South by Southeast

Before I continue detailing my adventures in Iceland, allow me to make two small corrections to my previous post.

1. It was the sight of the snow-capped volcano Eyjafjallajokull that nearly caused me to drive if the road, not a glacier.
2. That same volcano (don't make me spell it again) erupted in 2010, not 2011.

Now that that's over, let's continue...

I was so proud of myself for quickly adapting to the time zone in Iceland. That is until I woke up this morning at 4:00 am without being able to get back to sleep. (John Green's novel, The Fault in our Stars is also partly to blame). By 8:00, I have up and backtracked a bit too Skogafoss.

I saw Skogafoss from the road the day before but was too hungry to stop. Now with more time, I climbed the stairs adjacent to the falls and then after reading the viewing platform, devices to confine ibn for a bit. Apparently there are 22 fosses along the river and the trail parallels the river the entire way. However, given that my water was in the car and I had only eaten a single banana at 6:00 am, I decided to cut the hike short and had back to town in search of coffee and food.

Coffee, I found, but the food options weren't great so I snacked on pistachios on my way to Solheimajikull for my first real glacier sighting and trek. After donning crampons, we headed up the glacier. I expected the ice to be smooth and clear. 

Instead it felt like waking on a sno-cone (not that I've ever done this, mind you, but you get the picture). The glacier was covered with black cones. These apparently wetter large masses of ice protected from melting by their coating of ash from various volcanic eruptions. From a distance, the glacier resembled marble but up close, spots look more like the dirty snow on the side of the road after the snow plow comes.

Given my early rise, I decided to take it easy the ready of the day with a nap followed by dinner.

In the morning I drove to Skaftafell national park. From there I hiked to yet another waterfall, Svartifoss and then to Sjonarsker for a 360° view of my surroundings before contributing further east.

My plan was to head, leisurely, tothe pick up spot for my 2:00 jeep tour of the Vatnajokull ice cap, but when I saw a parking sign off to the left, I stopped, thinking there might be a bathroom. After following the path for about a minute or two I found myself looking or at a lagoon filed with ice bergs.  I completely forgot my hope for a bathroom or the fact that I left my jacket in the car because I was completely entranced with beauty that floated before me. After striking for a bit, I found a comfy rock and sat and enjoyed the view for a while.

Eventually I tore myself away to meet my jeep tour only to learn, when I arrived that it wasn't going to happen. They have a two person minimum and since no one else signed up, they cancelled the trip. I wish they'd have let me know earlier so I could have spent more time at the lagoon. I considered heading back, but decided to continue on to my next destination, Hofn.

As far as I could tell, Hofn is best known for fishing and cooking langoustine (something between a small lobster and large shrimp). After walking around a bit, I decided to check out the delicacy. 

Tomorrow... East Fjords