Emptyknitster

Today's adventure began early in the morning and continued until sunset. It was necessary to leave our apartment at 6am because of  many hours of driving to our destination. We wanted to arrive at Skaftafell National Park an hour before our glacier hike began but arrived only about 15 minutes before the scheduled departure. Darkness, fog, snow, and icy roads really slowed us down. Five of those scheduled didn't show, making our group very small. In forty years this glacier has receded three quarters of a mile. Even with this loss of size it is very hard to convey the size of this glacier. Look carefully at the left bottom quarter of the photo above and you will see half a dozen hikers.   We hiked from the park headquarters to the base of the glacier, strapped on our crampons, and other gear and began climbing the glacier.  Ice caves form in the late fall and then begin to splinter and collapse in the late spring and summer. Guides are always on the lookout for