Our last full day in Iceland was a long one, starting with getting up at 5am to drive the 3.75 hours to the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. We had to be there by 9:30 for a scheduled ice cave tour. Once we got there, we hopped on board a “jeep” which was basically a passenger van on steroids. It has these gigantic tires that inflated and deflated on command, thanks to an onboard air compressor. After a 20-minute drive, we arrived at the base of the Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, where many other vans with other groups were waiting to make the trek up to the ice caves.
The terrain leading up to the glacier was extremely rocky and icy. During our journey, we learned that Apollo astronauts actually trained in this part of Iceland to extract mineral deposits for their lunar missions. The tour guides equipped everyone with helmets and crampons, which made walking on the ice easier.
On the journey, we came across these pieces of ice, crystal clear and incredibly smooth. It was almost like we were holding a fidget toy or crystals rather than pieces of ice.
This particular ice cave has been around for about two months. As the glacier melts and shifts, new caves form, are discovered, and then are opened to tours. The beginning of this cave looked more like a trench, then it got lower until we were covered in places. Some parts of the cave were crystal clear, while other sections had embedded rocks and volcanic ash in the ice. At any given time, there were about 50-60 people within different sections of the cave. There was one point where we had to bend down (I ended up crawling on my knees to avoid damaging my camera).
While I’m proud of the pictures I took, they do not fully encapsulate the majestic feeling of the ice caves.
After spending more than an hour in the cave, we made the trek back down to get into our “jeep”, then were dropped off at the end of the glacier, where pieces have broken off and are now heading into the ocean. The sun was now fully in the sky as well, providing the best light for pictures.
Across the road was Diamond Beach, a black-sand beach where icebergs, polished by the waves, wash back onto shore, looking like diamonds and crystals. I was amazed at just how fine the sand was, as despite kneeling to take some photos, my pants remained clean.
We then made the trek home, which included another stop for hot dogs and a visit to waterfalls. We checked out Seljalandsfoss, which was illuminated by both lights and a full moon.
Mother Nature wasn’t finished with us yet, as we were finally treated to a clear evening and an amazing Northern Lights show. I was pretty happy with the pictures from earlier this week, but these new pictures were everything I had hoped for when we planned to come to Iceland. These were captured right outside of our cottage.
Tired from our long day, we’re now ready to rest up and make the journey back home on Thursday. Depending on what we do before our flight, I may post for Day 7, stay tuned!