The Land of Fire and Ice: My Visit to Iceland

Last week I headed out for a semi-solo adventure to Iceland! I say "semi-solo" because although I was with a small group of women from the All Women All Trails Facebook group, I did not know anyone and I traveled there by myself. However after spending the week together we all got to know each other and made friendships to last!

Nick dropped me off at Rochester airport in NY for my short flight to JFK.

After navigating the insanity that is JFK, I found my next terminal for IcelandAir and grabbed my first and only official "meal" of the day, a breakfast pizza! Yum

After an 8hr layover (!) at JFK, I finally boarded my 9pm flight to Iceland and got myself as comfy as possible for the 5hr flight. I watched the sun set and rise in those few short hours while snoozing, snacking, reading, and watching a movie.

DAY 1

Sunrise over Iceland!

I landed in Reykjavik without incident and collected my bags and went thru customs. I found my driver there to pick me and another traveler in the group up and we headed out for the 45min drive from the airport to Reykjavik to our first lodging, Hotel Klettur.

My assigned roommate was Christina and we hit it right off after meeting that afternoon!

I met all the other ladies in our travel group in the lobby while waiting for our rooms, then some of them decided to check out the city while some of us took a nap and rested before dinner.

That evening was our official welcome dinner where we all got to meet each other and our guide David introduced himself. I'm sure he was excited to guide a group of crazy women for the next week!

Our delicious dinner was chicken over mashed vegetables with roasted peppers and gravy.

Stuffed crepes and fruit for dessert with coffee!

DAY 2

We left Reykjavik and headed east for adventures! Today we would be seeing the popular "Golden Circle" and our first stop was in Thingvellir National Park where we stopped for a scenic view of Thingvellir lake.

We headed into the park for a bit of hiking, and along the way got to see the amazing location where the American and European tectonic plates are separating!

This area is also the site of Iceland's first parliament in the early 900s.

After this location we moved on a bit more to the next destination of Gulfoss waterfall. This was a beautiful scenic hike along a walkway down into the canyon to almost the top of the falls. Beyond beautiful!

After the waterfall our next stop was the Great Geysir and Strokkur! These were in a very active geothermal area and the Strokkur geyser goes off about every 7min.

Views of a glacial finger along the way!

Thermal pools along the path

 Strokkur geyser

Our final adventure of the day was some relaxation at the Secret Lagoon. This pool that is fed by a natural hot spring was the first "public pool" in Iceland. It is not a spa like the more popular Blue Lagoon in Iceland, but much more simple and casual.

Miniature elf houses surrounding the pools...

Boiling hot springs all around the pool

We ended the days adventures and headed out to the town of Hvolsvollur to stay a night at the Hotel Fljotshild which was on a farm in the middle of nowhere with amazing views of mountains, a volcano, and a glacier!

But first, coffee!

For dinner I chose beef lasagna

After dinner some of us took a stroll around the farm. We saw pigs, chickens, sheep, and horses!

I HAD to get closer to the sheep. We got permission to open the gate and one little guy let us pet him!

Such breathtaking views!

DAY 3

We left the hotel early and our first stop was the amazing 200ft Seljalandsfoss waterfall just up the road from our hotel! This waterfall is different in that there's a path you can take behind the falls!

Food and souvenirs at the end

Our next stop was a longer hike on the Skoga Trail at the beautiful Skogafoss waterfall. For this some of us hiked up the trail following the river upstream for about 2.5 miles before turning back. The entire trail was filled with views of valleys, canyons, wild sheep, mountains, ocean views, and countless waterfalls.

This waterfall is Skogafoss, and the trail to the side is the one we hiked along.

View from the top of Skogafoss

View looking the other way at the ocean. See the natural rock arch?

Lots of wild sheep along the way

The huge Kaefufoss waterfall is where a few of us stopped to rest and then turn around. I would absolutely love to backpack along this trail and see the whole thing!

After this long hike we grabbed some much needed lunch...

...then moved on to the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach! This beach consisted of black sand and all different colors of tiny rocks, but the most striking features are the basalt columns along the cliff edge. Just amazing! The color contrasts are otherworldly.

After the beach we headed over to walk a trail along the rim of the breathtaking Fjadrargljufur Canyon (say that 3x fast) where the Fjarda River cuts through it with several waterfalls and flows out to the ocean. Our guide dropped us at one end of the trail and we walked along the path and met him at the other end.

