine the entire time in a long sleeved shirt, with the sleeves rolled up half the time. Anyways, I began this little trek and was met with again a scene unlike any other I had seen yet in Iceland. A beautiful canyon. As I walked in awe up the incline I started to reflect. When I booked my first long solo adventure trip to New Zealand in February of this year most people were excited for me to go and explore on my own but one person instead asked me, “What are you running from?” That question pissed me off then and it again pissed me off now. As I thought of both the physical and mental strength these adventures have given me and the affect they have on me it’s very clear that I’m not running away from anything but instead running to myself. Because it is the times when I get to just be me with no “noise” in life to stress over (that pesky little thing called a job that usually rules my mind) that I am the most at peace. That I love myself the most. That I am the most confident that no matter how difficult a challenge seems I’m going to achieve it. That I respect my body the most and feel every ache and muscle.

And I saw the best sign ever on a fence post as I drove away from the canyon…

The weather for my hike was perfect and on the road again the rain lightly sprinkled as I continued my adventure. I could see another peak ahead and was trying to figure out the odd color of it. When I realized that it was a rainbow. I could see a super fat rainbow against the side of the peak. Once against the sky it disappeared but against the peak it was becoming more and more vibrant. The rainbow stayed with me for a while. The majority of this drive I could see glaciers lining the ranges to my side and ahead of me. The sunlight danced off of them so beautifully when it came out from behind the clouds. Staring at the glaciers and the rainbows I was entranced.

I stopped at the Foss a Sidu waterfall. It was ok. I guess. Nothing special. But it was a good time for a car picnic and to dig into that smoked lamb and bean salad sandwich. Honestly I’m not really sure what I was eating. It was like a lamb prosciutto and this thick sauce/spread on it with things in it I could not identity. It was damn good. But I had no idea what the heck it was. I dug into the pringles and tried to remember the last time I had pringles. I swear its been years. Those things were also damn good. I made myself put them away behind the seat of my car so I couldn’t reach them.

I continued driving in awe of the glacier and rainbows playing together until I arrived at Skaftafellsheioi glacier park. I picked two trails; one to Svartifoss Falls and one to Skaftafellsjokull Glacier. I headed north first to Svartifoss Falls and was again met with a steep incline. Dammit this was getting old. But I knew that once I got to the top then it would be all decline coming back and that I could do. Svartifoss Falls was stunning. The same type of basalt columns I had seen on the beach last night surrounded this beautiful fall. I took my time admiring it and studying the columns and the play of the water. This may be my favorite waterfall here so far. I peeled myself away and continued my hike and dammit there was still more incline. I scrambled up the bouldery trail apologizing to my knee for the false hope of a break from climbing. A note on trails… if you and your partner insist on holding hands while out hiking and walking side-by-side taking up the entire trail and not being aware of people trying to get around you, you’re assholes.

I rounded out my Svartifoss Falls hike and headed south to the glacier. I didn’t really know how close it would take me to the actual glacier but I was sure it would be cool. This trail had a couple different routes and I chose to take the easier one there. The sun was out and I was again amazed at the fact that I was hiking to a glacier, in Iceland, with my sleeves rolled-up, and not at all cold. I hiked quick and with anticipation as the glacier was getting closer and closer to me. When I came to the end of the official trail I was about half a mile from the glacier itself and beside her glacial lagoon. I decided to continue down the “beach” and get closer, it looked like I could actually touch it if I got all the way down there! I had started to get a little chilly as I approached that trail end and as I worked my way down the lava sand beach closer and closer to the glacier it was getting colder and colder. By the time I got here I had added a beanie, my warmest jacket, and gloves. And was still cold. The wind coming off the glacier was like running through a freezer. And in the end, I couldn’t get close enough to touch her due a raging river of runoff. I headed back and quickly warmed up as I put distance between us. Within 3/4 of a mile I had taken all the layers off and was back to rolled-up sleeves. I decided to take the more difficult trail back and while I thought I was on the right path, every time I saw one of the little trail markers with their little yellow painted tops I took a sigh of relief knowing I was on the right track. Like my first hike this morning, this was another where for the most part I was completely alone on the trails. Every time I’d stop I would take in the silence. It was glorious.

I took longer than planned on those hikes and was cognizant that my time was getting crunched. I still had about 2.5 hours to get to my AirBnb, 3 more stops I wanted to make along the way, and it was already well after 6pm. Oh well. No need to worry about it, just keep on trucking. The Diamond Beach and the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon are basically adjacent to each other which made life easier. I noticed on the car that the temperate was dropping as I drove, admiring glaciers the entire route, and it was COLD when I got to the Diamond Beach. Somewhere in the high 30s I think. I layered up and walked down to see if this beach was worth the hype. This is where glaciers literally run off from a glacial lagoon directly into the ocean. Again, this is witnessing the climates literally changing. Some seals played in the waves close to shore as chunks of glaciers rolled by out to sea. The beach was indeed littered with giant chunks of glacier ice that were washed up on shore and sparkling like glass and diamonds. It was pretty cool. As I first got down there a rather sizable chunk of glacier went floating by. It was quite an unbelievable sight to take in.

Across from the Diamond Beach was the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. So gorgeous. Giant chunks of glacier in a lagoon, waiting to be melted down and swept out to sea. Seals played in the water and put on a show as the sun was playing off the ice. I tried to sit and really take it all in but there were some pretty obnoxious tourists making it hard to really focus on the moment. But still, it was gorgeous.

I left the lagoon and still had almost a 2 hour drive ahead of me and needed to figure out my dinner situation since I am out in the middle of nowhere tonight. I stopped to look up the details of how to find my place for the night and realized that the farm didn’t have an address and I had just been given GPS coordinates. Awesome. This would have been fine had I taken the time to actually learn how to use the GPS mapping function of my Garmin before I left on this trip but I had not. Thankfully there was some backup information provided.

I decided that food was more important than making it to the last stop on my list for the day, a lighthouse, and stopped in the town of Hofn for dinner at Pakkhus Restaurant. My langoustine soup and salmon warmed me up and hit the spot. It was dark out by the time I got back on the road so I knew I could be in for a fun time trying to locate my AirBnB. What amazes me, I didn’t stress one bit. Again, I knew that I would figure it out, because I had to. And sure enough, using the directions the host provided and thankfully spotting the one tiny sign on the road that was a big guide marker I actually found the place quite easily. I have an entire farmhouse tonight. It has 5 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and is really just plain weird. I don’t think I’ll be sad to hit the road in the morning. But the host did leave a loaf of freshly baked banana bread! Tomorrow is my longest drive day of the trip. Five hours from here to my next AirBnB and that doesn’t account for stops along the way. I think it will be less strenuous day but who knows what I’ll find to get myself into!