Iceland Top Ten June 30, 2016

After six days in Iceland doing day trips from Reykjavik here is our top ten list (1 = best).

10. Saga Musesum
9. Black sand beach
8. Pubic swimming pool in Reykjavik
7. Water Fall (Selanjafoss)
6. Gysers
5. Seltzer spring
4. Volcano hike (Eldberg)
3. Helgafel Mountain
2. Secret Pool hike and swim
1. Galicier hike (Solheim)

PS. We had a rental car which was needed and worked very well. I would recommend extra insurance. There are some rough roads and lots of gravel.... Avoid F-roads unless you have a four wheel drive.

Mount Helgafel. Day 5 June 29, 2016

Today was a little frustrating to find the trailhead, but the effort paid off. We climbed Mount Helgafel in about 3 hours. Luckily we managed to stay dry with some good weather karma. All the landscape pictures were taken by Sam, and I might add, each one is fantastic.

Mt. Helgafel in the background

View from the top of Helgafel

Picture by Sam

Picture by Sam

Picture by Sam

Picture by Sam

Day 4 June 27, part 2

The glacier was fantastic. But to super charge the day we hiked for 20 minutes into a valley. As expected there was a man made pool with hot spring water. The water is running down the mountain and into the pool. It was raining and 7 celsius, but we all changed and jumped in. Just wow.

A short clip as we walk up the trail into the valley, looking for the hot pool.

Day 4 June 27, 2016

Today was another special day. With a guide we climbed the first part of Soleimjokull Glacier. Full on, with crampons, helmet, rescue harness and ice axe. Pictures tell the story best.

Isabel the guide

Jonah the ax man

Sam the geologist

The glacier is about 14KM long and 650 meters deep at the thickest. The black is volcanic ash. 

Day 3 Sunday June 26th

After a good nights sleep we had delicious Skyr yogurt with granola, coffee, toast and peanut butter for breakfast. Despite the rain we had a long day planned outside.

First stop was Thingvellir. The North American and European contents meet and divide along this fault.

Standing on two continents at the same time

 Next stop, and highlight of the day, was the geysers. Each eruption was scary. The water temperature is 85-100 Celsius. Strokkur was the only geyser eruption we saw, about every five minutes, some small and some huge spouts. Jonah captured Strokkur in slow motion and will publish on Facebook.

Strokkur

Day Two Saturday June 25

We fell asleep on Friday at 4PM and woke up eight hours later... ready to start our day at 12 in the middle of the night. Jonah walked into our room and said "good morning".... oops. The sun does not really set, so it does not get dark in the summer.

After falling back to sleep we managed to have a fantastic day. We drove to the Snaefellsnes peninsula. We hiked up the Eldborg Crater (crazy amazing). We drove to see some stone formations called Greduberg Basalt. We walked to a beautiful waterfall and found a fresh water spring bubbling carbonated water to the surface, so we filled our water bottles and drank (unbelievable).

All under heavy clouds and the constant threat of rain. But as you can see, we dressed properly and the landscape is beautiful.

Elborg

Climbing Elborg Crater

Bubbling natural carbonated water

Free soda water, enough said.

Glorious  landscapes

Dressed for Icelandic summer

Day One: a little side trip...

After a nap in the car the apartment was ready. We got organized and then went to explore Reykjavik. First order of business was the Penis museum. Did you say penis museum? I did. Sorry. I meant the Phallological Society.

Here is proof...

Whale Penis (on left) Steven (on right)

Day One

Day One: Friday June 24th
Arrived at 6AM. Easy direct flight and the kids liked the Icelandic water bottles we received as we boarded the plane. Car company picked us up without issue.

First stop was the apartment to drop off our bags and get the keys. But our second stop was a local coffee shop.

After coffee we still had a few hours before the apartment was going to be ready. We found a nice parking lot and everyone took a nap in the car. 

Steven sleeping under his jacket.

Packed

Five Currencies in three piles

Clothing for 30 days

Five carry-ons plus a duffel bag for Iceland

Getting ready to leave was not so hard. Everyone gets one carry-on for clothing. We also needed one duffle bag for warm clothing, hiking boots, hats and gloves. What did we forget? Just socks for Iris.

Oh Crap

Hekla ready to blow, and we are ready to go.  Here's to a great adventure.

Hekla "under pressure"

The Family Trip 2016

I do not think this is a "vacation". To plan a trip involves organizing, web searching,  reservations. schedules, car rentals, tube passes, airline & train tickets. Accommodations for five people for 30 nights, gear, clothing, and what am I forgetting...? Mostly (99.9%) of the pre-trip organizational plan was executed by Iris. To be sure, I know she has spent more time planning this adventure than the 30 day trip.

Scanning TripAdvisor 

Here is a trailer for our You Tube posts that we will update as we adventure, Five Countries