What's up, what's happening!

 Homeward bound, our guides Baldur and Olafur leading a group back through the eastern valley with Sólheimajökull in the background bending NNE towards the Myrdalsjökull Ice cap

     This first full week of "Summer" greeted us with extreme northerly winds that resulted in two consecutive days of cancelled glacier trips. Nonetheless, it seems nothing remains permanent here in Iceland. Whether it be the roads, bridges, glaciers, mountains, or weather, things always seem to be shifting ever so slightly (and sometimes disastrously), as if they were heaving from the deep breaths within the earth. This island is alive in every sense of the word, from the dynamic climates to volcanic activity brewing beneath the surface, you can truly feel the energy as you step outside and breathe the invigorating Northern Atlantic air. The most important piece of advice I could give anyone coming to Iceland is this; you must "be like water" as Bruce Lee says. Being flexible and fluid with your plans or expectations is vital to experiencing & enjoying the islands true nature, because in reality you never fully know what you're going to get yourself into and that's the beauty of travelling here. If you're able to roll with the punches, and allow some room for an unexpected adventure or two, you'll truly experience the island for what it's worth. Remember, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad equipment :). 

         

The noble steeds of our Arcanum base. Along with the surrounding landscapes and people of Iceland, they too are beautiful yet rugged.

The Vestmannaeyjar (Westman) archipelago is located off the South Coast of Iceland. The islands are named after Gaelic slaves who had been captured into slavery by Norsemen. The Old Norse word Vestmenn, literally "Westmen", was applied to the Irish. Not long after Ingólfur Arnarson arrived in Iceland, his blood brother Hjörleifur was murdered by the slaves he had brought with him. Ingólfur tracked them down to the Vestmannaeyjar and slayed them all in retribution, hence the name Vestmannaeyjar (the islands of the west men). This is speculated to have occurred in AD 875.  

1. A glacier terminus, or snout, is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality glaciers are in endless motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating. In our case it would be the latter, this glacial lagoon pictured in the foreground started to form in 2007 and since then the ablation (melting) of the glacier has only accelerated. But hey, global warming is a myth right? 

1. A haboob ("blasting/drafting") is a type of intense dust storm carried on an atmospheric gravity current. Haboobs occur regularly in arid regions throughout the world. Although these infrequent dust storms on the South Coast aren't to scale with a proper haboob, they are quite a sight to see and add to the vast arsenal of extreme weather events here in Iceland. As you're heading down to the coast from the glacier during these conditions, it would behoove oneself to keep your balaclava on :).    
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