The Traveling Widower

Category: hiking

Posts for trips focused on hiking

  • Iceland: Glaciers and Waterfalls

    A majestic waterfall cascading down a rocky cliff surrounded by lush greenery, with several people standing on a rocky beach in the foreground.
    Skogafoss Waterfall

    June 24th, 2026

    This was day two of the NatGeo trip, and fourth overall. I was quite pleased overall with the trip so far, and after the dip in the Blue Lagoon, was not in as much pain as the day before. I was ready for more adventures.

    The day started out with an easy stop at Iceland’ largest geothermal power station, Hellisheidavirkjun. Sounds boring, right? It was actually fascinating. Iceland get 100% of their electricity from renewable sources – geothermal, hydro and wind. No beautiful, clean coal or oil on this island. They also heat most of the homes from geothermal – 100% of Reykjavik is heated from hot water from this plant, or from wells. Pretty much every home in Iceland has a geothermal source for their heat and hot water. Amazing. The tour of this facility was short, but the display in the lobbies were incredibly informative, including a great display of the different igneous rock type. Our NatGeo naturalist also gave an interesting lecture on how humans have changed Iceland – when it was first settled, a very high percentage of the island was forested. Now it’s down to about 5%. Who knew? Now they are trying to reforest, and reclaim the soil that was lost due to erosion.

    Industrial geothermal power plant with steam rising against a cloudy sky and hilly landscape.

    We then headed to the South shore of Iceland – I was really surprised by the amount of pasture and farmland between the mountains and coast line – there were farms perched along the sides of volcano. Seriously. All along the way, our guide, who was from this area, gave a running narrative about the area, including a lot of funny stories about his family. Interesting guy.

    Now for the fun part. Our first outing was the glacier hike, something I was sort of dreading. I have a lot of ice related experience from my stupid days in Colorado – climbing frozen waterfalls, winter mountain climbing and long glacier hikes in Wyoming. That was 35 years ago – been there, done that. But, it was on the itinerary, with a mixed group of people who have never touched an ice axe or worn crampons before. How bad could it be?

    It was gray and misting when we pulled into the parking lot at the base of the glacial lake (Solheimajokull Glacier) and met our guide. This is apparently a fairly popular tourist attraction, with a number of guided tours you can sign up for – the guides provide all the important gear. He fitted the group out with crampons, axes, harnesses and helmets – the harnesses were required in case we fell into a crevasse, and had to be rescued. Once that was done, we headed off down the trail, which was a black lava rock glacial moraine. This glacier has been receding for years and what is now a lake, used to be ice. The thickness of the glacial front has also been drastically reduced, which made it easier to climb up. A good view of the results of global warming. After about a mile of easy hiking, we started climbing to the start of the glacial ice, and strapped on our crampons. The view of what was ahead was foreboding in the mist – I was beginning to doubt my sanity. Plus, I had to pee. 

    Two of our group decided not to go any further, and our leader walked them back to the parking lot. I decided to give it a go. Once I started walking with the crampons, muscle memory kicked in – it wa actually fun, even the steep section. We did not go too far, but climbed high enough to get some spectacular views.

    A desolate landscape of a glacier with rocky and icy formations under a cloudy sky.
    A view of a glacial landscape with a frozen terrain leading down to a dark lake, surrounded by mountains under a cloudy sky.
    A rugged, icy landscape featuring a glacier with dark volcanic rock formations and fog covering the mountain background.
    A rugged, dark volcanic landscape with grey and black rocky surfaces, under a cloudy sky.
    A panoramic view of a glacier landscape featuring dark volcanic rock formations, a glacial lake, and misty mountains in the background.
    View of a gravel path leading through rugged terrain, with a group of hikers walking in the distance under cloudy skies.
    A group of people in helmets and safety gear are gathered on rocky terrain, discussing instructions for an outdoor adventure, likely ice climbing or glacier hiking.
    A small fox standing on a wet parking lot, reflecting on the wet surface with a backdrop of parked vehicles.

