We Must Have Done Something Right...
OK, maybe it is just me (and if it is…. don’t correct me). BUT using a wide angle lens and then taking a picture of someone (namely me…) makes one look… well… wide. Or maybe it is the skyr that I have been eating for dessert (a creamy Icelandic dessert… yum).
Off we drove this morning, heading north out of Kirkjubaeljarklaustr (try saying that even once!) through the fog and mist. It appeared it would be just another overcast day in Iceland… sprinting out of the car attempting to beat another rain storm, and using the car as a shield trying to take pictures in gale force winds. BUT, as our waiter in Klaustr (yes, we are in “the know”… it is hip to call the place “Klaustr”) reminded us… the part of Iceland we just drove through gets the most rain. So we had hope. That is, until it started raining as we drove out of town.
ANYWAY… we drove north and passed this farm called Foss (named for the waterfall). 
Farms of ANY size (including this one) warrant a sign on the Ring Road… as well as a dot on the map. This was typical scenery along this stretch of road. Very “Lord of the Rings”.
This black sand “desert” was formed after an explosion of the volcano Laki in the 1700s. It goes on and on and on and on. Punctuated only by occasional rivers. It lends a mystical feeling to the landscape.
Sooooo… we were heading towards Skaftafell National Park and the Vatnajokull (the largest non-polar ice cap in the world), still fighting the mist and winds. And all the sudden, this happened.
You would have thought we had all won the lottery. I swear I heard angels singing “Hallelujah!!!”. Blue sky! Our first in Iceland. And just in time… as that patch of blue sky happens to be over… Skaftafell National Park! (Sharon must have prayed extra hard last night!).
First we hiked up to Svartifoss, a waterfall surrounded by natural basalt columns.
I have this REALLY, REALLY cool closeup of the basalt columns... but after fighting with my computer now for 30 minutes trying to get it uploaded correctly. I give up (I have lost the battle, but not the war!!). Will get it done soon.
After stopping back at the campground/info center,
We hiked to the head of the Skaftafelljokull (glacier).
I thought the texture on the surface of the glacier was unique.
Next stop was Jokulsarlon, otherwise known as Iceberg Lake. Pieces from the Breidamerkurjokull break off into this lake and float to the ocean a few hundred feet away.
We noticed, as we got back on the Ring Road, that the icebergs were piled up on the black sand beach… how often do you see that?
Poor frozen starfish. But makes for a good picture, no?
More scenery…
We are staying tonight in a little village in the East Fjords. Absolutel gorgeous. it is currently almost 11pm... and still light!
