Glacial Designs

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“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.”

- Anthony Bourdain

Iceland certainly left its mark on me. Witnessing the raw power of earth's forces transform the landscape before my very eyes, from glaciers gouging vast canyons, waterfalls cutting through the soft earth, laval flows creating new land, and rivers, lakes and oceans shaping the harsh terrain all around, was an indelible experience.

I hope to see this magic once again

Skaftafell National Park

Iceland

Once upon a Glacier

Once upon a time, a glacier used to run this this massive valley, descending from the mighty Vatnajökull whose eruption brought the transatlantic flights to a standstill. Though this glacier had paled in comparison to its parent, it still had been a voluminous mass of ice, stretching a few miles long and a mile wide. Alas, now this glacier has all but receded to its ice-cap, leaving behind a gorgeous glacier-scoured valley, a meltwater lake and tiny slivers of water that wind their way down to the ocean.

Standing atop this vista overlooking this valley, I can't help but imagine what this amazing sight would have been.

Sakftafell National Park

The Blue Yonder

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I had climbed high above the small notch of land that stood between two glaciers. The land stretching out in front of me was flat, providing unhampered visibility into the far blue yonder. From here, I could spy one of the glaciers slowly melting out onto its own lake, with fragments of ice slowly making their way to the other end. Tiny tributaries drained the murky waters into dozens of windy rivulets that meandered their way to the distant shores of the Atlantic a dozen miles away.

Meanwhile, the clouds marched in the opposite direction - a mixture of rain-bearing cumulus and strato-cumulus clouds drifted in from the south, threatening rain for the latter half of the day. Nevertheless, I continued forward on this trail in Skaftafell National Park, which climbed up and over this notch of land, making its way from the lip of one glacier to the remnants of the other glacier, over rocky scree, velvety-soft green grass, and slushy swamps. And all along that 10 mile hike, I got to witness a beautiful untouched landscape in this geologically young island, a landscape that lent well to amazing photographic opportunities.

Skaftafell National Park
Iceland