ICELAND a final framing

As this week draws to a close I am finally putting the finishing touches on the ending of my Iceland adventure.  The suitcase is back in the basement, the books & map are back on the shelf, the patch is sewn onto my backpack, one last visa payment was paid, I ate all the chocolate I brought back and here is one final story to share.  

I marked all the places I visited on this map of Iceland to get a perspective of how much ground I covered.  I saw a significant amount of this island, enough to give me a full meal deal taste.   It is 103,000 square kilometers with a population of 330,000 all living close to the ocean.  

I had expectations heading into this vacation and reality far exceeded those expectations.  From my experience with Icelandair, to my apartment, to the tour companies I joined in with, to the local people I met, to the weather, to the colors and most of all the scenery, I could not have asked for anything to be any other way than it was.

I captured 935 split seconds in time and of all those, seeing this sight was my favourite split second.  I was loosing my breath as I was trying to "remember to breathe" when we came to this section of the hiking trail in Landmannalaugar.       

The scenery was incredible everywhere.  One lady I spoke with who was also travelling alone and hitch-hiked and backpacked her way around the whole Island said it became scenery overload for her.    I guess I saw just enough because I was still able to absorb what I was seeing even as I left the bus and entered the airport for the flight back.  These are a few of my most favourite sights. 

Yes, Iceland is expensive but I made it work for me.  There were no surprises for me in this category as I did my homework and prepared and planned for it.  I went the route of getting an apartment through VRBO instead of a hotel as the apartment is more appealing to my pocketbook.  I brought lots of groceries with me, that made my suitcase heavier but it was still well under the weight limit. 

I learned of skyr before I went and knew this would be a treat to try.  It was available on the flight there so I tried it and I was hooked.  I purchased containers of it when I arrived and devoured it throughout my visit.  I also tried to bring some through security but they confiscated that.  I did not go into duty free at the airport to shop.  

Once an organizer always an organizer!  It was nice to just go along and not be responsible for anything or anyone other than my things and my self.  We were a group of nine with our guide hiking in Landmannalaugar. If you know me, you know I get excited at beautiful sights and I start snapping. This whole hike I was excitedly snapping.  That became contagious and I was being followed to the corners and the edges where I was being snap happy.  Max our guide told me "you are guiding my hike but I am the one getting paid".  Later as he needed to assist a hiker on a couple of steep scrambly sections, he asked me twice to lead the rest of the people to certain spots and to wait.   I did gladly.  Once an organizer always an organizer! I like to document even the little things like this story.    

Going into this adventure was somewhat beyond my comfort zone but once I settled in I felt like I belonged there and it felt right to be there.  Iceland is a very clean place and very pretty.  I felt safe at all of the ungodly hours I was out on the street.  The locals were friendly, they were quiet, they seemed humble and very helpful too.     

When the visions start to fade and the edges get blurry I can just come back here and get lost in my memories.   I hope you enjoyed what I have shared and maybe someday these posts will be a reference for when you plan your trip there.  This Island of Iceland will hold a special place in my heart.  

Iceland Day 8 July 1, 2017

I love Canada and I love Iceland too!  I have to admit I did wish Canada a Happy Birthday but the scenery today captured my attention and was my focus.  I went to see another different area of the Island, which was north around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.  This Peninsula was so pleasingly pretty.  

                            The beaches were beautiful.  

                           The scenery was crazily colorful.

                    Coming out is the lava cave.

Lava and black sand beaches surrounded by the greenest grass and blue/green ocean.

Iceland has so many waterfalls, I guess it is known for that.  Our last stop into the evening was this waterfall.

Today was a feast for my eyes.  This area is not as popular as others yet I am so glad I paid it a visit. We had fabulous weather which made for a photographer's dream, but yes it is all real and I saw it with my own eyes.

Iceland Day 7 June 30, 2017

Today's wild & crazy adventure encompassed just about everything I was expecting Iceland to be and came prepared for.  We ventured into Thorsmork named after Thor the Norse God.  In today's day and age Thor is the God of Thunder.  We followed the trail that would take us up to Fimmvorduhals.  This sits between two newly formed mountains from the volcano that erupted in 2010 and caused such a havoc for all the airlines and travellers.  A thought crossed my mind, in the scheme of things 2017 seems early to be heading up into that terrain.  I think Thor was watching us and delivered everything extreme except thunder and an eruption.  Looking at our bus for the day in hindsight tells our story.

As I wake each morning I get excited for what the day will bring.  I felt a little extra of that this morning.  I geared up, got out the door, waited at my pickup point, and along comes my ride.  Lisa was the driver and guide.  She was pretty & petite, muscled & tattooed and driving this machine-like mini bus.  She warned/advised us what to expect for the drive with extra enfaces on the last hour.  The "F Road" on the Landmannalaugar adventure was mild compared to this beast of an "F Road".  

After ninety minutes of driving from the city to the F Road and then sixty minutes on it, we arrived out in the middle of a place that's looking like something I have never seen before.  It's overcast, there's a slight drizzle and it is the greenest of greens.

