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Iceland Day 5, Sunday Oct 17, 2021
Of the days on this journey between the eternities ... this was one of the good ones!
Never imagined I would see this? Iceberg chunks on a volcano black sand beach.
Today: Vatnajokull Glacier; Europe's largest ice cap glacier
Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon, Ice Lagoon, "Duck" boats" thru glacial lagoon
0600 alarm and wakeup call. Tired from long day yesterday, less sleep. Bus will leave at 0800 today, a little earlier so chop chop. Let's get moving.
0715 Hotel Klauster Dining room. The town is Kirkjubaejarklauster, Iceland.
Cup of strong black coffee to start the day. Breakfast buffet is like most in Iceland; plenty of things to choose from. Bacon and eggs are a goto w/ some type of wheat or brown bread toast.
Skyr, Iceland yogurt is GREAT!!! Plain but add granola or fruit, or both.
1st time I've seen lox,... smoked salmon- thin sliced- oh hail yeah! Now this is an Iceland breakfast.
I need to stay away from these buffets but they are so good.
0800 Load up on the bus. Cold 37*F wind 15 to 20+. Light dusting of snow last night.
Grey overcast sky, some snow on hillside, 1/4" snow? Sunrise trying to breakthrough in the east. Just a sliver of light through morning fog/ fogbanks.
Drive through light rain/ drizzle.
Black lava field rock.
Some fields with the light green/ amber moss lichens on the lava.
Streams from glacier melt runoff every few miles.
Heading east on Hwy 1 - the Southeast section of the ring road-
Heading to Skaftafell National park we drive over the Skeioararsandur outwash plains.
Pass several glaciers on the Left/ north.
Relearning a lot of geology from college earth sciences courses these days. The glaciers form from snow buildup, eventually so thick they start to spread/ travel from the weight of built up ice. Glacier flows down the valleys between mountains come to a point where the "tongue" of the glacier calves/ breaks off the face of the glacier tongue, usually into a lake/ Lagoon formed from the melted ice runoff.
Stark, empty snow covered plains...
These outwash plains are stark beautiful. 37*F wind now 25 to 30. You feel cold. take warm jackets, layer under. AND GLOVES!!! Mittens... your hands get cold quick in this harsh environment. T-bird wore my extra pair of wool socks as mittens a couple times; they were lifesavers.
About 15 minutes at the plains and it was good to get back on the bus.
This bridge was the longest bridge in Iceland. The glacial melt runoff streams stranded and there was a mile of stranded/ shifting streams over the years... shifting enough that now there was hardly any streams here... they shifted/ eroded east and west of the bridge.
A glacier "Valley" "Tongue" .
Farmland... Lambs grazing... in the snow? That's how it is here.
Remote gas/ fuel stations all over Iceland.
Stark terrain.
Vehicles are required to have snow tires.
And we come to Jokulsarlon better know as The Iceberg Lagoon.
This is one of the "Tongues" of Vatnajokull Glacier; Europe's largest glacier/ ice cap.
Vatnajokull National Park is the massive glacier park.
We form up near the shore of the iceberg lagoon and wait for our launch time in a "Duck" boat.
The views from the bank are great.
10 minutes and we board our "Duck" boat. A dozen of us... lifejackets on.. ready to go.
We ride past icebergs ranging from the size of a car,... to a 250' ship.
Cold, 35*, wind 25+... it's cold.
Cant take pix fast enough. Hands are cold snapping pix. I don't want to miss anything.
Iceberg colors are the sublime ice blue... some are dirty from dust collecting on their surface.
It is COLD out here. T-bird holding and ice chunk carved into a heart. ?Did i mention you need to dress warm?
A zodiac boat followed us around the lagoon. A safety boat for any trouble,... plan B; i like that.
Depending on the size when it breaks off the tongue of the glacier, i guess these icebergs could last a couple of months before they melted down and flowed out of the lagoon stream to the sea.
Going through this glacial iceberg lagoon was phenomenal for sure.
After 30 to 40 minutes the Duck boat head back to the loading platform.
Pit stop near the office/ HQ.
But what was next... it's hard to describe
The glacial iceberg lagoon/ lake is melted stream runoff from the glacier.... that makes the lake we rode in. The melted runoff from the lake/ lagoon is a stream and ice chunks get washed downstream.
About 1/2 mile from the lagoon,... the stream flows into the Atlantic ocean,... The North Sea.
Black sand beach from volcano lava erosion, Glacial icebergs calved off the face of glacier flow to beach. Ice chunks line the beach washed by the surf/ waves; surreal!
This is one of the most surreal views of life.
This is called "The Diamond Beach" because of the ice chunks along the black sand beach.
This was called "Diamond Beach", because the beach, black lava rock eroded down to sand grains... w/ ice chunks on the beach like diamonds.
Surreal, ... sublime. Spectacular. Oh God, ... this is what you wanted me to see.
This is beyond surreal to see ice chuncks... melted icebergs... in the surf of the ocean.
Well,... this is the North Atlantic ocean, 36* on the volcano eroded lava sand...
A BLACK SAND Beach,...with the iceberg chunks on the shore,... in the wave/ surf... beyond phenomenal. 
This was beyond surreal. 
I am a beachcomber from way back. I'm about the last Marine out of the Viet Nam era,... trained in the old Corps with the old breed. We trained to head inland from the sea, land on the beach, establish a beachhead. Marines have this eternal thing w/ the surf and the beach. It's the amphibious thing... to come from the ocean up onto the beach...the initial closing w/ the enemy to land and establish a beachhead, then go inland.
I walked beaches at Playa del Coco, Tamarindo, in Costa Rica in 1977 while in college. The sand dollars were the size of your hand.
I had never envisioned a beach. surf, with ice chunks the size of a chair,... down to the size of your fist... on a beach.
"Duck" boats" thru lagoon,... you can't forget/ process this.
you re-think this day... you can't get this sight out of your head.
This is one of the most phenomenal unique sights ever!!! even in the cold, windy north Atlantic.
Of the days of this journey through life... this was one of the good ones!
We form up back at the bus.
Bus headed back and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. tomato soup was ok, bread was good... hiked up the hill to see their iceberg lagoon... was a disappointment. A 1, 2 at best... not really worth the time to hike to see it. It's hard to follow Vatnajokull Glacier; Europes largest ice cap glacier and Jokulsarlon Glacial ice Lagoon.
Back on the bus, late afternoon arrive at hotel, a welcome sight.
Room , refresh,... head to the bar and talk w/ friends about the day...
THE BRIDGE LADIES are hard at it. God bless them! They are troopers of the ranks!
An hour later, a wonderful diner ... Hotel Klauster Dining room Gate 1 does it good!
Crash tonight... tired... today was exhausting. ...but really good.
You never drink twice from the same stream.
Just because you wander doesn't mean you're lost.
Uncle Hargus: Last of the Independents
Have Bear,
Will Travel
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