Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2019, Blaðsíða 46

For those looking to enjoy the stun-
ning Icelandic wilderness without the
sweat of hikes or climbs, there’s no
better choice than floating around
a glacial lake in a kayak. Add to that
some towering, sparkling icebergs,
and you’ve got yourself an unforget-
table day. At least, that’s what I found
on my recent southern excursion to
Sólheimajökull’s glacier lagoon.
Effervescent pearls
On one of those rare toasty Icelan-
dic summer days—hey, we don’t get
many of them—I headed east with one
mission: to kayak around the Sóhei-
majökull glacier lake. There’s wasn’t
a cloud to be seen in the sky, and the
usual chilly breeze was notably absent.
Our guide, Elsa, assured the group
that we were truly lucky as we pulled
on our wetsuits and other waterproof
apparel.
After a short jaunt over to the la-
goon and a paddling demonstration,
we tottered onto our kayaks and slid
out into the icy water. Immediately, I
was stunned by a smattering of shin-
ing clumps of glacial ice. These were
but tiny bits of the glacier, but the ef-
fervescent pearls wowed us, and we
crowded around them with our hands
outstretched—desperate to prod the
ice without tumbling out of our boats.
Smatterings of sand
At this point, we gathered in a circle
around Elsa for a primer on the la-
goon. She explained how the lake
didn’t even exist a few years ago. But,
as the Sólheimajökull glacier has melt-
ed—which it is doing at an alarming
rate—the meltwater lagoon was born
and continues to grow each year.
Elsa also explained what we were-
floating above. The lagoon is more
than 60 metres deep, she said—mean-
ing that if the landmark Hallgrím-
skirkja church was built on the bot-
tom, we’d only see the very top of the
steeple above the surface of the water.
This fact made the glacial vista
around us even more impressive. With
icebergs emerging out of the water up
to ten metres high next to our kay-
aks, it was spooky to imagine just how
deep under the surface they extended.
Knowledge about the lagoon’s expanse
also made us keep our cameras extra
close, and not just for the photo ops—
were we to drop them, they’d be gone
into the icy water forever.
As we continued paddling around
the lagoon, the icebergs got bigger
and bigger. While many were starkly
white, most were covered with layers
of black sand. This, we learned, was
tephra from the Katla volcanic erup-
tion in 1918. The volcano is one of the
most active in Iceland, usually erupt-
ing every 100 years or so. It’s on track
to do so soon—any moment, actual-
ly—a fact that Elsa joked about, tell-
ing us that she might get a radio call
telling us to kayak very quickly back to
shore.
A relaxing enterprise
Kayaking, I found, requires the perfect
amount of athletic exertion. The arm
movements keep your blood flowing,
but it’s chill enough that you can spend
your energy taking in the gorgeous
scenery, rather than fretting about
whether you’ll be able to paddle back.
Elsa did, however, keep us on our
toes—at one point, she stopped in
front of an enormous iceberg to teach
us some tricks. First, we practised
standing up on our kayaks. She as-
sured us they were sturdy, but it was
still an adrenaline rush to balance on
an unstable piece of plastic over 60
metres of ice cold water. While some
opted out, two of us took on the chal-
lenge and held our paddles over our
heads like Olympic trophies as we
stood up and found our balance. She
was right, though—kayaks are cer-
tainly more sturdy than they look.
Elsa then jumped down and sat on
the nose of the boat, so close to the
edge that the other side of the kayak
began to raise. We tried this out as
well, and though I found the prospect
of face planting into the glacier la-
goon terrifying, I dangled my legs off
the bow and into the water just like
she did. And as chunks of glacial ice
floated around my feet, the magic of
Sólheimajökull hit me in full force.
Distance from
Reykjavík:
165 km

How to get there:
Take Route One
South and turn
left into the
Sólheimajökull
Glacier Parking Lot
Tour provided by:
mountainguides.is
46The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 09— 2019
Floating
Among
The Jewels
Kayaking the sparkling waters of Sólheimajökull
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photos: Art Bicnick
Travel
The fated kayaks Paddles: Not a weaponElsa, our travel guide
“As chunks
of glacial
ice floated
around my
feet, the
magic of
Sólheima-
jökull hit
me in full
force.”Use this QR
code to visit Go
Travel, our site
for booking our
recommended
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