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Second Spring

Into The Glacier Blue Lagoon room

Today we took off north of Reykjavík to tour the Vesturland region. Our main stop was an ice tunnel tour in Langjökull (long glacier), the second largest glacier in Iceland. Built into the stable top of the glacier, we were able to see how a glacier is formed and reacts to the different pressures that build up over the years due to snowfall. See it soon though, the glacier is in retreat, the location of the ice tunnel will be gone in 50 years and the Langjökull glacier is predicted to be gone in 150 years leaving a high dry desert like region. Our tour guide said she did not know what she will do after the glacier is gone and me being me I recommended checking out Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico which will have more staying power than glaciers. Got a laugh from her.

The game plan was to get to the glacier and tour on the way back but alas the weather had different ideas, a windy storm kicked up forcing us to skip a fjord tour, one of the nicest in Iceland, due to hazardous conditions.  Spring like weather has persisted much longer than usual and some locals have told us that it seems summer will skip them this year and winter will be back soon. June had very few days where the sky was visible and the local’s frustration is quite understandable.  It did not completely stop us, we managed a few stops including Hraunfossar, or Lava Falls, where the water runs out of a cliff side after flowing through the a lava bed and Deildartunguhver, one of the most active hot spring in Iceland. Nice end to the day.

Jet lag is not my friend…

The tunnel under the Hvalfjörður fjord.
The tunnel under the Hvalfjörður fjord.
These ducks kept pace with us for a while.
These ducks kept pace with us for a while.
Our destination.
Our destination.
Our ride up the glacier.
Our ride up the glacier at Klaki base camp.
The wind getting to Syd.
The wind getting to Syd.
The lower end of the Langjokull glacier.
The lower end of the Langjokull glacier.
Yet more ice...
Yet more ice…
Kim entering the glacier.
Kim entering the glacier.
Inside the ice tunnel in Langjokull glacier.
Inside the ice tunnel in Langjokull glacier.
Into The Glacier Blue Lagoon room
Into The Glacier Blue Lagoon room
Syd having fun in the ice tunnel.
Syd having fun in the ice tunnel.
The dark line towards the bottom is the ash from the eruption of the Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajökull which halted air travel across the Atlantic. Everything above the line has fallen since 2010.
The dark line towards the bottom is the ash from the eruption of the Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajökull which halted air travel across the Atlantic. Everything above the line has fallen since 2010.
An ice hall in Langjokull, Iceland’s second largest glacier.
An ice hall in Langjokull, Iceland’s second largest glacier.
Syd enjoyed herself on the glacier tour.
Syd enjoyed herself on the glacier tour.
A glacial fissure in Langjokull.
A glacial fissure in Langjokull.
An ice hall in Langjokull, Iceland’s second largest glacier.
An ice hall in Langjokull, Iceland’s second largest glacier.
Starting down the glacier.
Starting down the glacier.
Hraunfossar (Lava Falls). The water runs through the lava until this point.
Hraunfossar (Lava Falls). The water runs through the lava until this point.
Barnafossar (Children's waterfall) where two boys died giving the falls its name.
Barnafossar (Children’s waterfall) where two boys died giving the falls its name.
Deildartunguhver, a very active hot spring.
Deildartunguhver, a very active hot spring.
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The Land Between

A memorial to Awks in Reykjanesvita.

Today was a mix of the old and new, at least for Kim and myself. For Syd it was all new. We started off with a tour around Reykjavík, a subset of what Kim and I did last year. The stops in Reykjavík included Grótta Lighthouse, Hallgrímskirkja, Bessastaðir (residence of the President of Iceland) and one of my favorites, Höfði, a house in where the 1986 Reykjavík Summit of presidents Ronald Reagan of the United States and Mikhail Gorbachev of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics occurred.  It only looks small, this house was the site of many events almost from the time it was built both in Icelandic and world history. It will always be one of my favorite stops here and I was glad to have a chance to revisit it with Sydney.

Next was something new for all, a tour of the Reykianes peninsula which is near Reykjavík. We have been there before, Iceland’s main point of entry Keflavik Airport and the Blue Lagoon are located on it but today we got a chance to enjoy some of the peninsula’s other features including Reykjanes Unesco Global Geopark, Kleifarvatn Lake, Gunnuhver (mud pools and steam vents), and Reykjanesvita (steam vents) and Brimketill (a “troll’s pool” on the Atlantic Ocean.) The Reykianes peninsula contains some of the youngest land in Iceland, only 200,000 to 500,000 years old being in a  rift zone i.e. between the North American and Eurasian plates so we were in a land between. Quite the amazing tour. Nature guided us overall, it was raining in Reykjavík (spring rains have yet to let up) but the farther out we moved from the capital city the nicer the weather became. Someone send us a message? The next few days will tell…

Grótta lighthouse.
Grótta lighthouse.
Leifur Eiríksson and Hallgrímskirkja.
Leifur Eiríksson and Hallgrímskirkja.
Got her to Hallgrímskirkja.
Got her to Hallgrímskirkja.
Höfði House
Höfði House
Negotiating with a teenager. A real summit!
Negotiating with a teenager. A real summit!
The next international summit at Höfði House.
The next international summit at Höfði House.
A rainy visit to Bessastaðir
A rainy visit to Bessastaðir
Terrain near Kleifarvatn.
Terrain near Kleifarvatn.
Lake Kleifarvatn in Reykjanes Geopark.
Lake Kleifarvatn in Reykjanes Geopark.
Seltún hot springs in Krýsuvík. Smells like your grandfather's house.
Seltún hot springs in Krýsuvík. Smells like your grandfather’s house.
Gunnuhver hot springs
Gunnuhver hot springs
Reykjanesvita
Reykjanesvita
Reykjanesvita
Reykjanesvita
A memorial to Awks in Reykjanesvita.
A memorial to Awks in Reykjanesvita.

 

Kleifarvatn Lake in the Reykjanes Unesco Global Geopark