Blast from the Past: Laufskálavarða

Sorry there was no post on Friday! I was feeling a bit under the weather, and classes just started at my university. So, here's today's post, full of lots of cool stuff!

We had to drive through an area of Iceland known for it's jokulhaups. This occurs when a glacier breaks and the water behind it gushes out. Jokulhaups (YOKE-ell-ups) are perhaps the most dangerous thing in all of Iceland. The wall of water moves so fast that few can outrun it. One of the sagas relates how one man on horseback narrowly escaped with his life after a jokulhaup swept in behind his steed!

That's why we stopped at Laufskálavarða. (It's pronounced LAHF-skowt-la-VARDTH-ah.) Remember that rock pile I mentioned in my post about Vik? Laufskálavarða is a rock pile, too, but one with a very important purpose. It is believed that leaving a rock here will ensure that one can cross the jokulhaup field unscathed. It's like leaving a token of good faith to the many spirits and creatures that inhabit Iceland.

One of the students suggested that Stitch leave a rock, too, just in case. After all, better not take any chances!

Blast from the Past: Seljalandsfoss

If you remember my post about Skogarfoss, I mentioned the smaller Seljalandsfoss but had no photos. I guess I somehow skipped it! So, here is a photo from behind the waterfall. Pretty neat, huh?

Blast from the Past: Búðir

Búðir (Booth-ear) is a small, lovely beach in the Western part of Iceland. The beach is quite isolated but is still very popular with tourists. There is a church, which is quite old, and an inn. But what makes Búðir really special is its sand. The sand is the most extroadinary color because it is made up of seashells, basalt, quartz, and olivine. We spent a lovely, quiet afternoon here, digging in the sand and even found a wolf fish skull in the surf! If ever you find yourself in Iceland, make sure you stop at Búðir; otherwise, you're missing out on one of the prettiest places on the whole island.

Blast From the Past: Skogafoss

Skógafoss (Skoh-gah-foss) is a very big, very wet, and very famous Icelandic waterfall! This thing is SO huge that a group of students were standing about 300 yards away and still got completely drenched. There is also a path along the waterfall's right side that leads to the top. The view from there is just amazing, making the long steep trip completely worth every step!

Later, we drove a short way to visit Seljalandsfoss (Sell-ya-lands-foss), which also flows from the Skoga River. This waterfall is very well-known for having a path the goes behind the water! One of our friends very nearly got a cold shower when she stood directly behind the falls and a gust of wind tore through them. Luckily she was wearing her rain gear! Seljalandsfoss had many pretty trails and caves around them that we got to explore, and where I took this photo.

Blast from the Past: Thorsmork

Thorsmork (which means "Thor's Forest in Icelandic) is a beautiful nature preserve in the south of Iceland. It is also very secluded, due to the fact that it is surrounded by mountains, glaciers, and rivers. In fact, the only way to reach the park is by a special all-terrain bus!

These photos chronicle the climb we made up the mountain Valanukur. The going was steep, but fun was had by all. When we reached the top, we actually had to shed our coats because we were burning up (no mean feat when the average temperature was somewhere between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, or 13 to 16 degrees Celsius!) The river below is called Krossá (KROES-ow) which means "Cross River". This river is fed by glaciers, and the streambed changes so much that no permanent bridges can be built!

And here we are at the top of Valanukur! (Stitch is being held in place by my classmate Sarah, as there is a long, steep drop just behind them!) We had a lecture about cataclysmic volcanoes here, then we wound our way back down to explore the riverbed.

Blast from the Past: Soloheimajokull

Sorry today's entry is a bit late! The Labor Day festivities here in America kind of put me behind. :)

Sólheimajökull (Soh-loh-HAME-a-JOH-kult) is a glacier that we visited during our trip to Iceland. This glacier is part of the larger Mýrdalsjökull ice cap. I'd always thought that glaciers would end in a mile-high wall of ice, like the one that covered much of the American Midwest at the end of the last Ice Age, but I was mistaken. Sólheimajökull is a retreating outlet glacier, which means that it is melting. As we approached the glacier, we could see the moraines that marked where the glacier had once stood in the past. Another thing we found was quicksand! Luckily, the worst that happened was that Yours Truly got mud in her boots when she fell in, though a few other students found some quicksand as well.

If you want to learn more about glaciers, check out this fun program that allows you to play with different climates to create or melt a glacier!

Buckin' Ohio at Creek Bend Ranch

First post of September! I hope you're enjoying reliving some of my past trips as much as I am. :)

Today we're going to take a break from Iceland and look at something closer to home. Every summer, the good folks at Creek Bend Ranch host Buckin' Ohio. Buckin' Ohio is a rodeo featuring bull riding, ladies barrel racing, and children's Mutton Bustin'. It's a lot of fun and what makes it better is that we get to support a local business at the same time!

In this photo is Stitch, Yours Truly, and rodeo clown Craig Miller, one of the funniest guys East of Missouri! Rodeo clowns don't just entertain the crowd or throw freebies; they have the most dangerous job at any rodeo: keeping the cowboys safe. Luckily, there were only one or two close calls when we went, and everyone went home in one piece. After the rodeo, a local country group serenaded the crowd as we ate ice cream and BBQ, the competitors signed autographs, and the ranch hands bedded the bulls down for the night. It's a nice way to end the summer and pretend that you're a cowboy too, if only for one night!