þriðjudagur, 17 júlí 2007

Woke up again today to the glorious songs of the birds in Skaftafell. The snipe (yes, Virginia, there really is a snipe you can hunt for) makes a fluttery noise with its tail, and some other unidentified birds sang several different beautiful songs.

Today Ian and I were going to walk with the group partway to the lagoon that we’d looked upon from the carpet-like mossy overlook, then return to take a glacier trek. We lunched on the banks of a very cold stream coming directly from that lagoon – I can’t imagine how anyone can ford something that cold on foot, but they often do whether they want to or not. I was only able to soak my feet for about 5 seconds at a time in that cold, cold water.

Snout of neighboring glacier across the sand.

Resting after lunch by an icy stream before the last jaunt to the lagoon formed from the glacier up ahead.

Onward to the glacier and instruction by Ben from New Zealand about safety on Svinafellsjökull. Crampons tied on, ice axes held Italian-style in the uphill hand. Very fun! I learned about the significance of the blue color in glacial ice – it means that it’s quite dense and safe to walk on, even if there is some water on top of it. He also compared glaciers to Snickers bars; the outer crust of ice is rather rigid and that’s why it cracks and forms crevasses when put under stress, but in the middle is a more fluid layer that is more flexible because it’s not frozen solid. Within it are the peanuts, or rocks and debris. We were standing on a part of the glacier that was about 50 m thick. The glacier was 1,000 m deep at its thickest part. There was one point where I felt the ice move underneath my foot as I stepped across a narrow (and shallow) crevasse, and being sensitive to the feel of earthquakes, I asked Ben if I was just imagining this jolt that I felt. He said no, it was probably the movement of that more liquid layer, a glacial surge. It was pretty wild!

Across the small valley was a tall hill, fairly eroded, with a dirt shelf that extended for a significant distance near its top. Under this shelf were some hikers in an area that had been roped off for the obvious danger of the shelf eventually giving way. After pointing out on that hill how high the glacier used to be, Ben muttered, “Darwinisn…” under his breath. He showed us 700 year old yellow-orange pumice, accurately dated by local farm records of eruptions and types of ashfall. Although it was compressed because of being under ice for a long time, it was still lighter than a normal rock its size. Sunburned nose that peeled for 2 weeks notwithstanding (and that was with sunscreen applied several times), it was really great being out on the glacier and I can’t wait to venture out on one – with a guide – again. I do love the ice and snow, so here are several pictures from on the glacier.

Ben showing the group a "glacier mouse", aka stone that has gathered moss on all sides due to gentle but consistent movement of the glacier.

OK, I took this picture as we were walking - didn't have time to aim better, and I also didn't want to fall into this crevasse!



Later that evening three little kids came around to the bus, the one about 2 years old absolutely entranced by the wheels. I “escorted” them onto the bus and they had a great time just sitting up high in the seats. Their mothers were nearby and we had a nice conversation about all the families enjoying camping out during the summer. It definitely was noticeable wherever we went! Some of us dropped by the information center, watched the movie on the 1996 jökulhlaup, and read about some of the natural history. One amusing comment from a local in the 1700s or 1800s was about cats – “It was not thought that cats would do well in Iceland. (They figured) they would die of sheer boredom.”