The morning started with heavy doses of indecision and deliberation, even up to where we rejoined the main road and had to decide: backwards to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon or forwards to other adventures. Backwards won out. The weather became progressively drizzly and foggy as we approached Jökulsárlón, which dampened my enthusiasm for packrafting. The indecision continued in the parking lot but eventually we rallied, inflated, suited, and set off in front of a few curious eyes. Before long we were lost among the icebergs, out of sight of those on land, paddling through the fog. Jökulsárlón lagoon was noticeably bluer than Fjallsárlón, even translucent enough that you could see the edges of icebergs descending beneath as you paddled near. It also had larger, more varied icebergs, including ones with archways, spires, and loose rocks.
The main iceberg area seemed more compact than Fjallsárlón, and we weaved our way from one to the next. A kayak tour guide made a casual comment to his tour group that he thought I could not hear, that I was much too close to the iceberg to be safe. I was tempted to yell back that it was OK because I was a geologist but I let it go with a smile instead. These icebergs certainly did creak and groan and occasionally crash into the lagoon, but I felt comfortable with the berth I gave them. Occasionally we would hear the roar of one of the aquatic vehicles on a tour and have to anticipate their paths to stay clear as they emerged from the fog towards us.
We past some seemingly impossibly blue icebergs that were probably the highlight. When we were about as far from our launch as we would be the visibility dropped to less than one iceberg distance. This effectively meant I had to navigate internally which direction the shore was and what direction to leapfrog from one iceberg landmark to another. In some ways it was satisfying to be lost in the fog, in others slightly distressing.
After we had our fill we looped back along the shore to the parking lot and packed up as discretely as we could. Within five minutes of getting off the water and out of my drysuit the weather abruptly cleared such that you could see the glacier in the distance. What timing! Oh well.
Onward we drove for a pleasant soak at Hoffell Hot Tubs, a series of five in-ground tubs against a rock outcropping looking outward towards alluvial flats and a distant glacier. The pools were smartly designed to have different temperatures. We started in the hottest tub, then migrated to the third tub for peak comfort. I enjoyed snapping photos of the colorful succulents growing out of cracks in the basalt outcrop.
Refreshed, we once again we set off on the Ring Road driving east, deliberating our plans as we drove. We decided to head to the secluded (and primative) Smiðjunes Campground at the end of a 4km dirt road that would serve as the trailhead if we decided to try to packraft Jökulsá í Lóni the following day. It was mid-afternoon for a change (rather than late), the river looked reasonable, and the weather forecast was solid for the following day. We decided to backtrack (for the second time today) to have a tasty fish & chips meal in the seaside town of Höfn, then returned to our quiet campspot to pack for tomorrow's adventure, and then go into the tent to escape the sun.
 |
| The north side of Vestrahorn Mountain |
 |
| Near Höfn |
No comments:
Post a Comment