Posted by at 11:20 AM, July 3, 2004

Jorge woke us up at 6:15, and Helena and I scrambled to get ready for our day trip to the glacier. We packed plenty of cold weather gear and some food and water for our little group that included Irene and Tomakint. Martin Norman arrived at 7:00 sharp and we actually left at 7:15. Remarkable considering the average bedraggled condition of the female group members.

We drove the van about an hour and a half through beautiful southern Iceland and met up with our guide Gudmundur who drove us up a VERY rocky road for the next 25 minutes in a BIG 4-wheel drive vehicle. Our destination was a pink cabin built by the Icelandic Glaciological Society in the 1960s. This would be our departure point for the hike up the Tindfjöll volcano to the glacier. Hey! There’s Erika and Jari and Christian! Hooray! We all went into the cozy cabin for coffee and introductions, including a visit with Sigurjón, who has been measuring this glacier for 40 years. He is the person Erika is here to interview, and he will take us up the glacier.

Our first stop was a large ice cave that has developed over the past few years and shows clearly the nature of the glacier we are surveying. It was beautiful in there. The texture of the stretched-out dome interior is like a golf ball, only the diameter of the cups is about a meter. The opening is about five meters high and it looked like the cave continued on for at least 50 meters- I walked down as far as I could without my headlamp (it’s safe and sound back on the ship, thank you very much). The ice cave has formed as a result of warmer temperatures- melting snow has produced a little stream that flows along the cave bottom. Sigurjón told us that he has seen significant changes to the glaciers in Iceland since he has been monitoring them these past 40 years. They are shrinking.

The group then scrambled up the rocky slopes of the volcano for about an hour, but the weather had turned misty and foggy. Visibility was poor. I didn’t really notice to be honest. I loved being up there, hiking in Iceland, breathing cold, fresh air. I was with friends and I was comfortable in my excellent Patagonia gear. I could have stayed up there all day, but it was not to be, because now it was actually raining lightly and we were soaked. We did a quick interview on camera (Tomakint did a really good job!) and then headed back. No summit for us today. In fact, we barely saw the glacier. We mostly hiked around on the volcano and walked over a few long patches of snow.

Back at the cabin, we said our good-byes and loaded up the 4-wheel drive. Erika, Jari and Christian stayed behind to try again for an interview with Sigurjón under clear skies on the glacier. On the bumpy ride back down the jeep trail, I thought about the fact that this was Tomakint’s first time on snow. Experience of a lifetime I imagine. Thank you Greenpeace.

Martin promised us more adventure, and we began with a stop at a beautiful waterfall. It was LOUD with a big pool that reminded me of Calf Creek Falls in Escalante National Park in southern Utah. Next we went to the most beautiful waterfall in all of Iceland according to Martin, and he should know. It’s called Seljalandsfoss, and you can walk on a path behind it. After this fun pit stop, we drove back to Reykjavik via the scenic route, which took us past a gorgeous lake with 30 meters visibility, the largest geo-thermal power and water plant in Iceland, myriad hiking trails, the continental divide where the European tectonic plate meets the American tectonic plate, and the hydrogen fueling station in Reykjavik. It was an interesting tour full of highlights, but I would have liked to spend a lot less time in the car and a lot more time on my feet.

We arrived back at the ship just in time to join the end-of-campaign barbeque on the heli deck. The weather was pretty poor, but no one seemed to care. There were a lot of new faces on board for this extravaganza, and everyone was in a festive mood. Souvenir t-shirts were given out to the crew, but unfortunately there were too few to spare one each for the visiting cyberactivists. (I’m saying this purely for Tomakint’s benefit. However, I wear a size small if there are any extra.)

After an ample amount of carousing, a big group of us went to Circus to continue the celebration. There were a lot of Greeenpeacers in attendance and it was such fun. I was so happy! Hey, there’s Irene and Helena and Christian and Jari! We were all glad that the Swedish contingent could make it back to town for the last night’s festivities. What a blast! Oden and I eventually made the mistake of going outside for a breath of fresh air- we got locked out because the place was too crowded and 20 other people were waiting to get in. Fortunately, we were not the only ones, and a few of us left for a really fun bar across the street where we stayed until about 5:30 am listening to a hip DJ spin tunes by the Violent Femmes and Depeche Mode.

We walked back to the ship for my last night (morning now I suppose) on board. It was daylight of course, as it had been since our arrival in this alluring land. I climbed, for the last time, past the sign on the super-steep gangplank that read "No entry" and walked through the bridge, down three flights of stairs to my cabin across from the mess. I got into my comfortable little bunk and closed my eyes. I must have slept with a smile on my face that reflected my new love. Iceland is a wonderful place.

-Marnee