The south of Iceland has an amazing place called Jökulsárlón, or glacier bay. Parts of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier break off and the melting ice has created a lake as the water and ice ventures out to the Atlantic ocean. This sight is right off of highway one and there are parking areas by the bridge that crosses the outlet to the ocean.
Saying that Devin loved this place is an understatement. We actually did multiple trips to this place. It’s incredibly quiet and you can either sit and take it all in or walk around the lake and investigate every little thing. We did both.
Glacier walk
Prior to coming to Iceland I had scheduled a glacier walk on the Svínafellsjökull glacier. Glaciers are formed when snow accumulates year after year and the weight of the snow compacts it into ice. Our guide compared it to a Mars bar. Imagine folding a bar in two. The caramel bends (as does the under part of the glacier) but the chocolate on top breaks apart. This is what forms the crevasses in the glacier.
“Walk” is a false advertisement. This is really like a hike in crampons (shoe spikes) with some mountaineering gear thrown in for fun. Glaciers are blue and the white is caused by oxygen and the black is from volcanic ash.
Our small cabin was just outside the Vatnajökull national park.
