Iceland

 This is how we want to photograph the waterfall...






But this is how it is...

A very big edge of a glacier

 The Diamond Beach

Hnappavallahamrar Iceland Climbing

 We drove down a dirt road, toward the ocean, and there was a long outcropping of rock, not very high, maybe 30 feet, with a little hut, amazing hut with a picnic table, and a guide book inside!  It was very grassy, we stopped at the stream, I was afraid to cross the stream in the van and walked to the hut, next to cliffs.  And we climbed there until almost five, everyone alternated between climbing and painting, a few people concentrated on photographs.  It was the first time most of them had ever climbed on rock and they were very excited to have done it. It was also one of the first times we just stayed in one spot and stayed in one place and worked.  

 This is what driving in Iceland is like: There is one two lane highway that goes all around the island, called the ring road.  It is mostly very flat because the island is made up of volcanoes, so close to the water it is flat and there are lots of mountains closer inland.  It is usually overcast, sometimes raining, and there are many bridges, which are all one lane, so traffic on each end has to wait.  There are a few town, but it is mostly ocean, flat plain with yellowish moss growing on the rocs, big cliffs with waterfalls, sometimes a huge glacier and pretty high mountains in the background.  It is mostly tourists driving around looking at waterfalls. 

Hiking on Iceland Volcano

Woke up at 2:00 AM to start a hike, Iand  went around to the 3 hostels where we are staying and picked up the people who wanted to hike, beginning at 3:30 for the first stop.  Surprisingly 11 people woke up,  It was actually a clear day  and  already light at 2:00 AM!  Anyway, I was happy to be going somewhere, first we hiked to the top of the waterfall, then it was a long not very steep hike for miles, I wanted to get to the top of the peak and glacier, but we just made it to the edge of the glacier by 7:00, when we had to turn back... We saw the sun come up…it became very windy, it is always windy here, you even have to sign an agreement when you rent a car that you are not responsible if the wind blows the door off your car.  It was  a the most fun I have had in Iceland. 

 Then we drove to an ocean place,  where there were big waves and hexagonal columns…sometimes a rogue wave comes up and washes people away here.