Vatnajokull

We drove back in towards the mountains, ready to approach the massive glacier Vatnajokull that sprawls over much of southeast Iceland.  We hiked along a short trail to a vantage point along a rock wall, above the glacier and lagoon.

I’ve done glacier treks in both Alaska and New Zealand, but seeing them never gets old.  If you go someplace with glaciers, do a trek – it’s an unforgettable experience.  We weren’t doing an on-glacier trek on this trip, but just seeing the glacier is stunning all over again.

We listened quietly for the cracking sounds of calving bergs, but did not get lucky.  It’s still great, listening in the stillness to the sounds of cold-blooded Mother Nature.

This was just one of the many tongues of the glacier that is retreating from the sea.  It covers more than nine percent of Iceland, and can be seen from space.  It is on average 1300 feet thick, with a maximum thickness of 3,000 feet.

Like most of Europe, the glacier was used in the filming of Game of Thrones, a show I have promised myself I would never watch!  It was also used in the opening of Roger Moore's last Bond movie, A View to a Kill. 

I've got some great photos, but we'll see if I will have enough connectivity to upload them.

We drove to a more modern hotel, where I snuck in some conference calls (it is, after all, an election year) and we had a great dinner with the group.  The only disappointment for the day is that sun never came out (and never did again during our time in Iceland, leaving plenty of gray sky pictures).