Iceland - Glacier Hiking & Ice Climbing

Although glacier hiking and ice climbing sounded fun and exciting to me when I booked this adventure in Iceland, by the time it rolled around I was scared out of my pants. I'm not a huge fan of heights, so ice climbing was a little out of my realm, and I'm prone to falling in normal, non-slippery conditions, so walking around on a glacier all day just seemed like an accident waiting to happen. However, my sweet husband really wanted to try it and on his birthday week I was not about to deny him this adventure! 

I was not surprised when this day turned out to be a ton of fun - I am a worrier, but once I do something it usually works out just fine. We had two guides for our hike, one leading us and one in back to make sure no one fell into any crevasses. Thankfully no one did. ;) The glacier we went to was called Sólheimajökull, and it was about 2.5 hours outside of Reykjavik. It was well worth the drive though, it was just stunning when we got there! I'd never seen a glacier before so I was just expecting a big chunk of ice, but this was a beautiful creation of BLUE ice. I don't know if all glaciers are as blue as this one, but it was just magnificent to see, and pictures don't do it justice. Our guides explained that the ice was blue because there is a lot less air in the ice because it is so compacted, whereas the ice we would have in our freezer contains much more air, and is therefore more white in appearance. 

Getting ready to hike the glacier!

Before we began our glacier hike we were all provided with a pick axe, crampons for our shoes to allow us to walk on the ice without slipping (I feel like I need some of those for everyday use in the winter ha), and a harness for the ice climbing. To make sure that your crampons are in the ice securely you really have to walk flat footed, and stomp your foot into the ground to get a good grip, especially around the steeper parts of the hike. I was just stomping around everywhere - I wasn't taking any chances! We went up the glacier and got to see a ton of moulins (pronounced like Moulin Rouge), which are shafts from the surface of the glacier that carry water in the warmer months to its exit at the bottom of the glacier. These were slightly terrifying to me since they were SO deep, but we did get to go into one that was horizontal, and it was spectacular to see how the water had carved out and shaped the inside of the tunnel. 

Crampon on my shoe

Volcano ash on top of the ice

Stunning!

Thomas and the other hikers

Thomas coming out of the moulin

Once we made it back down the glacier, it was time to try our hand at ice climbing on an ice wall near the base of the glacier. Our guides prepared the ropes and anchors and then let us give it a try. There were two 'spikes' on the front of our crampons that we were supposed to dig into the wall in order to get our footing in the ice, and then we used two ice picks to help pull us up the wall. It sounded and looked easier than it was - that was hard work! Thomas made it up very high, but I only made it about a third of the way up the wall before my arms and legs were trembling with exhaustion. Apparently I need to work out more. :) I'm happy I tried it though, and happy we did this adventure - I can't believe we got to hike around on a blue glacier! 

The ice wall we (mostly Thomas) climbed

Thomas dominating the ice wall

Me giving it a go...

On our way back to Reykjavik we stopped at Skógafoss waterfall, one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland - it was beautiful! You could walk right up to the base of the waterfall, or hike up the trail off to the side and view the waterfall from the top. We were exhausted from our day of hiking and climbing, so we opted to stay at the base. ;)

Skófagoss waterfall

Thomas in front of Skófagoss