Welcome back! In case you didn’t already know, today was my last day in Iceland. For that reason, I kind of went a little crazy with the activities. I was busy up until I left for the airport at 4am! A LOT has happened in the past 24 hours… let’s debrief
Horseback riding
I started off the day by riding an Icelandic horse through lava fields. This was something that I hadn’t originally planned to do in Iceland. Rather, I was going to spend the morning at Sky Lagoon. While that sounded very relaxing, I had already been to Blue Lagoon and Secret Lagoon this week. And the thermal river! Going to Sky Lagoon felt like something I could save for a future trip to Iceland. Luckily, when you book tours through the GetYourGuide app, they let you cancel up to 24 hours in advance. With only 10 minutes to spare, I spontaneously canceled my sky lagoon pass and booked a horseback riding tour instead.
The stables were located just 15 minutes outside of Reykjavik, so I didn’t have to go far for my 9:30 am tour. When I arrived, there were two other people there: a woman named Melanie and her 80-year-old mom. I got talking with Melanie and learned that she’s from Frankfurt, Germany. She has 11 huskies (sled dogs!), and she and her mom had been on a cruise with Reykjavik being the last stop. Apparently, her mom had wanted to go on this trip forever, so for her 80th birthday Melanie took her on the trip.
When the rest of the people in our group arrived, we were all fitted for helmets and
sorted into categories based on experience. I had originally put myself in the “a little bit of experience” group since it’s been sooo long since I’ve ridden a horse! The guide asked me what specifically my experience is, and when I told him, he immediately put me in the “very experienced” group. Because of that, I got to ride Skimmer.
Skimmer must be the last horse in line, otherwise she gets upset. I guess she doesn’t like other horses very much! It was my job to keep her in the back at all times. She definitely required more work than the other horses, but I thought she was really sweet.
We rode for about two hours through dramatic landscapes. We practiced a tölt, which is like a smooth trot. I learned that Icelandic horses are the only horses that can do five different gaits! Other horses can only do three: walk, trot, and gallup.
At the end of the tour, I talked with Melanie some more. She asked me where I’ll travel to next, and then offered to let me stay with her someday when I go to Frankfurt! How sweet is that.
I was drinking my complimentary cup of coffee when I saw Melanie’s mom outside. I asked her what her name was, but I couldn’t not understand anything she was saying (except for “German”). So, I take it she can only speak German 😊 we just smiled at each other, and she said “byeee”.
I am so glad that I went on that tour. It seems like every time I sign up for a tour, I meet someone new. I doubt I would have met anyone at Sky Lagoon! Who knows. All I know is that I had a really great time!
Glymur waterfall
Okay… here’s where my day gets really interesting. After the horseback riding, I drove to Glymur waterfall. I’m gonna let you in on a secret… I purposely left out a conversation I had with Anna (my snorkeling guide) in yesterday’s post.
She had asked me what I was going to do for my last day in Iceland. I told her that I was debating hiking Glymur waterfall because “it’s rated ‘hard’ on AllTrails and I don’t know if I can do it!”
She said, “GIRL you just ran a half marathon AND you’re a solo traveler, I think you can hike a waterfall 🙄😂”. That was all the reassurance I needed. The reason I didn’t mention this yesterday was because I knew that somebody (*cough*, my mom) would look up this hike and be worried about me. Better to just do it and tell stories about it after, right?!
I studied for the Glymur hike like it was a final exam. I practically memorized all the obstacles that I would encounter on the hike up to the waterfall, based off of blogs and guides I found on the internet. I also had the AllTrails app going so that I could use GPS to help me find the path.
The way up the waterfall was slightly unsettling, but mostly manageable. I completed the first river crossing by walking carefully across a log. Then, I went through a cave and began my ascent. The path was very steep, but there was almost always a rope to hold onto while I climbed. This gave me a sense of security as I walked along the edge of an enormous canyon.
Eventually, I made it to a really beautiful viewpoint. I was looking around when a guy named Dylan approached me. He asked if I would like my picture taken, so of course I said yes! I learned that he is from Alaska and is traveling with his friend and his friend’s dad. I did get his phone number —we talked about me maybe meeting up with his group later that day — but unfortunately when I went to text him later in the day, it said he didn’t have WhatsApp. Rip.
Anyway, I asked him if he was going up or down the waterfall. He said they were coming back down, but that they hadn’t been across the river to the other side like I was planning to do. He said, “let me know how the river crossing is!”
I was all hyped up for the rest of the hike. “He’s missing out”, I thought, “I bet this loop is WAY better than an out and back!”
I continued my hike up the waterfall, only getting lost (briefly) a couple of times. Eventually, I reached the river crossing. I was so prepared! I brought my Hoka running shoes to change into so that I didn’t have to finish the hike in wet hiking boots.
I changed into my Hokas and waded through the water, which was about knee-deep.
When I reached the other side, I had trouble finding where the trail started again. I checked AllTrails and eventually figured it out. But before too long, I reached a sign. The sign only included pictograms: the left side having a person climbing stairs in black, and the right having a person with a hiking stick in red. “Surely, the hiking stick means that the path to the right is going to be more difficult”, I thought.
