2018 ICELAND Skaftafell 8 - By the Glacier

Just before reaching our hotel we caught a glimpse of Vatnajökull (jökull means glacier) or Skaftafell National Park. There are 13 major jöklar in Iceland, which take up over 11% of the island. This one is the largest at 8,300 square kilometers (3,200 square miles). The next largest is 853 square kilometers.


And here's a close-up. Our hotel was located on the edge of this glacier to the right. My goal this afternoon was to hike over to touch that glacier.

We arrived about 16:30 to the Hotel Skaftafell. We chatted with the young fellow (named something like Almaden) while the paperwork was completed.

There were a variety of topics. He said each village had a school and they play futbol events between the towns (European soccer style, not American football). Puffins are not in Iceland during this season. They migrate and hang out in Scotland. Other birds migrate all the way to Africa.

We wondered what the chances of seeing the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights were. He said hard to tell, but the sky was clear at the moment and that seemed promising. We put in a wake up / notification call, if the lights appeared.

We asked how to pronounce "thank you" in Icelandic. He said "Þakka þér fyrir" (keep in mind that unusual "Þ" is pronounced "t"). We tried it a few times unsuccessfully, so he said you can just say "taak." That's what we used for the rest of the trip.

We settled in to our small and basic room. Mike decided to read, but I wanted to explore. I hoped to touch that glacier. A path out back looked like it led right to it. With camera in hand, off I went.

Up the hill was a shiny red pick-up truck (middle right). So I figured there was something interesting up there and was sure it was the glacier. It didn't really seem that far by the looks of it, but I must have walked at least a mile up to the end of the obvious trail. The truck was about half way. No sign of life anywhere nor any proximity to a glacier. 

I could see it beyond wetlands and a valley and kept thinking "okay, after this knoll would be the glacier or side trail to the glacier." Then another knoll and another and another. No obvious trail and I was not prepared to go lava rock climbing, especially all by myself. No glacier touching to be had today.

The glacier was on my left, just beautiful from afar. To my right I could see a group of hikers who had traversed a valley. See tiny red coat in center below snow area.

Here's a close-up. I saw they wore safety gear. That convinced me I should not try forging a new trail to the glacier on my own. I could get hurt or lost and sundown was approaching.

To their right was a natural ice cave. Maybe they had explored it. We would get our turn to do that tomorrow.

I finally gave up and started back down the trail. On the way, I heard this strange sound off in the not too distant wasteland. It sounded like a growling bull frog. I knew for sure there were no frogs here at least at this time of year.

So here I am all alone in a big black fake furry coat feeling a little like prey. We had not seen any wild animals so far, but could it be a hungry arctic wolf, certainly not a polar bear. Turns out polar bears are not native to Iceland, but they have drifted here from Greenland as late as 2010. I put a little giddy-up in my pace. I was happy to meet my sister coming toward me about halfway down from the red pick-up. We enjoyed the rest of the walk together.

Back at the "ranch," we joined Tom in the bar. Our barkeep's name was pronounced "b-yig-yee" but he said "just call me George" and he was from the Czech Republic. He said he has traveled quite a lot, staying in each place a year or so. Last time he was in Venezuela. He was pretty funny and full of facts and figures.

Outside the window he pointed out the tallest spot in Iceland, Hvannadalshnúkur at elevation 6,923 feet (2110 meters). It is actually a pyramidal peak on the northwest rim of the summit crater of the Öraefajökull volcano (last eruption 1728).

I ordered a Northern Lights in hopes of seeing them later that night. George said to have three and you will see them for sure! It had some Blue Curacao mixed in to give it blue streaks floating throughout. Hence the name.

Then we got a taste test of the two specialty liquors of Iceland. One was dark called Tapas. It had a kind of licorice taste similar to Jägermeister. Not my personal favorite.

The other we had heard about before...Brennivin, an Icelandic schnapps. Mike read that its nickname is Black Death. It was clear, 80 proof, and almost odorless. In spite of the proof, it went down pretty darn smooth. We got a generous shot (see George pouring above) and believe me when I say one was enough.

It was happy hour so a few travelers joined the crowd. We met two fellows from Finland. They said Iceland looked much like their country except they had fjords.

We chatted with another group--some from Colorado and some from Oklahoma. Seemed funny hearing their western twang in the middle of Iceland.

One of the guys said he was up the hill and had found his way to the glacier. He thought the noise I heard was cracking ice. I was not particularly convinced of that. I was a bit jealous, however, that he made it. He offered directions, but I was not about to go back and try it again.

Back in our rooms, we prepped for dinner.