Iceland - Cap That

June 22

After suffering through the miserable weather during a visit to the Golden Circle, Iceland showed its sunnier side in the next few days. Good thing, really, as I can’t imagine hiking on a glacier during brutal rain would be particularly enjoyable.

Iceberg beach at Jökulsárlón

Part of an iceberg on the beach

Glacial flow off Vatnajökull

The south of Iceland is dominated by Europe’s largest ice cap: Vatnajökull. The cap itself takes up about 10% of the country's surface area, and looms omnipresently as you drive along the south coast. 

This would be the route from Reykjavik, travelling east

You can see two outlets from the glacier here

The mass of snow is part of a large national park designed to protect it (well, as much as they can - more on that later). There are other beautiful spots in the region, such as the canyon you can see below.

The canyon was formed in the last Ice
Age, about 9000 years ago

The canyon was formed by a glacier which melted,
the run-off from which sculpted the canyon

Fjadrargljufur is a canyon about a kilometre long and up to 100 metres deep, created by a glacier connected to Vatnajökull. It is stunning.

In places, the canyon is 100 metres deep

Too stunning to keep your eyes open for!

Nearby you start to see little clumps of land mushrooming up from the floor, covered with a thin layer of moss. These are part of the largest lava field in the world, which covers an incredible 580 square kilometres. The lava had cooled enough to stop by the time it reached this part.

You are not allowed to walk on it, but not just for conservation -
you might break through the surface and fall in!

580 sq km is larger than Andorra

It came from an eruption of the Laki volcanic fissure in 1783 - apparently the largest eruption in the last 1000 years, though Krakatoa may have something to say about that. It certainly affected Iceland, with the subsequent gaseous release killing a fifth of native humans and a higher percentage of animals. It also has been connected to the French Revolution, as the smoke’s journey caused crop failure and famine across western Europe. Can’t have your cake and eat it too if there’s volcanic ash dusted on top!

Benjamin Franklin even wrote about the eruption,
suggesting it affected North America

Moss has grown on the cooled lava over time

The size of the main cap becomes more apparent as the road weaves towards it. Its peak is actually a fair bit inland; instead, you see many glacier outlets which stretch out from the core.

View from the front of our minibus

We were heading to Skaftafell, one section of the glacier

We got to walk along one of these on a sunny and relatively balmy afternoon, during which time the temperature hit double digits. This walk was taken seriously by the guides - I was forced to put trousers on, and we had crampons attached to our boots.

Single file in crampons

Looking very unnatural with a pick axe in hand

Though we didn’t actually venture too far onto it, walking along the glacier was interesting. We learnt about mulans, big holes which develop and grow due to a whirlpool effect in the water flow. It was also fascinating to hear that they do these walks in winter, when there is far more snow. They make mental maps of hole locations on the summer treks and record them on a physical map in their office, as well as taking out avalanche poles to check that each step won’t be their last.

Winter activities include snowmobiling

Mind the gap!

Of course, there used to be far more snow in years gone by. It was frequently mentioned that this ice cap will never be the size it once was due to global heating. The cap itself has shrunk alarmingly over the last 30 years (Iceland’s caps as a whole have lost 500 sq km of ice since 2000). Their prediction is that this ice cap won’t exist in a hundred years. The effect of it melting, flowing into the sea and causing that to rise will be keenly felt far beyond this little island.

The lagoon's volume will only increase

Probably would be wet if I took a photo from this spot in 20 years

Some of this effect can be seen further west at Jökulsárlón, a glacier lagoon which you may recognise from Batman Begins or A View to a Kill.

You can kayak on the lagoon to see them close-up.
Can't take the Titanic through, obviously.

The blue colour shows the density of the packed ice

This place is simply mesmeric. Icebergs formed from water off a glacier (which itself is a glacial offshoot of Vatnajökull) float silently in the lagoon, which itself is growing due to accelerated melting of the cap. 

The bergs are silent but the water rushes quite
quickly and noisily towards the sea

Gorgeous panorama of the glacier lagoon

This water, quite regularly taking an iceberg with it, noisily gushes out to the sea. Many icebergs get buffeted back towards shore by the tide, resulting in the fascinating sight of a beach littered with glistening mounds of ice. The seals that hang out here are usually found in between the lagoon and the beach.

What's fascinating is that this iceberg
will never look like this again

Not all of the meltwater reaches the North Atlantic at the moment, however. Some of it is used to create the local beer which has the same name as the ice cap. At about £7 for a 330ml bottle, it certainly isn’t cheap, but it’s quite nice to ponder the history within each sip.

From here...

...to here.

Vatnajökull dominates this part of the country, offering a permanent dreamy view from the window. I’d recommend seeing it before it loses too much more of its size and aura.

Love you all,

Matt