This journey was going to be the biggest, or furthest from Reykjavik during our entire trip. Let me remind you, this was our first chance to travel to Iceland but it was a bucket list trip for me and we figured turning 40 was the perfect excuse to leave our kiddos behind and journey to the land of fire and ice! Side note, we’re already planning another trip back and want to take our 3 kiddos along for the adventure! I’m going to do a little journal entry on taking kids along for the adventure in the future but let’s get back to Glacier Lagoon.
So, if you don’t know, we went in mid November and during this time of year in Iceland they have about 5 or 6 hours of daylight everyday. We really tried to factor that in and be realistic with what we just absolutely wanted to see and knew we’d just have to come back to continue exploring the rest of the country and what we missed. I also knew I wanted to hit Glacier Lagoon first for sunrise if possible so we’d have to wake up about 5am and head out shortly after. We didn’t hit the road quite as early as we needed but hey, it’s a vacation and you just have to go with it sometimes.
With all of our winter gear on which include the best Columbia cold weather water proof boots (late this day I ended up submerging them in the arctic ocean to get a shot and didn’t feel a thing. Completely dry! Anyway, We headed out and right as we were making our way our of reykjavik the snow started in and just are heavier the further we drove. Did not expect that since the previous day was full of partial snow on the ground depending on how high we traveled up the mountains and mostly sleet. My smart self thought it definitely wouldn’t be worse in the southern portion of the country. well it was! And let me be clear I love this kind of weather, especially for photography! Driving on the other hand? Well, it makes things interesting.
40 mile an hour wind blew in across the roads along with what I’d call a blizzard. Maybe that’s a bit dramatic but for a guy from Texas it was a blizzard! Lanes, what lanes. My thought was to utilize the entire road and not hit anyway. And, by all means do get pulled off the road by the growing snow drift that was filling the right side of the road.
All in all we went up and over a few large mountain passes and zoomed along in the dark until the sun started peaking out. This was alway cool. The sunrise is at about 9:45 every day in November so I really didn’t know what type of scenery we were driving through until the first light started breaking. Every time I was blown away with what was surrounding us! At one point we were cursing at a pretty good speed in a very flat and straight stretch of the ring road. When the sun broke it hit the mountains creating a beautiful pastel look. I had to pull over for an image and when I stepped out of the car I realized just how much ice was on the roads! I guess the tire spikes were doing their job! Anyway the view was stunning. Not an “official attraction” but breathtaking!
Well, we made it to Glacier Lagoon after 5:30 hours in the car!
When we arrived at the car park there was already a couple rows of cars parked but it really wasn’t overly crowded at all. It was getting there when we left but not while we were there. The first glimpse of the lagoon took about a 15 second walk from “Dusty the Duster”. Jaw. Fell. To. The. Ground. Yup, I was shocked with the beauty of the Icelandic landscape that set before my eyes.
INSTANTLY, I went into Mr. “Photographer” mode. I saw compositions everywhere. Started thinking about shutter speeds, and the such. Deciding the feel I was going for. All that landscape photographer stuff. It was amazing but do you want to know the most amazing part of it? My wife walked up and I pulled myself away from the camera and just opened my eyes. What I mean is I really just put photography aside and experienced the scene around me. It was in that moment I started crying. I mean really crying and I super glad nobody was around! I felt connected to the nature and creation around me and felt right with the world. All the mental garbage was erased in that moment. It was such a spiritual moment between me and my creator.
I LOVE taking fine art landscapes and other fine art photography. I mean I can’t hardly stop thinking about different ideas. And, I enjoy it all. The gear. The exploration, and the final printing of an image. But that moment I had at Glacier Lagoon in Iceland are those special moments I treasure. That was my unexpected experience to Glacier Lagoon