Iceland Diaries - Solheimajokull Glacier hike

Iceland is a lonely traveler's heaven. The breathtaking landscapes and the ominous silence makes it one of the best places to relax and not only discover the wonders of nature, but to discover yourself. During winters, it is one of the harshest places on Earth. With chilly winds and snow everywhere, its hard to find a "normal" form of life. Even human civilization is sparse once you move out of the capital city area.

On Christmas last year, we went for a hike on Solheimajokull glacier in southern Iceland which is about 2.5 hour ride from Reykjavik. Add the snow showers and it takes about 3-3.5 hours. The tour bus takes a detour on a small road from the highway and within about 30 mins, it stops in front of a small cafe where the trail for the hike starts. Too bad the cafe was closed for Christmas as we would have loved some hot chocolate in those conditions. 

After a brief lecture from the glacier guide and putting on the crampons, we started a couple of hours of journey - Yes, just a couple! Trust me, it's a lot if you are doing it for the first time. I am not an expert on glaciers, so I will just give a brief overview of what glaciers are and what kind of effect they have on surroundings as the guides told us.

Solheimajokull glacier in front of the frozen lagoon. The big boulder in lower center are carried by glacier's movement and not just due to erosion (That's one of the theories.).

Some very important things you should keep in mind while preparing for a hike of this kind:

• Normal snow shoes don't work as you are walking on ice, not snow. You have to wear crampons and keep an ice axe. 
• Warm clothing is important as you might experience -10 degrees C of temperatures or even lower. It is important that the first layer of your clothing be a thermal warmer so it keeps your body heat from escaping. Also keep an extra pair or socks. 
• If possible, try getting a Balaclava which would cover your face. If you don't have it then even a scarf will do the job.
• While we hiked, there were snow showers the entire way. Getting a rain/snow jacket is recommended. 
• Being hydrated is very important. You don't realize it while hiking, but once you are done your body responds to what it has been through. Keep a water bottle or much better a sports drink such as Gatorade. Also, chocolates are an excellent choice since they give you instant energy.

On the glacier, tons of snow covers the solid ice underneath. 

Everything I said above just came in handy. While you are walking on a glacier with a group, you should be in a straight line following the steps of the person in front of you. This is especially very important if you are hiking in winters. There is a lot of snow around you and you never know if there is solid ice or ground underneath it. The best way to check where you are going is to use the ice axe. 

The glaciers in Iceland have a history of encounters with volcanic ash since there are a lot of active volcanoes nearby. A very famous one which would ring a bell is Eyjafjallajokul the notorious volcano which hampered many flight across Europe and America when it spewed the ash across the continents. The problem was the engineers did not know how much ask is required for the motors to stop working. And of course no one wants to be in a plane whose motor could possibly stop in the middle of the journey. 

Volcanic ash on the Glacier

So along with the bluish ice, you will see dark colors in glaciers which are basically the ask from the volcanoes. Glaciers are an interesting phenomenon. They keep growing during winters due to the enormous amount of snow and in the summers they melt forming rivers and lagoons. During summers, this glacier has a spectacular view with an awesome landscape in the background and the bluish ice. However, these days the glaciers are melting faster than they grow, probably because of global warming which is still a matter of discussion. Nevertheless, some people believe that Solheimajokull glacier will disappear in 100-150 years. To form one meter of ice, about ten meters of snow is required. Just imagine the rate of melting then! Its quite alarming.

Of course there is tons of ice in glaciers and there would not be a single block of it. The ice cracks under its own weight and forms structures as you can see in the pictures below. This is one of the ways in which glaciers grow. Also, unlike rock which cannot flow, ice can. Ice is kind of a fluid. It is the crystal form of water and as the tendency to flow though at a very slow speed, which we won't notice for a short amount of time. The fluid flows under the action of gravity and the weight from tons of ice above. As the glaciers move, they carve out a pattern on the surrounding mountains. These patterns are clearly visible during summer when there is less snow.

And this is one of the reasons I want to visit Iceland in the summer. The glacier ice is visible and the day length is significantly high. In fact in some regions, you can see the midnight sun. So when I visit again, there might be a few more posts about it. In the end I would say visiting Iceland during winter was worth it. I was always afraid of being in cold temperatures. Well, the fear is gone. I learned about a new culture. A new way of life in this land.

You can find more information about glaciers in general here. I would be happy to have any comments and suggestions on the comments below or just drop a text on my wall :)

Huge cracks in the glacier ice

Cracks reveal the volcanic ash inside the ice

Pattern on the rocks carved by the glacier

Iceland Diaries - Hallgrímskirkja

Visiting Iceland during winters was not a bad idea after all. I was at Reykjavik around the shortest time of the year when the sunlight is hardly 4 hours (6-7 hours of daylight if you count dawn and twilight). So every tour and any activity had to be planned in order to make the best use of available daylight. In this and the other posts that follow, I will give a brief description of different landmarks in Iceland, starting with the tallest church in the capital city of Reykjavik. Hallgrímskirkja - A parish church.

Hallgrímskirkja - Rear View

Hallgrímskirkja - Front View

Hallgrímskirkja is the tallest structure in the city of Reykjavik and the tallest church in Iceland. The construction completed in 1986, so this is a fairly new church. It is the city's well known landmark and being tallest, one gets a view of this building from almost every part Reykjavik.

Christmas Decorations at the Church

Church pipe organ built by Johannes Klais - A German organ builder

A must do for everyone who visits this church is to go to the top of the tower and get a view of the city and its surroundings. One gets a breathtaking view of the mountains in the distance reflected by the North Atlantic waters, Perlan (which unfortunately I was not able to visit on my trip this time) and all other amazing structures and landscapes.

One of the views from the church tower

The church is unique in its architecture and resembles the basalt lava flows of Iceland landscape. Definitely worth a visit if you come to this city. It costs about 750 ISK to go up to the top of the tower. You can also pay in Euros (5 eur). You can find further information about the church here. 

Bavaria Diaries - Wendelstein Observatory

Last Autumn, as a part of an excursion conducted by the PhD fellowship I am in, I got to visit one of the prettiest optical telescope in Bavaria - Wendelstein Observatory.

Wendelstein Observatory, Bavaria, Germany

It is a set of two optical telescopes on top of the Wendelstein mountain at a height of about 1838 m. It is operated by the University of Munich (Ludwig Maximilian Universitaet, Muenchen) and is just about an hour's drive from the city. It was originally designed as a solar observatory, but since 1980s it has been used for night observations of stars and galaxies as well. Sitting on top of this mountain, there is a splendid view of the Bavarian country side and the alps from this observatory.

Since 2011, the observatory has a 2m Fraunhofer telescope, much improvement from the previous 80 cm one.

View from the peak of the mountain.

Along with this, the observatory has a 40 cm Cassegrain telescope as well. In a year there are about 155 clear nights when the observations can be done. These days, since there are many other facilities which provide much better data than this one, this observatory is primarily used by the university students as a part of their practical exercises. However, it is still used by present day astronomers quite often. You can find more information about the observatory here. 

It is worth visiting this place not just for the telescope, but this area also serves as a great spot for hiking, skiing and recreation.