Trip to Iceland and Finland, Part 2

Part 2 of the trip report of our journey to Iceland and Finland.

After our scramble of Kristianartindar, Jenny and I returned to our hotel to find that Kate and Mummu have had a great time. They had a relaxed breakfast, later of course, than we did, and then went to see the waterfall that was right behind the hotel. The remainder of the day was spent in the hot tubs, the sauna, and the bar for lunch. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Like I had already mentioned, it was good, but perhaps a little expensive, even for Iceland.

The next day, we checked out and began our trek back west towards Vik, but first we stopped at Fjaðrárgljúfur, a winding canyon fed by several small waterfalls. What got us the most here is how casually Iceland offers up these amazing places. For Iceland standards, this canyon wasn’t even that great, but wow… Worth the 10 minute detour and the ability to stretch our legs.

After that, we drove on to Vik, where we checked into our Hotel Vik I Myrdal and discovered that the hotel did not, in fact, have a pool. That was a bit of a disappointment. Somehow, when booking our trip, both Jenny and I had interpreted the blue area in one of the pictures as a pool, not as a disabled parking area. A mistake that happens to everyone. Or not, perhaps.

Instead, we spent a few hours at the black beach that had also served as our venue for the Icelandic horse adventure earlier. It was interesting to see how the tide was coming in, and how big the waves were. We cautioned Kate a bit to not get wet, because we weren’t quite sure that we could rescue her from the crashing waves, but also because we didn’t want her clothes to be wet and cold in the ice cave that we were planning to visit later that day.

Later, we headed to the Katla ice cave excursion meeting spot near the Vik Kronan store. We were a bit worried, because the instructions talked about walking on the glacier; bringing your own backpack with food and extra clothing; and wearing warm base layers, a waterproof outer layer, and crampon-compatible sturdy hiking boots. Mummu didn’t have her hiking boots, just her trainers, and we knew fitting crampons securely would be near impossible. We essentially dressed for a glacier climb in wet conditions. I wore my base layers, hiking pants, rain pants, hard-shell jacket, and mountaineering boots, and I even brought my helmet along. Why not, I wanted to avoid having to wear a heavy rental bucket for a long period of time.

When the guide saw me, he asked if I was dressed for Mount Everest. Turns out there is almost no walking on the glacier involved, maybe a few hundred meters, and the crampons are microspikes. The ride on the “superjeep” was still pretty interesting, because once we were off the road, the guide deflated the tires to get more traction on the sandy road, and to provide a smoother ride. The vehicle forded a few rivers, something we definitely couldn’t have done with our all-wheel drive rental SUV. It was surprisingly dusty as we were heading towards the glacier with the ice cave.

The walk from the superjeep to the cave was pretty easy going for Jenny and me, but for many, even that was a bit nerve-wracking. Balancing over boards to cross the small river and walking on the dirt of the terminal moraine was uneventful, but once we got to the ice of the glacier, many visitors became uneasy. One of the reasons, of course, was that there was a river of melt water nearby, and during the safety briefing, when no one was asking the guide anything, I had asked what was something we should avoid doing under any circumstances. The guide said “absolutely do not fall into the river.” The river here looked cold, but not too deep, so I wasn’t worried. Jenny and I knew how to walk in balance, Kate was pretty good at it too, and Mummu is also a capable hiker.

My relaxed attitude changed once we got to the cave. The water was raging, fast and noisy, deep in a canyon of ice it had cut. There were no railings, just ropes attached to carabiners on ice screws (one carabiner was unlocked, so I locked it). Totally sufficient, but I really wanted to put Kate in her climbing harness and attach that to the hand lines using a friction hitch.

What was cool (besides the ice) was that we could see the layers of the glacier, like the annual rings of a tree. That makes sense, but I had never before been able to really experience that.

The ice cave was smaller than the pictures, especially the promotional pictures, make it seem like. They’re all shot using fish-eye lenses (including the one above of us). Maybe there are different ice caves than the Katla ice cave, caves that are larger, that go deeper inside, but I’m glad we came here. Some kind of ice cave should be on everyone’s Iceland bucket list.

For dinner, we headed to the Ströndin Pub in Vik, where we enjoyed soups and salads, pasta, beer, and watched part of the Iceland – Switzerland soccer game of the 2025 Women’s Euro Cup. The food was good, but again, shockingly expensive for pub fare. Just drink enough to not be able to math anymore.

To be continued.