Sunday, April 14th:
Today we had a LONG excursion, so Joyce made is a warm breakfast and then we went to the bakery to stock up on snacks.
[Chicken and lamb sausages, scrambled eggs, avocados, skyr, fruit, cheese, and bread]
[Our favorite bakery (Almar Bakari) in Hveragerði]
We drove to the bus depot in Reykjavík where we hopped on a small tour bus. There were 22 people in the tour plus our driver/guide, Gunnar.
Gunnar drove us north out of Reykjavík on Route 1. We went through the Hvalfjörður Tunnel (tunnel that goes under the Hvalfjörður fjord) and skirted along the beautiful mountains that surround Reykjavík. Our driver/guide provided commentary on what we saw and where we were going. He also told us about elves and trolls, which many Icelanders believe in.
The first stop on our journey was the Deildartunguhver hot springs. This hot spring has a flow rate of 180 liters per second and is the highest-flow hot spring in all of Europe.
[Pipes to transport the water]
We then went to see the Hraunfossar. These falls are pretty small, but they are beautiful and the water is VERY blue!
We then headed to basecamp where our drive dropped us off and we boarded a monster truck!
[Ready to go back onto Langjökull]
Our monster truck climbed up a series of hills and after about an hour we made it back onto the glacier!
[I was fighting a migraine and the cold air on my face helped tremendously]
When we arrived there was about two feet of snow in front of the ice cave entrance. We took pictures while we waited for the driver and guide to clear the snow for us.
After the snow was cleared we entered the ice cave and made our way to a large area where we could put on our crampons.
After getting our crampons in place our guide told us about the cave system. "Into the Glacier" is the largest manmade ice cave in the world. It took a group of architects, geophysicists, engineers, specialists, and geologist FOUR years to plan how they were going to be able to do this. After plans were made it took 14 months to dig out the cave. Of course there were set backs (glaciers can be unstable especially ones that are on top of an active volcano system), but they finally got it done and open for tours. Because the ice is constantly melting, freezing, and moving the engineers come in DAILY (we saw them on our way out) to inspect the tunnel and expand it.
Once our history lesson and safety lesson was done we headed into the ice cave.
Our guide stopped us when we reached an area where you could see the glacial stratigraphy.
She showed us two black lines. The black line that was lower on the wall was volcanic ash from the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. The black line above that is from the 2011 eruption of Grímsvötn. The ice between the two black lines is the snow that fell in between the eruptions. Right now it is about 3 feet thick, but it will be condensed due to the pressure of the new snow and it will eventually be an inch thick.
It was slushy and icy inside the cave so you had to walk like an angry penguin in order to not slip!
Next, our guide stopped us at this sign. The cave was supposed to be a large circle, but one of the crews got a bit lost and it ended up being more heart-shaped. Aww! She said you are supposed to kiss in front of the sign for good luck.
[Joyce]
[Aww! 10 years married!]
Our guide then took us into a small room where she told us we could lick the glacier. We all looked at her like she was crazy. But she said due to the nature of the glacier and how much it melts, you won't be licking ice that someone else has licked. Well, if you say so!
[Licking the inside of Langjökull]
She then told us about firn. This is snow that is in the process of being compressed into glacial ice. It's very grainy.
We then continued our walk through the caves. Some areas got pretty tight, but they had string lights which made it look very pretty. You can really see how blue the ice is!
Next, we arrived at the chapel! Yes, people have gotten married here. We then sang happy birthday to two people on our tour. The acoustics are pretty good!
[Crack!]
We ended our tour by standing under this large crevasse. Our guide told us that it was open to the air, but now the snow has covered it up. This is a big reason why you shouldn't walk on or through glaciers without a guide!
[Map of the ice cave]
I didn't want to get freaked out while we were in the cave, so once we got out I asked our guide how deep we were. She said at the deepest there is about 150 feet of ice and snow above us! Eek!
We exited the cave, jumped back in the monster truck, and headed down the glacier.
We made it back to basecamp, thanked our guide, and found our tour bus driver/guide Gunnar. He drove us all back to Reykjavík without any issues. During the drive he told us more fun facts about Iceland. He also told us that there was a solar storm and if the skies are clear we should be able to see the Northern Lights tonight. He said that tonight it the end of their Northern Lights sightseeing tour season and it'll start back up again at the end of August.
Joyce then drove us to the Ingólfsskáli Viking Restaurant for dinner. She said during the summer you can practice your archery skills outside while you wait for a table.
The inside of the restaurant was very cool! It was made of wood and there were animal pelts all over the tables. At the far end there was a big stage for performances. Joyce told us that all of the food is local and made fresh.
For dinner I got a warm cheese plate with volcanic crackers, Joyce got the fish, and Josh got the lamb. Again, everything was delicious. I don't think I've had any bad or even mediocre food since we landed 10 days ago! Well, the shark doesn't count!
For dessert we got the skyr cheesecake, caramel brownie, and a chocolate mouse with local berries.
When we got back to the cottage I checked my Aurora app an the Iceland website. The forecast is a 4 out of 9 which is good, but it was still a little cloudy, so we didn't know if we would be able to see them.
We had to wait for the sun to set more, so I started packing while Josh watched the skies.
Around midnight we started seeing a green haze in the sky. It was brighter than last time which was good because there were still some clouds around the horizon.
They would start to pulse and then they would stay visible for a few minutes before they would fade.
As the night went on the lights got brighter and brighter.
By the end of the storm we could see the pillars pretty well!
[Big dipper directly overhead]
Thanks for the show, Iceland! What a great way to end our trip!
Where we went today:
I didn't know what to expect when we booked the "Into the Glacier" tour, but I am so glad we did it! The day was long, but being able to go INSIDE a huge glacier was such a fun experience. Plus, I love riding in those monster trucks!
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