When we did our safari in Tanzania, we would often run into what we called the Serengeti traffic jam. There were so many tourists on expeditions that if a lion or some other big game was sighted, up to 20 to 25 land rovers filled with tourists trying to get the perfect picture (ourselves included) would congregate on the same dirt road, making moving on a bit of a challenge. Believe it or not, it’s the same thing in Iceland except the congestion here is caused by geology (and sometimes sheep - they have no predators here and roam free in the summer, they wander on to the roads and don’t always like to move out of the way). The roads, campsites, and attraction parking lots all over the country are full of tour buses and camper vans just like ours, and everyone is here, in one way or another because of geology. Volcanoes, glaciers, steaming hot springs, geysers, jagged mountain ranges, barren moonscapes, you name it, it’s all here and easily accessible. Today was all about the glaciers.
Our day basically consisted of a drive from Vik to Hofn with a stop at Skaftafell national park to do a short hike to the Skogafoss waterfall and another stop at Jokulsarlon beach. The destinations were pretty great, but the drive was the highlight. Holy smokes, the views were spectacular. One impossibly scenic mountain range after another, over and over again for hours. Jagged peaks, steep looming cliffs, the odd lonely farm in the distance, and everything covered in impossibly green grass or grey green moss, with not a tree in sight. The best part was the glacier. We drove through the glacier’s outwash plain which was a desert of rocks with a few raging rivers. In the distance, we could see the glacier’s massive terminus coming through the mountains on either side. You could see lateral moraines, and even though it was a little cloudy, you could almost make out the massive main glacier (Vatnajokul) above. This was one of the most incredible drives I have ever done, and I’ve done a few.
The hike to Skogafoss was nothing special as far as hikes go, but is was great to get out and stretch our legs. I’m a little ashamed to say that my legs were more sore than they should have been for so short a hike. Getting old I guess. The waterfall itself was pretty neat. It goes over a basaltic column formation, some of which have collapsed under the waterfall making for a pretty neat formation. I had seen basaltic columns on tv and in photos, but never in person. They are pretty impressive.
The beach at Jokulsarlon is a destination because it is on a glacial lake filled with hundreds of small icebergs broken off he main glacier. The icebergs, shaped by wind and water are all sizes and most have an otherworldly azure tint. With the mountains and glacier in the background, it is all incredibly scenic.
We ended our day in a campsite in the small town of Hofn, the nicest one yet. We used the stove in our camper to make a nice dinner and had a good night’s rest. I’m sad to say that I’ve lost the battle of keeping the van organized, but other than that, things are going great.
