Today we are in west Iceland where we encountered a magical world of snow and ice on Langjökull— Iceland’s second largest glacier.
In order to prepare ourselves to walk in the ice cave, we had to put on overshoes — shoes that fit over our existing boots— so that our feet wouldn’t get wet. We then rode in a monster truck designed for driving on the snow, and it took us an hour in this beautiful winter landscape before reaching our destination. Once again we are extremely lucky to have the spectacular weather we are having — clear blue skies and little wind!
Once inside the ice cave, we had to walk with extreme caution, because it was so easy to slip and fall on the ice—in fact, my friend Marsha fell but got up quickly. I also slipped and fell on one knee, but was okay. In the first section, there was no padded walkway, so we had to walk like crabs (sideways). We soon came to the crampon room, where we had to attach devices with spikes onto our boots. Our guide then instructed us to “stomp” on the ice in order to avoid falling; it was more like marching.
Then we were ready to tour the ice cave! I’m not sure how far we walked, perhaps a half of a mile — but it was a bit claustrophic and walking on the ice was certainly treacherous!
There’s even a chapel inside the ice cave, where they hold 80-100 weddings per year! Others have taken the opportunity to do proposals in the space.
Our guide told us about one wedding in which a bride came in high heels (!) to which it was nearly impossible to attach the crampons. She also wore a typical wedding dress with no coat, no jacket, no mittens, etc. The ceremony had to be stopped prematurely because she started to exhibit symptoms of hypothermia!
Earlier in the day, we stopped to see two waterfalls, very different from the ones we’ve seen earlier: the Hraunfosser, with a series of rivulets:
and the Barnefoss, which is a raging cascade.
We moved into the Hotel Husafell, at the base of Langjökull, where we had a second farewell dinner because most of us will be leaving on Saturday.
I came back to write this blog…and then the telephone rang!
It was the hotel, who automatically calls its guests with a courtesy telephone call when the Northern Lights are visible! I rushed to put on my coat and to take pictures.
We were so lucky to see the Northern Lights twice on this trip!