Glacier Walking and the Elusive Northern Lights

  

We had quite a full last day and night in Iceland as we finished our tour with the group and returned to Reykjavik for one more night before flying home.  Because conditions were not optimal for viewing the Northern Lights the last few days in the countryside, we decided to try one last time-although that meant leaving the hotel at 10 pm and returning at 1 am.  Did I mention it was below freezing?  Oh yeah, it's Iceland...  But to our surprise, even with an activity level predicted at 2 on the 9 point scale, we managed to see a faint, green glow across the sky.  It was clear and cold.  We could not feel our feet.  There was not much "dancing." But hey, we saw them!!

I walked along Svínafellsjökull glacier, where parts of seasons 3, 4, and this season's finale of Game of Thrones were filmed.  The glacier served as the backdrop for Jon Snow's battle with the White Walkers.  

"I'm Yukon Cornelius!"

Carol, me, and Vicki

New friends Joe and Vicki sent me the two photos above

On the way back to Reykjavik...basalt beach

And finally, we visited Höfði, site of the 1986 Reykjavík Summit meeting of presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, one of the first steps toward ending the Cold War.

Mom, I had a wonderful time with you in Iceland.  Thank you for inviting me to join you on the trip of a lifetime.  I love you!!!

Mom the spelunker...who knew?

It snowed overnight! As we opened the curtains we saw one older man fall down from a gust of wind, and two younger people slip on the ice. What a way to start the day... falling on your ass. So we decided to put on crampons, really "shoe grippers," right away. Picture of those tomorrow.

We proceeded into the lobby and were quickly scolded to remove our crampons/grippers because they would ruin the floor. So once we took them off and got mud and salt all over our hands, we sat down to a huge buffet filled with all kinds of jams, breads, homemade waffles and Nutella, meats, cheeses...enough to choke a horse. Oh sorry...that was yesterday's joke/dinner.

We then headed east to Skaftafell, Iceland's National Park, and the glacier covering 9% of the entire country.

On the way, we saw the lava field from the 2010 eruption...

We took a Super Jeep off roading for 30 minutes over terrain that looked like something out of a strange space movie. The driver even had to let most of the air out of the tires to gain traction.

We were suited up with helmets...

...and real crampons, for what was billed as an"easy ice cave tour."

Here's my expression once we got mom UPHILL over boulders and large stones to the entrance. Hooray! But it was hard, not easy, for her. She was a champ and our guide Dan was a saint for holding her other arm, sloshing through freezing water, and breaking up thin ice to clear a way for her. In the dark, at times. Whew. But what a view.

Then we ventured back toward our last stop before the hotel. Our trusty guide, Linus, was waiting for all of us to return.

Last stop for today was Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and black sand beach.

We are enjoying our evening including a room with a view...of the sea, the mountains, and the horses!