| To me there is nothing better than getting | | | | then we were off. Our tour guide was very |
| outdoors and going for a nice long trek. I love the | | | | knowledgeable and told us all kinds of facts about |
| adventure, the physical challenge and exploring | | | | Iceland, glaciers and such. But, what I liked best |
| new places. I also have a certain proclivity | | | | was when everyone stopped talking. Rarely in our |
| towards glaciers. I think that they are amazing, | | | | busy lives do we get to experience absolute |
| though I have never actually seen one up close. | | | | silence and that was one of the early pleasures of |
| Last month I got the chance to do just that. | | | | this glacier tour - we all stopped walking and |
| I didn't go to Iceland just for hiking, I was there | | | | talking and there it was, total silence. I turned my |
| on business. But over the weekend, I decided to | | | | face to the sun and just soaked up this moment. |
| get book a tour. There are several hiking and | | | | Later, we got to explore some crevasses and |
| trekking tour companies in Iceland so it wasn't | | | | beautiful blue-white ice sculptures. When you |
| hard. With the help of the front desk clerk at the | | | | touch this kind of ice, you are amazed by how |
| hotel I was staying at, I got in touch with a | | | | smooth it is - like polished glass. We got to walk |
| company that offers tours right from Reykjavik; | | | | through long ridges that were like narrow ice |
| turns out that you don't necessarily have to | | | | hallways. |
| travel far to get out in nature or to commune | | | | What struck me about this glacier was that it |
| with a glacier. | | | | seemed to have a positive affect on everyone's |
| Anyways, I made my choice of tour operators | | | | mood. It is kind of like the glacier is pumping out |
| and told them what I wanted to do. They | | | | negative ions and it helps you feel content and |
| suggested a tour that fit my time frame and | | | | grounded in that moment. I also think that the |
| desire to explore a glacier, in this case | | | | glacier, by the fact that it has been around for so |
| Sólheimajökull glacier. I think this | | | | long, imparts a certain sense of history and |
| translates as 'sun home glacier,' at least I think | | | | almost embodies a wise personality. Maybe it was |
| that is what it translates to with my rough | | | | just me, I tend to anthropomorphize everything. |
| knowledge of Icelandic. This particular glacier is | | | | One the way back to the city, our guide also |
| located about two hours away from the capital | | | | stopped by two beautiful waterfalls, |
| city. | | | | Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss. Being from the |
| The tour company picked me up from my hotel | | | | western US, I am not used to seeing so much |
| in the morning and off we went. I was amazed at | | | | water and I was struck by the raw power and |
| how quickly we were in the country - Reykjavik | | | | beauty of these falls. Raw power and beauty is a |
| is not a very big capital city and most of Iceland | | | | good analogy for Iceland in general. |
| is uninhabited. When we arrived at the glacier, I | | | | All-in-all I was very satisfied with my Iceland hiking |
| instantly fell in love. The weather was picture | | | | tour experience. This particular tour wasn't very |
| perfect and the contrasting colors of blue sky and | | | | strenuous, so if you want something more |
| the white glacier were outstanding. | | | | physical, you can choose a different tour. I think |
| We took a few minutes to go over a safety | | | | that one day I would like to come back here and |
| brief, put on our extra clothes and crampons and | | | | do one of their multi-day tours. |