Today we got up early, ate breakfast, loaded the car, and got on the 9am ferry back to the Icelandic mainland. It was a great few days on Heimaey in the Westman Islands and we even got to see puffins hunting at sea as we ferried out. They float on the water and periodically dive down. We learned this is possible because of an oil gland in their tail which protects their feathers/bodies from the freezing cold water. It was interesting to get a different perspective on puffins. We also utilized our new Icelandic tupperware (emptied yogurt containers) which would come in handy every day from here on out for storing and mobile eating of our leftovers from all the cooking we are doing!
The main event today was an afternoon guided hike on a glacier and visit to Katla Ice Cave. On the way from the ferry dock, we stopped 20 minutes away at two waterfalls. The first was Seljalandsfoss. It was easy to get to, just minutes from the parking lot. We were able to walk behind this large waterfall, which was very fun. Naomi even convinced us to climb down the rocks behind the waterfall to get to the shore directly behind the water. It was fun and worth it, but I felt like a hurricane reporter. We battled the force of the wind created by the water crashing and got quite soaked!
The second waterfall, Gljufrabui, was a brief walk from Seljalandsfoss. It was a very unique waterfall in that it fell inside a cave in a fissure in the mountain. It was gorgeous and a very different type of sight than we have seen at other fosses so far.
We then drove to Vik, on the south coast of Iceland, to meet the glacier guide. Vik was a very small town, but has grown a bit as it seems to be a launching off point for a lot of tours in areas in southern Iceland and is the last place for a major grocery store before you enter the Vatnajokull National Park area. We took advantage of the very large Bonus grocery store as well, as we knew this was our last chance at groceries for the next three days.
We met up with the group and got into a large bus with very large wheels. The ride itself was a lot of fun as we went offroad into an area out near the glacier that truly was like driving on the moon. It was barren volcanic nothingness and quite wild. Then we got to the glacier. It was an awesome sight! Firstly, most Icelandic glaciers are largely gray/black because of the large amounts of volcanic ash blown over the ice. This glacier, one of the glacial fingers of Myrdalsjokull, was particularly black as it is in a very windy area. Once you are on the glacier, however, you do see spots of clear ice. The glacier is hundreds of feet thick, which is nearly incomprehensible to me, and yet it is a clear picture of the destruction of climate change…
When we got to the glacier, they gave us crampons (shoe spikes) to wear so we could get good footing on the ice and taught us about how to walk on a glacier (short, hard steps). They also mentioned having to move all of their equipment before they left the area for the day or they would lose it in the next few days. Our guide pointed out several areas that were now just mountain, dozens of meters from where we started on the ice, and said their equipment was on the ice in that spot just a week ago. She said that where we sat, the current equipment area, would be gone within the week. There were flowing rivers of glacier melt everywhere, y’all. Both the amount of ice and the speed and visual indicators of it’s demise are astonishing. All the beauty and all the sadness all at once. I could not believe that the glacier was melting at a pace to create so much water melt every second of every day.
Hiking up the glacier was quite interesting though, and when we went into Katla Ice Cave, wow! Just walls of solid ice as thick as one could imagine. Visible, thin layers of ash in the cave from volcanic eruptions hundreds of years ago, air bubbles, different colors in the ice. They said because of the melt, they had to be careful with the cave and constantly move around and create new reinforcements to make sure it is structurally sound. It was awe inspiring, yet, again, devastating to consider. We also had fun with small ice chunks that broke off the glacier…Naomi trying to eat every one of them, and me proposing to Valerie with a piece of “ice” that would have made J. Lo proud!
The drive back on the bus after the tour provided an unexpected surprise. All of a sudden, from our right side, appeared about 80 Icelandic horses with a few riders both in front and in back. It was quite a sight! We got to watch them for a while and then headed back very slowly as the horses were in the road. They even galloped over a bridge, which our guide thought would be our opportunity to get around the horses as, she said, they always just go through the shallow river, haha. Finally, one white horse ran away as if it were making a break for it. The riders chased it for a while with, at one point, three other horses joining the white horse’s escape. The horses got off the rode into a large grassy area on the side of the road at this point and the bus moved on. Interestingly enough, when we later drove past this area, all the horses were still there. Our guide had explained to us that the riders just leave them on the side pastures to graze and come back at some later time to get them. The funniest part was, when we saw the horses again, the four escapees were still in a totally separate area a couple pastures down! Outcast horses!
After being dropped off back in Vik, car now charged and full of groceries for our next 2-3 remote days, we decided to go down to Reynisfjara Beach. Reynisfjara is a very long, beautiful black sand beach with interesting natural basalt columns and tons of puffins and other sea birds on the cliffs. It does have large and strong waves to be aware of though. The beach was wonderful. The basalt columns and caves were incredibly interesting. The kids loved climbing on them in areas where they could. It was also really interesting to be standing below so many puffins flying out to sea as it provided a different viewpoint on their activity. After an hour or so at the beach, we left and drove the nearly 3 hours to our new house for the next two nights, in the middle of nowhere in the foothills of Vatnajokull Glacier! (And, as always, you have to watch for sheep road in Iceland…)
See you on the next mountain!
July 10, 2025 – Total Steps 13,192 (Little Elevation Change)
Videos are so amazing! But seeing climate change in action makes me think the earth will be underwater sooner than we think.
The experience was amazing, but seeing the sheer mass of water constantly flowing out of the glaciers is, as you say, devastating!