Iceland 05: Skaftafell Glacier Travelling
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 3 mi
- Elevation gain
- 512 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 512 ft
- Max elevation
- 732 ft
- TrailRank
- 33
- Min elevation
- 409 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Moving time
- one hour 45 minutes
- Time
- 3 hours 30 minutes
- Coordinates
- 882
- Uploaded
- October 2, 2023
- Recorded
- October 2023
near Fagurhólsmýri, Austurland (Ísland)
Viewed 50 times, downloaded 1 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
I booked an ice cave and Glacier travelling tour with TROLL Expedition Club.
I did a one on one training camp in New Zealand on such things and wanted to experience it once again in Iceland since here, they have an extra thing, the Ice Caves.
We were at the meeting point at 9 am, and they took us in a bus to the Glacier parking, 10 minutes away.
We started our hike at the lake level, going uphill.
After around 45 min, we stopped and put our crampons on. We had our harness and ice axes.
Because of the wind, in summertime, most of the Glacier is covered with dirt. It will wash away in winter and get back its blue clear colour again.
500 m later we arrived at the Cave. It is a newly formed one, like 2 meters wide and around 12 meters long.
After that, we kept walking uphill, finding our way between the crevasses.
Because of the ice melting, sometimes we encounter what they call Moulins. They are big holes going down to the bottom formed by the streams. The thickness of the glacier can be more than 100 meters.
It gains around 6 meters every year during winter from snow, but it is melting faster.
This is the circle of life.
We stayed there for 4 hours.
I was expecting much bigger caves, but you never know because they change in shape every year.
I did a one on one training camp in New Zealand on such things and wanted to experience it once again in Iceland since here, they have an extra thing, the Ice Caves.
We were at the meeting point at 9 am, and they took us in a bus to the Glacier parking, 10 minutes away.
We started our hike at the lake level, going uphill.
After around 45 min, we stopped and put our crampons on. We had our harness and ice axes.
Because of the wind, in summertime, most of the Glacier is covered with dirt. It will wash away in winter and get back its blue clear colour again.
500 m later we arrived at the Cave. It is a newly formed one, like 2 meters wide and around 12 meters long.
After that, we kept walking uphill, finding our way between the crevasses.
Because of the ice melting, sometimes we encounter what they call Moulins. They are big holes going down to the bottom formed by the streams. The thickness of the glacier can be more than 100 meters.
It gains around 6 meters every year during winter from snow, but it is melting faster.
This is the circle of life.
We stayed there for 4 hours.
I was expecting much bigger caves, but you never know because they change in shape every year.
Waypoints
Photo
628 ft
Flora
Lake
Cave
Waterfall
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