Canyon Baths & Inside a Glacier

Previous: Glymur Foss & Oddaleid Trail                                Next: Bifrost Crater/Forest and Sheep’s Foss Hikes

July 14

Husafell Canyon Baths

We had an excellent buffet breakfast at the Hotel Husafell, and then off for a full day of adventure.

We hit all highlights of being in Iceland on this day.  We were encouraged to pack our swimsuits as we started right from the hotel on a one way 3.5-mile canyon baths hike. This hike came with a naturalist guide who explained a bit about the geology along the way.  There was intermittent rain which managed to really bring out the crisp lime-green color of the landscape.

We hiked some tundra-like shale covered terrain and across a river along stones, saw yet another beautiful waterfall, and towered high above a river along the trail.

 

 

Eventually we descended to our destination, the Husafell Canyon Baths.  Out of nowhere we hit the stairway along the hillside to the outdoor spa, which is actually owned by the Hotel Husafell where we were staying!

There were changing rooms.  Those in the group who opted not to do this hike arrived before us via a Backroads van.  The Backroads leaders provided snacks and drinks for us along the edge of the baths.  The rain had stopped at the right time for us to enjoy the baths…it was cold enough walking from the changing room to the baths…having no rain was a bonus. We were surrounded by the rock cliffs we had hiked down from. It was quite beautiful, and very soothing. Aahh!!

There was also an ice-cold dip bath option that some of us opted for.  Brrr!! John and I did our best adolescent “who’s the toughest old guy” by seeing who could stay in the cold dip longest.  First off, he cheated by pretending to get out at the same time as me then pulling himself back in; second, we both lost big time to Massimo, our fellow Backroads hiker from Italy.  They must not have hot water in Italy because Massimo was completely unphased by the ice bath…amazing.

Langiokull Glacier

We enjoyed the hot spa for about 20 minutes when we needed to get going for lunch.  Good timing, since it started to rain just about then. After drying off and changing back into our hiking clothes we got into the vans and were shuttled about 5 minutes away to the hotel. Here we changed to prepare for our afternoon/evening adventure, snowmobiling to the second largest ice cap in Iceland, Langjokull Glacier,and then exploring inside the glacier itself.

First, we walked to the nearby Husafell Bistro for an excellent buffet lunch.  Their pizza was excellent.

After lunch, the group boarded two ridiculously large-wheeled glacier trekking monster trucks.  The excursion originally called for us to be taken to the glacier all the way via these monster trucks, but a late change to the itinerary called for us to drive our own snowmobiles there.  Yeeha!

After about 20 minutes we arrived at “Into the Glacier”.  Here, at the “Into the Glacier” outpost we put on our provided snowmobile overalls and helmets.  Then we got back into the monster trucks, and after about 15 minutes we arrived at the edge of the ever-shrinking glacier where the snowmobiles were waiting for us.

The man running the excursion (seemingly the owner of the business) gave us all a 5-minute crash course (pun intended) in driving a snowmobile.  He was actually very funny in an irreverent way…laughing every time he mentioned what could go wrong.  I don’t think anybody enjoyed themselves more than this guy. He was a hoot.

Emilie and I claimed one of the snowmobiles, and after everybody was on theirs, we took off.

Like ducklings we followed in line behind the leader for about a 20-minute snowmobile ride.  We stopped along the way to take in the endless snowy, glacial landscape all around us.  Some of us got into a July snowball fight, and then back on towards the entrance to the inside of the glacier. Amazingly, we all got there in one piece.

Being inside this glacier was a lot like being inside a huge snow cave. In fact, it’s billed as the largest man-made ice tunnel. A long under-surface series of tunnels was dug out via heavy equipment and we walked the maze with our excursion leader.  There were some slippery spots in the beginning, but then we stopped at some benches and were given crampons to put on over the bottoms our shoes. That solved the slipping issue.

We were inside the glacier for about 20 minutes.  Then we exited and got back on our snowmobiles.  On the ride back I decided to not stay in line this time.  With newfound confidence due to my 20 minutes of glacier mobiling experience, I picked up speed and passed some of the others, being cognizant of not tipping over as I exited and re-entered the snowmobile track.  We almost flipped over only one time, not too bad!

The monster trucks were waiting for us.  They took us back to “Inside the Glacier” outpost where we got out of our bulky snowmobile suits and were shuttled back to the hotel.

The group ate dinner at the Hotel Husafell.  We had some drinks then off to bed.  Hiking, geothermal spa bathing, snowmobiling, and going inside a glacier…a full day with Backroads.

Next: Bifrost Crater/Forest and Sheep’s Foss Hikes