    The photos were not shot in black and white – that all basalt sand and gravel, from meltwater washed down on the glacial surface. Very dirty.

    We hung around a took a group picture or two and then headed back down. Woo hoo! I did it! Seriously, I was quite pleased with myself for not chickening out (same as TACO’ing?). I did a mental evaluation on the risks, how I felt body wise, and made the decision to just focus on enjoying the moment.

    A group of hikers on a glacier, wearing helmets and ice climbing gear, posing for a photo with a scenic valley and cloudy sky in the background.
    We did it!

    We had passed two of the well known waterfalls on the way to the glacier, and now we were going to work our way back, and stop at both. I had brought a monopod along specifically to photograph waterfalls in slow motion, and was finally going to get a chance to use it. The second waterfall was the one where you can walk behind the falls – that’s where the new GoPro comes in. It was still raining a bit, so I kept my rain gear on.

    The first waterfall, Skogafoss, is one of the highest and most popular tourist attractions. Unless you get there early in the morning, you can expect to have gobs of tourists doing selfies on all the trails (or even standing in front of the falls. That was the case when we arrived unfortunately. But, I walked down to the falls with the camera mounted on the monopod. The trail was packed as expected but including people dancing in front of the falls. But, I had the gear, so I setup the monopod, mounted the camera, and turned the Sony on. Nothing. Dead battery. I left the camera on earlier in the day, and the battery drained. And I left the spares back in the bus. No big deal – I just enjoyed the experience of seeing the beautiful water falls, ignored the people screaming in front of the falls, and headed back to the bus. 

    A majestic waterfall cascading down a rocky cliff surrounded by lush greenery, with two people standing near the water's edge.

    The next (and last stop of the day was the Seljalardsfoss falls, which is the one with the path behind the falls. That one was fantastic – there were still a lot of tourists there, but not as many behind the falls. I left the big camera behind and just brought my phone and GoPro. It was fantastic! I did the entire route, much to the chagrin of the trip lead….I was the last one to get back to the bus. Mea culpa. 

    A beautiful waterfall cascading down a rocky cliff surrounded by lush greenery, with visitors standing nearby and enjoying the view.
    A person stands near the base of a waterfall, with water cascading over a rocky ledge. The scene is set in a grassy landscape under a cloudy sky, showcasing the natural beauty of the area.
    A scenic view of a waterfall cascading over rocky cliffs, with lush green grass in the foreground and a cloudy sky in the background.

    We made it to our hotel at 9:00, checked in (great hotel in the Icelandic version of the middle of nowhere, Landhotel), had a great dinner, and then I collapsed in bed. That was a very long, but great day. 

    One more comment on the trip – this is that time of the year in place like Alaska, Northern Canada and Iceland, where the sun never really sets all the way. At 11PM, it’s still bright out. That’s great if you like to stay out till the wee hours of the morning, but not so great if you are tired and really want to get some sleep. Best to look for hotels with really good black-out curtains, or don’t mind sleeping with eye shades on. 

    Peace

  • The Blue Lagoon and Lava Everywhere

    A geothermal spa with people relaxing in blue water, surrounded by rocky terrain and steam rising from the landscape.

    June 23, 2026

    The Blue Lagoon is likely (and arguably) the most popular tourist attraction, along with the Golden Circle, in Iceland (I doubt if the Penis Museum is in the top 10). Every tour agency has advertisements plastered around town, and it’s easy to find one to get you there and back. You can even find tours that take you directly from the airport to the Lagoon, and then on to Reykjavik to your hotel – not a bad way to unwind after a long flight. Maybe I’ll do that next year.

    I  was never very interested in visiting the lagoon  – I’ve been to a couple of geothermal pools before, but sharing crowded locker rooms and a huge spa with hundreds of strangers was never high on my list of places to visit. And this one is gigantic. But, a dip in the pool and dinner was part of the Nat Geo tour, and I was still really sore from the volcano hike so what the heck….let’s give it a try.

