Iceland: Day 7

This day was devoted almost entirely to glaciers. The Vatnajokull glacier is the biggest glacier in Europe, and has many arms that are easily accessible. I have seen many glaciers before, but the sheer scale of those in Iceland seem to dwarf those I have seen elsewhere. This tries to give some idea of the vastness of it.

From Vatnajokull

Getting right up close to the glaciers often requires taking some not-so-great roads.

From Vatnajokull

Let me know if you can see the road in that picture. But, the results are worth it when you are the only person around right at the foot of a glacier.

From Vatnajokull

Some have lagoons at the base of them, filled with icebergs. In this case, the ice is just has a few hundred yards to go to reach the sea.

From Vatnajokull

Now that you have seen the Iceland is full of volcanoes and now glaciers, you are probably wondering what happens when you mix the two. Not good things. This is what is left of the road bridge after the last eruption caused a bit of ice to melt and cause a flood.

From Vatnajokull

That takes a lot of water.

The funniest thing about today was that going to Skaftafell National Park to see the glacier there was the main goal. By the time I reached it, I had already seen so many glaciers that I had somewhat lost interest, and the idea of hiking for an hour to see a glacier with 100 other tourists didn't seem so appealing after all the ones I had seen with little hiking required and nobody around.