Monday, April 8th:
We woke up early the next morning to a nice, warm breakfast prepared by Joyce. She is a fantastic cook!
We got dressed (it's another windy and sunny day) then headed northeast to the Geysir Hot Springs Geothermal Area.
Have you ever wondered where the word geyser comes from? Well, it comes from this Geysir in Iceland!
[Thor!]
Please stay on the path and don't touch the steaming water!
We walked through the Geothermal Area and came across their (currently) most famous geyser: Strokkur.
It erupts every four minutes, so we decided to stay and wait for the eruption.
[Being patient while the wind is blowing and my hand is freezing!]
If you watch closely you can see the water start to pulse and then...
BAM!
ERUPTION!
AND... it's gone.
Even though the water is literally boiling hot it dissipates pretty quickly once it hits the cold air. It was super cool to watch (and hear) it erupt!
Joyce then told us to go hike around and explore the rest of the area.
We went and saw "The Great Geysir," which is currently dormant. The pool is a really pretty blue though.
[Geysir in the foreground with people standing around Strokkur watching it erupt in the background]
We then hiked up to a lookout area where we could take in the entire Geothermal Area. It's hard to see how many pools and geysers there are because the wind is blowing all the steam away.
There are a bunch of these sundials at the popular sites in Iceland. If you line up the gnomon with a place name on the dial, it shows you the name of the place or landscape feature it points at. Pretty cool!
After watching Strokkur erupt one more time we headed towards our next destination: Gullfoss. But before we got there we pulled off onto a dirt path (make sure you ALWAYS stick to the roads and paths when driving AND walking) to take pictures of the Tungufljót river.
[Look at the ice sticking to the rocks!]
[The color is amazing!]
Joyce told us that during the summer that whole area is covered with lupins and green grasses. I'd love to come back in the summer and see that!
[More horses! They are everywhere, but I still love seeing them!]
There are only a few mammals that live in Iceland: Arctic fox (native), minx, reindeer, sheep, cows, and horses. So imagine my surprise when I look out the window and see this dog! I had to do a double take because I didn't realize there were dogs here. He's keeping an eye on the sheep. Such a good boy! There are no predators on the island (the foxes are small and only go after the chickens), so the sheep and horses don't have anything to worry about.
We arrived at the Gullfoss ("Golden Falls") and Joyce suggested we go to the upper and lower lookout points to get the best views. She told us to take our time and she would meet us in the visitor center when we were done.
Josh and I walked over to the upper look out spots first where we were greeted by this gorgeous two step waterfall! It is still partially frozen which made it look even cooler!
The wind is blowing so hard that people are walking like they are drunk, and these guys think it's a good idea to climb over the ropes and get right on the edge to get a good photo. Come on people, be smart, be respectful, and stay safe.
We got a pictures and then walked down to the lower observation area. Unfortunately, the path was blocked off due to the ice so we couldn't get any closer. But that's okay!
After getting our pictures we headed back to the visitor center to meet Joyce for lunch and do a little shopping.
After lunch Josh and I headed out to the parking lot to find our ride to the top of the Langjökull ("Long glacier") for our snowmobiling adventure!
[Not our ride]
[Our ride!]
[So excited!]
We headed north on a road that was only accessible by monster truck!
We traveled for about 90 minutes before we made it to the "Mountaineers of Iceland" basecamp that was up on the glacier! I couldn't believe we were on top of the Langjökull! We’ve been seeing this glacier almost everywhere we went for the last two days. It’s huge! Langjökull is the second largest ice cap in Iceland, after Vatnajökull (we will see later in this trip). The glacier is 31 miles long, 12 miles wide, and 1900 ft thick! Langjökull sits on top of at least two volcanic areas, lava fields, and a palagonitic mountain range.
[Basecamp]
[Snowmobiles]
We got fitted with snowsuits, gloves, and helmets before attending a crash course on how to drive (and ride) a snowmobile. "You gotta lean into the turns!" Got it!
We then picked our snowmobile and followed our guide out onto the glacier!
Josh drove and I enjoyed the views while we zoomed across the glacier! After about 45 minutes we stopped in the shadow of a mountain to take some pictures and walk around.
After a few minutes we all jumped back on the snowmobiles and took the long way back to basecamp! Since we had a small group (~15 snowmobiles) our guide said that we could "overtake" each other if we wanted to. But he wanted us to stay in a general line and within view of one another. Up in the front there were these three guys on their snowmobiles who were racing and constantly overtaking each other. I saw them get WAY too close to crashing a few times, so I asked Josh to keep his distance. We didn't need to race. I just wanted to have fun and not worry about stupid tourist and their egos.
We eventually made it back to basecamp, took off our snowsuits, and then took pictures while we waited for the monster truck to come back and get us.
The sky along the horizon was pink. The sun wasn't going to set for another five hours, so it wasn't due to the sunset. It was so pretty but I couldn't figure it out!
[Here comes our monster truck!]
[It looks so tiny!]
We all piled in the truck and started our descent. Once we got off the glacier and back on the dirt road the truck blew a tire.
[View out the front window]
We had to wait for another truck to come and rescue us. The other monster truck pulled up right next to ours so we could have an easy transfer.
[Drivers]
As we continued our journey I checked my phone and saw that the eclipse had started in the United States. I was sad to miss it, but we were having a pretty great time in Iceland! I guess we can always to go Alaska in 2033 or Spain in 2026, but we'll definitely plan on Florida in 2045!
I showed Joyce the path of the August 12, 2026 total eclipse and she said anyone who travels to Iceland to see it is an idiot since it'll most likely be cloudy (the weather here is unpredictable and wild)!
We found Joyce where we left her (at the Gullfoss visitor center) and we headed to Selfoss for dinner and then back to our cabin.
Our journey today:
We have been insanely lucky with the weather so far. Yes, it's been chilly and windy, but it's also been VERY sunny! Joyce said it's very rare to get three sunny days in a row in the springtime. We are hoping for at least one more sunny day because we are supposed to go on a helicopter ride tomorrow and they won't fly in bad weather.
Our helicopter ride is booked for 9:00 AM out of Reykjavík. Joyce wants us to leave by 7:30 AM just in case we have bad weather in the pass. The pilot said they would call us in the morning to let us know if the flight is happening. Fingers crossed!
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