    The history of the lagoon is interesting – given that Iceland exists due to it’s proximity over an oceanic rift zone, it’s not too surprising that there’s a lot of hot water in the ground. Most of Iceland’s electricity is generated by geothermal plants – cheap power for people and industry. A power plant was built at this location, and dumped the water from the turbines into settling ponds, where the water filtered back into the lava fields. The water in this area had a very high silicon content, and locals who started bathing in the ponds discovered that the water had some medicinal qualities for skin diseases. Sounds like a good reason to create a spa resort and attract international visitors. And that’s what happened.

    One minor problem with this location – there is still volcanic and seismic activity. A few years ago, a new fissure opened and a huge lava flow headed towards the Blue Lagoon. A huge berm was built to try and redirect the lava away from a town, the power plant and the Lagoon – it was mostly successful. The town was evacuated (a few house were destroyed, and the parking lot for the resort was buried. The lagoon was opened and closed frequently during this eruption for obvious reasons. You can see the new lava fields, and the long fissure, as you approach the resort – fortunately, it’s been inactive for a while. 

    OK, enough history. You can look it up on Google if you want to know more. 

    This was the first event on the National Geographic tour – the tour leader is a native Icelander (he can trace is family back to Viking days), and is a walking encyclopedia of Icelandic history. And a really nice guy as well. He pointed out the fissure and recent lava fields as we approached the resort. The berm that was built to protect the geothermal plant was obvious – it’s huge. You cannot stop a lava flow, but you can direct it, so it did work. You park in the new parking lot and then walk through a path carved through the lava that covered the old parking lot. Very strange.

    A group of people walking on a pathway surrounded by rocky terrain under a cloudy sky.
    An empty parking area with gray paving stones, featuring black shipping containers, signposts, and a rocky hillside in the background under a cloudy sky.
    A rocky landscape with a walkway, featuring a wooden fence and a group of people in the background. Large volcanic rocks are scattered around, with a waste bin and a utility box visible.

    The resort is pretty much everything I dislike about these types of tourist traps, but it is well run. It would have to be with the hundreds of thousand tourists who visit each year. You get a wrist band with a chip, which you need to open/close a locker – the locker rooms are a maze of sections of lockers, and private shower stalls. The signage is good, and there is a device you can use to find your locker if you forget the number. Once you find your way through the maze, you exit out to the pool, and wade in from a ramp. It is not very deep, just 3 or 4 feet at most, so you either float or crab walk to stay covered. The water is actually light blue, and there is so much particulate matter (mostly silica) that you cannot see beyond an inch from the water surface. Don’t drop anything, you’ll never find it. 

    There are all kinds of pool-side stands to visit – a drinks bar, a steam room, and the facial bar where you can get different concoctions to smear on your face. The pool surface is compacted silica mud – a little slippery, but hard packed so nothing sticks to your feet. The water temperature varies – I found the hot spots and just floated – it felt really good on my sore legs.

    I lasted a little over an hour, talking with some of the other NatGeo tour members, and just paddling around the pool. Once my hands were completely wrinkled, I figured it was time to get out. 

    Our evening included dinner at the resort restaurant which was excellent – a beautiful dining room, surrounded by lava walls. No surprise there.

    Interior of a restaurant featuring a large natural rock wall, with diners seated at tables below and large windows providing natural light.

    After dinner, our leader gave us a guided tour along the lava field and berm, to the town that was abandoned after the last eruption. The lava reached the edge of town, and burned out a few homes. There are also cracks in the earth throughout the town, so the government bought out all the home owners and condemned the entire town. It’s just not safe to live there. 

    View of a demolished structure surrounded by a fence, with debris and rubble in the foreground and a hillside in the background under a cloudy sky.
    A construction site with a fenced area containing piles of debris and rubble, set against a cloudy sky and a distant hill.

    This was our last night in Reykjavik – on to new and exciting adventures.

    Peace