We left the countryside and headed to our next lodging, the Hotel Skaftafell. We drove along with views of the glacial fingers, and had a view of the glacier from our hotel window!

Dinner was a delicious fish with veggies and chocolate mousse for dessert. Yum!

DAY 4

This day we headed off to the Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon where we would get on an amphibious boat and explore the lagoon and it's icebergs!

The black lines are layers of volcanic ash from eruptions! The icebergs that are brighter blue have recently flipped over. They lose the blue as they dry out more above the water level.

Seals were swimming all over watching us!

Where the glacier is running off into the lagoon.

At one point our tour guide snagged a small ice chunk from the water and let us look at it close up.

After the boat ride we got to walk along the lagoon shore for a bit before heading across the bridge.

The outlet to the lagoon where the icebergs and glacial runoff flow out to the ocean. During high tide it flows backwards!

Next up was the amazing Diamond Beach where the ice chunks wash up onto the black sand. This one was right up there with the Black Sand Beach as far as beauty!!

After this beach and some lunch we headed off for a real adventure--glacier hiking! We met our guide at their location to transfer onto their 4x4 van, then started on the 30min offroad drive to the edge of the Breidamerkurjokull section of the largest glacier in Iceland--Vatnajokull.

Icelandic hotdog for lunch! So good. I had 2 :D

Our guide Pavel

View behind the building

We all strapped on our helmets and harnesses then followed Pavel on a 30 min walk over hills and streams to where the ice began.

At this point we reached the edge of the ice so we stopped to put our crampons on. The glacier appears "dirty" due to a layer of volcanic ash from the recent eruption. As the ice melts, the ash builds up and eventually washes down the runoff into the streams.

Looking down into a glacial ravine

But my FAVORITE part of this was when we exited the glacier and got to explore an ice cave!! It was beyond amazing to see the colors shining thru the ice from underneath.

Heading back to the van

After the hiking we were treated to some coffee which warmed us up just perfectly!

Dinner that evening was lamb with veggies!

DAY 5

We left our hotel and began working our way back west. Our first adventure for the day was a nice hike up to the Svartifoss waterfall in the Skaftafell National Park. There were several other waterfalls along the way, but Svartifoss was special....

....it is surrounded by basalt columns! So pretty.

The rest of the group turned around at the bridge in front of the falls, but me and a few other ladies decided to take a detour and do a loop that took us on top the cliff and circled back around. So we got the view from the top of the falls as well! A great bonus was fields full of ripe blueberries and crowberries that we got to snack on along the trail. This loop ended up being just under 2.5mi.

From here we stopped at a gift shop on the way to our next hotel. I got some Icelandic Merino Wool and other little trinkets!

Hotel Ork was our next place to stay.

The dinner was salmon over barley and a creme brulee for dessert! All so delicious.

This hotel had a hot tub so we took full advantage!

DAY 6

This day was filled with high winds and heavy rains which did not bode well for our planned 5 mile hike. Instead we drove around the smaller towns as we made our way back west to end the trip. At one of the local grocery stores I grabbed a few goodies, including a 1kg bag of organic Icelandic barley! I can't wait to cook some delicious meals this winter with it.

We got back into Reykjavik for our final day in Iceland. For our free afternoon we checked out a local food court...

...and walked along the colorful streets of the city!

A few girls and I decided to be cultured and visit a museum...the Phallological Museum that is! For research purposes of course.

There were specimens from all different kinds of animals--big and small--from mice and deer to whales and elephants! Even one human part that was donated post mortem.

We had to sign the guestbook of course!

After that we made our way back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for our farewell dinner.

Dinner was at a great restaurant where there was a salad and soup buffet. I got some bell pepper soup for the first time, and it was so good!! The meal was fish with vegetables.

One last group photo!

I got up early the next morning to head to the airport and begin the journey back to the US. I had to get one last hotdog there!

Finally it was my turn to board the IcelandAir plane and take the 5hr flight back to the US. I connected at Boston airport this time and barely made it thru the inefficient US customs before connecting to my return flight into Buffalo.

All in all it was an amazing trip and I'm so glad I was able to see this beautiful country! Now it's back to real life and getting the boys ready to go back to school next week.