Journey to Center of the Earth – Iceland

Posted on August 16, 2016 by David Cross

Iceland may be an island, but there are so many different things to see and do.  You almost need a minimum of a week to see everything.

We continued our journey around the northern part of Iceland, and what did we run into?

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The I-Pod of Orca whales that like to follow the humans for gourmet food and wine.  We used to see the Pacific Northwest north of Seattle was the only place to see Orca whales!

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Hiking along the mountains

Our target destination was Grundarfjordur, Iceland where we wanted to explore the Snaefellsjokull glacier area.

It is full of waterfalls that pour down the mountain.  So easy to access and find.  Easy drives in the summer will make so many gorgeous hikes waiting for you to explore.

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Our real goal was to do a little spelunking.  We went to the Vatnshellir Cave in Snæfellsnes.

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There are collapsed lava tubes all over Iceland.  We went down about 35 meters and started checking out the lava tube that if we had more time, we could have reached the center of the earth and seen all the wonders documented by Jules Verne.

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But warning…the lava tubes are VERY cold, VERY wet and FULL of sharp lava…so don’t slip or you will be sorry!

In case you missed it, here was the blog posting from the day we spent in Huvasik.  Here are some of the other places we have seen in the Iceland on other days:

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Husavik Iceland

Posted on August 16, 2016 by David Cross

There is actually sunset in Iceland…and it actually gets dark around midnight.

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What did we get to see coming into the harbor tonight around 11 PM?  Some humpback whales decided they wanted to go with us to the night club in the local town a few miles away.

We landed (docked) in the northern part of Iceland that is just below the Arctic Circle.  We then went touring around the northern part of the island.  95% of all houses in Iceland are heated with geothermal hot water and greenhouses are also filled with warm steam to grow plants not possible to grow in Iceland normally.

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We first visited the Dettifuss waterfall.

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It was amazing and a very fun place to go hiking.  It is in the middle of nowhere (or to be precise, in the middle of miles and miles of lava fields.).  One of the best we have seen in the world.

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We then went to check out the mud pools that were in the nearby mountains.  The sulfur smell was everywhere, but it was quite an experience to walk right up to these active vents and pools and take pictures.  I am surprise more people do not get injured.

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To top off the morning before going for some local (char) fish lunch, we did a quick walk through Dimmuborgir park that is very close to the giant volcano crater that was created in modern times in just 2 days (in the distance).

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To conclude the day, we took a quick walk through the Whaling History Museum in Husavik.  The museum is still evolving, but it has a very nice collection of historical objects and bones of almost every whale that lives in the Arctic Circle.  Quite impressive.  The blue whale is so big, it cannot fit in just one picture.

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Grimsey Island (North Of Iceland)

Posted on August 15, 2016 by David Cross

We did not want to get locked in the fjords of Greenland with ice bergs, so we headed south towards Iceland so we could do some exploring on the northern part of that island (country) that we had not been able to do in the past.

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Along the way we ran into some friends and found out we were not the only ones visiting from the Northwest of the United States.  A small pod of Orca whales said hi and swam along with the ship as we headed to the island for some sightseeing.  Grimsey Island is a great place to visit.

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What is the best way to see all the highlights of the island in the shortest period of time?  Run across the island end to end along the coast using the hiking trails!

Running around the world is always fun.  Some of my other favorite spots:

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On the south side, the lighthouse is quite unique (and important to sailors), but the sky is filled with thousands of the local birds who love to dive bomb you when you get close to their nests.

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But the best part of the south side is all the Puffin nests.  Can you see what is in this one’s mouth?  It is multiple sand eels in just one dive.

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On the north side, you can hang out with the wild goats.

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Or avoid falling off the cliff to observe all the gulls nesting on the steep cliffs next to the Denmark Sea.

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The coolest thing about running across this island is the fact you cross the Arctic Circle on the running trail!  Check that one off the list!

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And in closing…what the heck is this giant ball laying next to the trail.  Solid steel and concrete ball.  No clue.  Let us know if you know what it is.

If interested in Iceland, check out some my other postings:

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Last Day in the Greenland Fjords

Posted on August 15, 2016 by David Cross

Today, we went deep into the F0hnfjord to explore the Rhode Island and the numerous (huge) icebergs populated the narrow fjord.

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We went ashore the explore the (very Red) Rhode Island.  Hence its name.  Almost hike.  Much to see despite being an island in Greenland.  Eggs everywhere…but somebody other than us made an omelet.

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Very small hidden blueberries.  Who ever thought you could go out and pick wild blueberries in Greenland?

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But when you get to the top..the views were amazing.  As you can see, many people go on sabbatical to escape society and sail up here to enjoy the isolation and quiet in the north.

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I wish we had better connectivity to post more pictures and videos, but this one iceberg acted like an amoeba and gave birth to multiple small calves of ice where we were looking down.

I tried to capture it a little with my GoPro.

