ÍS: Jökulsárlón/ Glacial Lagoon

 The Icelander who gave us a ride to Skaftafell in the evening offered to stop as we were passing Jökulsárlón, which is one of the most spectacular sights on the south coast. It’s a large glacial lake, filled with icebergs broken off from the edge of the glacier. You can often see seals swimming about in the lake, and I’ve heard that every once and a while a Killer Whale swims in from the ocean to hunt the seals. The icebergs often end up washing out to the ocean, on the other side of the Ring Road, and it is surreal to see them washed up on the black sand beach, being gently pushed back and forth by the cold Atlantic waves.

 [35mm taken with my Canon EOS Rebel 2000. Click here for more pictures from my June Ring Road trip around Iceland]

Skaftafell National Park Trip || Part III

At the end of September, six friends and I rented a van and drove to Skaftafell National Park for a three day camping/ hiking adventure. This is my final set of photos from that trip (part one and part two). The sunset on the way down from Kristínartindar (day 2)  lit up the low brush in orange, red, and gold in front of snow covered mountains glowing a faint pink.

On our way down we visited two waterfalls, most notably, Svartifoss (black falls). It’s named for the dark, looming basalt columns that hang in a semi-circle around the fall.

That night, we laid out on the grass by our tent, wrapped in blankets but still freezing, to look at the stars. I lived in the country in Maryland, but I’ve never seen a night sky that even comes close to what we saw that night. The milky way was remarkably bright, and we counted a dozen shooting stars and twice as many satellites.