Day 66. 3rd September. Jökulsárlón, South Iceland.
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I found the ice on the black sand beach near Jökulsárlón so enticing that I decided to come back for some more images before I left….
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Tag Archives: Jökulsárlón
Fjallsárlón
Day 65 to 66. 2nd to 3rd September. Fjallsárlón, South Iceland.
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I had decided to be at Fjallsárlón (glacial lake) for sunrise the next day. So I decided to go there in the afternoon to ensure there was an overnight place for the campervan and no problems getting in and out. This is the view across Fjallsárlón to Fjallsjökull glacier. (For location, see the map in the Hofn to Jökulsárlón post).
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We saw a wide angle view of Fjallsjökull (glacier) in the previous image and this is clearly not that, so we must be looking across nearby Breiðsárlón (glacial lake) to Breiðamerkurjökull (glacier) (which empties into the Jökulsárlón lagoon).
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A distant view of a part of Fjallsjökull (glacier).
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This image and following: various views of Fjallsárlón (glacial lake) and Fjallsjökull (glacier).
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It’s raining now. There are a few traces of raindrops on the lens at the bottom of the image.
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And now it’s clear again. A sudden five-minute weather change? Well no, actually it is now nearly sixteen hours later, at the next morning and before the dawn. Not much in the way of further comment required for following images, I think.
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Finally, a view from further out upon leaving. I think I am halfway back to the main road.
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Jökulsárlón
Day 65. 2nd September. Jökulsárlón, South Iceland.
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These are images from a whole day at Jökulsárlón, where icebergs drift from a glacier through a lagoon to the nearby sea. The first seven are at the lagoon.
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The glacier Breiδamerkurjökull looms above the lagoon.
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Now I have moved to the coast at the black sand beach near where the lagoon empties to the sea.
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For these last ones I am back again at the lagoon.
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These boats contain Martin Bailey’s group heading out to the edge of the glacier to find images.
I enquired at the booking office whether I could have a boat ride as well but I needed to have booked in advance..
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Hofn to Jökulsárlón
Day 64. 1st Septemberr. Hofn to Jökulsárlón, South Iceland.
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Close to the south west coast of Iceland is Vatnajökull, the largest ice cap in Iceland. there are several volcanoes underneath it and more than twenty outlet glaciers. In some places these are quite close to the coast. This is Hoffellsjökull Glacier. The two mountains in the foreground are Svínafell to the left and Geitafell to the right.
On this day I travelled from Hofn to Jökulsárlón. For dawn on the day after the next I went to Fjallsárlón which I also show on the map here.
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Hoffellsjökull Glacier.
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Hoffellsjökull Glacier.
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This image and the four following are somewhere on the road from Hofn to Jökulsárlón but I can’t be sure exactly where.
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(You can always click for a larger view).
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Jökulsárlón is a very special place and one of Iceland’s main tourist foci. Literally it means “ice river lagoon”. At one stage the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier reached almost or entirely to the sea here. It has been retreating and in its retreat has formed the lagoon, in conjunction with the Jðkulsa river, which flows from under the glacier to the sea.
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Consequently, Jökulsárlón (lagoon) fills with icebergs which slowly drift out to sea and fragments of them are deposited on the black sand beaches of the coastline.
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All images in this part of the post are taken at the lagoon.
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In 2010, Martin Bailey was one of the lead photographers in my trip to Antarctica. I joined up with him again in 2012 in his winter wildlife tour to Hokkaido. At one stage he was considering joining me as a scouting exercise for Iceland but instead he teamed up with Iceland photographer Tim Vollmer to offer his own Iceland tour. I was hoping to meet up with him at Jökulsárlón but had not had contact with him for days or weeks so it wasn’t certain that we would meet up. When I pulled into the parking area, I looked across at the bus beside me and there he was, having also just arrived. We saw quite a lot of each other in the next couple of days and I visited him and his party at their lodge in the next couple of nights.
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Icebergs and Breiðamerkurjökull glacier in the distance.
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A group of people in an amphibian off for a lagoon cruise.
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Murray Foote 