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We then hopped into a Zodiac to go explore some of the icebergs and free ice throughout the fjord.  It felt like we were back in Antarctica…except we were on the mirror location in the northern hemisphere.  In case you missed it, here are some of the other days we spent in Greenland:

 

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Running Around the Secret Greenland Outpost

Posted on August 14, 2016 by David Cross

We stopped at a secret village on the eastern side of Greenland known as Ittoqqqortoormiit.  If interested, here are some other postings of our visit to Greenland:

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It has a difficult name like the secret cities in the former Soviet Union to help conceal their true identity.

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It is a little snowy, but the sun was shining.

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It has some definite great trails you can run…

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but you better check out a shotgun if you want to stray far from the village.  You can get them from the local shop, no problem!  There is emerging fears of Polar Bears which are getting closer and closer to more populated parts of Greenland.  We saw some swimming just off the coast before we arrived here which I captured in this posting.

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You definitely need trail shoes as the rocks are pretty rough and sharp.  No bark on the trails here!

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The local sled dogs will howl at you when you  run by them and don’t let them join you on a run.

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Surprisingly, the NSA Echelon capture facility was not well guarded…maybe because they do not expect outsiders to find or land at this location in the isolated eastern fjords of Greenland.

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They constantly send up signal intelligence balloons from this island.  I wonder if these were similar to the balloons the US Army used in Roswell New Mexico?

Running around the world is always fun.  Some of my other favorite spots:

 

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The Icy Side of Greenland

Posted on August 13, 2016 by David Cross

The eastern side of Greenland is the icy side where it used to always be frozen and full of ice.  The Norse explorers and Vikings only settled on the Green side – the western side of Greenland in the past.

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You can see how the eastern side looks in the summer.  I took a little selfie with my GoPro at the top of one of the mountains.  You can see the ship in the far distance.

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Hiking up the mountain, I found that the visitors like to do a little target shooting here in Greenland.

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They have also been hunting.  You can find numerous bones from reindeer, musk ox, moose, etc. all throughout the area.  Could also be polar bear predators as well.  That is why you always have to have armed escorts when hiking.

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The best part of this hike was the climb to the start of the creek/glacier runoff.  The water was so clear and cool; it was tempting to drink fresh glacier water.

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After a great hike, it is a good excuse to have a white chocolate polar bear for dessert…

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And we enjoyed some Portteus wine to celebrate our annual anniversary that we found in a local shop in Greenland 🙂

Here are some other postings of our visit to Greenland:

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Hiking and Boating in Greenland

Posted on August 13, 2016 by David Cross

We took the ship deep in the famous Kjeser Franz-Jospeh fjord since all the ice is melting away and it can now be reached in the summer months.  It is famous for the German North Pole expedition in the late 1860s.  We went east (inland) almost 80 miles!

It is apparently a national park and our ship received a special permit to explore it.

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The water was like glass and all you can hear is the water rushing down the glacier when you leave the ship.

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The best part is hiking up the mountain to get views of the greater scenery.

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I think it can be a dangerous place since there are bones everywhere.  I think it is best to stay in the sun to avoid any potential zombies that may appear unexpectedly.

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What I found quite interesting is the bright white rabbits.  They are quite scared when they see Americans appear so it is hard to get close to them.  If you look close in this picture, you might see one hiding in the rocks.

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On the shore, there was a hut.  It is hard to determine if it is being used anymore, but our understanding is that is has been refurbished by the hunters/explorers that used the cabin in the past.  I am not sure where they get all the coal from…

 

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Arctic Circle Birds and Islands

Posted on August 12, 2016 by David Cross

This afternoon we hopped in the zodiacs to go check out the borg of Guillemot birds that live and control Alkjefellet (Auk Mountain) island.

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The island is full of waterfalls and nests.

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There is apparently 60,000 of these buggers living on the edge of the cliffs.

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The picture does not show it very well, but they are everywhere and it feels like a Alfred Hitchhock movie.

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Quite noisy and you sometimes to have to watch for the young chicks dive bombing you from above…their first test is to leave the nest and enter the water.

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They go as much as 100 meters deep to find food, but they are smart like humans and avoid the dangerous jellyfish that swarm the cold waters.

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They attract polar bears, gulls and Arctic fox who like to poach the young chicks.  The fox are so small and fast to catch my camera.

 

 

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Arctic Circle – Blue Whales Following Us!

Posted on August 11, 2016 by David Cross

Another day of Arctic Circle sailing on the Le Boreal ice-breaking cruise ship!

We left the Norwegian territory and we are now in the middle of the Greenland sea…

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What did we detect that was following us?  These were blue whales…very rare to see or come close to a ship in this part of the world.

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Polar Bears Know How to Swim!

Posted on August 11, 2016 by David Cross

When we were about 60 miles away from the eastern coast of Greenland…and what did we see?

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Rare to see them that far out – the captain of the ship almost went ballistic as nobody believed him when he sighted them off the side of the ship.  They were not even near any ice.

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They are 60% fat and can actually float without swimming.  We expect they were looking for their friend who as about a mile away taking a nap on piece of ice in the middle of the sea.

If you like to see more of Greenland itself, check out this posting.

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