Iceland - June 20 - July 2, 2017
Page Five
The third day of the guided hiking tour was a full day of hiking
in the Skaftafell region of Vatnajokull National Park. The Park
encompasses part of the Vatnajokull ice cap, the world's largest
ice cap outside of the Polar Regions, with many outlet glaciers
that fall from the main icefield to the lowlands.
Svartifoss Waterfall with columnar basalt surrounding it, formed
by the cooling of lava or magma in a certain way
Edge of an outlet glacier. It started raining shortly after this photo was taken,
the only significant rain we experienced on any hike, although overcast
and cloudy conditions were common on our hikes.
Jeff photographing the green moss over lava
The rain did not last long. However, because of the
rain and overcast, we did not climb to the summit of Kristinartindar,
as scheduled, due to the lack of any view and to trail conditions.
We saw a variety of flowers on our hikes, which
I was not expecting
Skaftafellsjokull glacier and Morsardalur valley
In Iceland, the two animals you see a lot of in the countryside
are sheep and Icelandic horses. There are not many cows. If
you like lamb and fish, you'd love the food in Iceland.
The morning after the hike in the Skaftafell region we had
blue skies for a while, giving us a variety of nice mountain views
behind the motel where we were staying.
Lupine in the foreground. Looking toward the area
where we had hiked the day before
Closeup of the glacier that we could see from the motel
Another view in a different direction from the small
hilltop behind the motel
Leaving our lodging
Link to Page Six - Iceland Hiking
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