The climb starts right from our ride and in a matter of minutes the views begin. It's a dirt narrow trail, with little rugged sections to climb up through.  It's fun and so different. 

We all know there are elves in Iceland.  They live in areas like this.  This is one of their benches.  There were a few of these benches along the trail.

We climbed higher and higher.  It got greener and crazier.  We hiked over the Cat's Spine (a rocky foot wide exposed don't look down kind of trail) and up the Devil's Comb (dirt foot wide slanted exposed trail with a rope to assist with getting through and up this section).  

We came out onto what Lisa called a heath.  It was flat and wide and went on forever.  I could see hints of mountains off in the distance.  We kept our heads down 

and battled the wild, the cold, the rain and the snow.

Getting to this point seemed like an  accomplishment but we had more climbing ahead of us up the snow slopes to another flat snow covered section where you could see lava sticking up out of the snow.  This lava came from the 2010 volcano eruption.  It formed two new mountains which we were in between.  I could slightly see them through the snow and cloud.  Our destination was to this wall of lava.  

We spent a little time here before beginning our trek back through the snow with two long slopes to glissade down.  Then back to the heath then the green.  The Devil's Comb was easier to come down but the Cat's Spine was still sketchy.

We arrived back at our ride and prepared for the adventure back to civilization.  When we made it back onto the main highway I relaxed, closed my eyes and relived the day.  I wanted to make sure I remembered every little thing about this wild and crazy and beautiful part of Iceland.

Iceland Day 5 June 28, 2017

At times in my life when something unexpected is thrown my way right out of the blue that I did not plan, that I am not prepared for, that I know very little about, then left with a tiny window of opportunity to become informed and prepared mentally, panic sets in, I become flustered and confused and worried and all those bad things.  Today I was thrown one of those curve balls but I caught it and held on tight so I could fully embrace it.  When I was planning this Iceland trip and figuring out what I wanted it to look like, I remained practical to a certain extent when it came to the costs.  I had priorities of where big money would go.  Some things that were a must I went for no matter what, other things that were outrageously expensive (in my opinion) that I would love to do but were not must's, I quickly erased from the planning board.  One of those "would love to do" but was not a must was to hike on a glacier in Iceland.  Three hours into what was to be for me a sighting seeing tour along Iceland's south coast, the realization set in that I was on the wrong tour.  At the pick up point he called my name and I hopped on the mini bus for the Skaftafell and Jokulsarlon Lagoon Sightseeing Tour when in fact three hours later I found out I was on the Jokulsarlon Lagoon and Glacier Hike Adventure Tour.    What the six other people paid just over $400cdn for, I would be getting for $200cdn.  Things happen for a reason and are just meant to be.  Today turned out being a diamond of a day!

When this mixed up mistake came to the forefront, our guide made a phone call, confirmed I could go on the Glacier Hike and not have to wait in the vehicle, then he went into recovery mode and worked to make this day right for me too.  Vik was not on his itinerary but it was on mine.

Stopping to admire glaciers was not on his itinerary but was on mine.  The other six people were now beginning to feel OK that I was along as their day was including nice unplanned visits.

Today's highlight for me was to be at Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon.   Two friends, ML and RW, both who had ventured here, both recommended to hit this location.  On the way here we passed through a wild rain storm and even saw two tornadoes off in a field.  I thought just enjoy it no matter what.  As we got closer it cleared and it was "pinch me is this for real" beautiful.

As we entered evening it was time to head to the Glacier Guides Headquarters to meet our guide, sign the waivers, collect our ice axe and crampons then hop on the big bus that would take us up to where we would begin our hike to the glacier.  As we began hiking towards the Glacier, I captured a zoomed in shot of our destination.

                                        going higher and higher

                         surrounded by the walls of the Falljokull Glacier 

We stuck to the gentler sections of the Glacier. I could see a group far off much higher up roped together and sporting helmets.  There was loads to see where we were and we had to pay attention to our foot placement.

Our guide showed us how to drink the glacier water without getting our hands cold and wet. I secured my ice axe over the stream, held on to each end, straddled the steam then kicked back my feet and stuck my crampons into the glacier to secure my feet, then bend down and drink the purest water in the world.   

                   We had the opportunity to play on the Glacier.

It was well into the evening now and time to retreat from the Glacier.  I took one last look back at where we were and took a minute to think, thank you to whoever wherever for what transpired today.

We were on our way again, we were all falling asleep off and on.  Our guide still wanted to make today right so at 10:00pm he pulled into the parking lot for Seljalandsforss Waferfalls.   

                                       

These are the waterfalls you can walk behind so of course I did.  

                                       

 I arrived back at my home away from home shortly before 1:00am.  Wired? Yes! Tired? Yes!  It's light out and I need to eat dinner but feel like I should be having breakfast.  It's the next day what ever day that is. I do know it's the day after yesterday!  As I am writing this story, I can't fully wrap my mind around what I saw and experienced today.  It was a diamond of a day!