I started going left, but I could not find the trail again. I decided to wait around for a bit and see what others did. Some went left, and others went right. Helpful! After a few minutes passed, I found a family with kids that also looked confused. I used this perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation with them.
“Are you guys also confused on which path to take?!”, I asked. The mom, Caroline, confirmed what I had thought: AllTrails says to take the path to the right, but maybe the path to the left would be better.
I asked them if I could stick with them for the hike down the canyon, and they were happy to let me tag along. Surely, a family with kids would take the safe, cautious route, right?!
WRONG
Did I not learn ANYTHING from reading The Four Agreements?!
***if you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it!
Agreement 3: Don’t make assumptions.
I had assumed a family with 10 and 12 year olds would take an easy, straightforward path down the trail. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
We started climbing down rocks that were very, very close to the edge of the canyon.
“Maybe just this first part is sketchy, and then it will get better!”, I thought optimistically.
Ten minutes later, we were still hiking close to the edge. I turned around to look behind me. There was no way in hell I could climb back up to where I had been, even if I wanted to. In that moment, I wanted to cry and call for a helicopter to come pick me up.
I kept going.
As we were walking, Caroline started telling me about how adventurous and fearless her husband, Mike, is. He flies helicopters —oftentimes in white-out conditions— and puts out wildfires in Canada! He’s not afraid of anything!
Oh, and they “practically hike for a living” and their kids have been on “thousands of hikes”
Ha
Ha
Ha
WHAT did I get myself into?!
Then, Caroline asked me:
“So, how did you get so into hiking?”
That’s when I confessed that I have actually only ever hiked a handful of times… several years ago.
The look on her face was priceless. I think from that point on, she was more worried for me than her own children!
Meanwhile, Mike and their younger son named Logan were starting to get further and further ahead of us. Every few minutes, Caroline would shout, “Miiiiiike??? Is it okay????”
He’d send back a thumbs up.
I was wondering whether Mike ever thought anything was NOT okay?!?!?! I can’t imagine so.
Before too long, our calls got no response. We were left to decide for ourselves if the trail was safe.
I was starting to think that the person-climbing-stairs symbol is meant to be the stairway to heaven or something. Sheesh!
I am not even kidding you when I say that there were several times where we were approaching the trail and it looked like a shear drop off. However, when we got close enough, we could see that there was still a trail there.
In some parts, I had to get my body within inches of the ground and essentially crab walk to the next spot. Oh yeah! And it was raining, so the rocks were slick.
If I slipped, game over. If I tripped, game over. You get the idea.
I kept repeating my motto for the day, “I’m a mountain goat. I love this!” with my eyes glued to the path. The second I looked down into that canyon, I was going to absolutely lose it.
Caroline said that she had read online that the way down is “boring”. Then, she said, “we certainly did not find a boring way down!”
I looked down at the canyon and gulped.
We certainly did not! 🙃
Thankfully, I had Caroline and her older son, Andrew, to distract me. Andrew and I talked about photography/videography of our Iceland trips, and he told me stories from the camps he went to. Caroline and I talked about Canada (they’re from Banff), running, and grad school.
At one point, Andrew said, “mom, these are some nice handholds!” as he grabbed a tree branch. Meanwhile, I can’t get over the fact that I need a damn TREE BRANCH to keep me from falling 1,000+ feet into a gorge!!!!
I’m telling you, this kid had no fear of falling. He would just casually walk along the edge of the canyon, completely unbothered. I was so impressed.
After about an hour of hiking —completely exposed to the gorge the entire time— we made it to a flat path in a field of grass. I wanted to lie down and weep tears of joy for not DYING, but instead I just casually continued on as if that entire experience didn’t just terrify me more than anything in my entire life.
Caroline asked me if I had seen puffins in Iceland. When I told her and Andrew that puffins are actually so small, Andrew was like, “WHAT?! PUFFINS ARE SMALL?!”
It made me laugh to see him so surprised!
At last, we reached the end of the trail.
I was really grateful that Caroline and Andrew had waited for me rather than trying to catch up with the others. I would have NEVER made it down that canyon without them!
We said our goodbyes, and Caroline asked if she could give me a hug. It made me sad to think that I’ll probably never see them again, but at the same time I was in awe of the experience we just shared together. It may have been just another hike for them (although, Caroline said it was one of the best hikes she’s ever been on), but I will truly NEVER forget this day.
I called my mom on the drive back to Reykjavik and told her everything. It was so much fun to laugh and scream about what had just happened! Thankfully, she was laughing too. “I’m only laughing because you’re okay”, she said. Thanks, Mom ❤️
When I got back to Reykjavik, I said a sweet goodbye to Iceland and fell into a deep sleep.
JUST KIDDING!!!!!
A midnight hike
I ate some ramen and then immediately hopped back in my car and drove to Reykjadalur. Thats the thermal river I hiked the other day, remember?!
I was in desperate need of a geothermal soak after my *adventurous* afternoon. What better place to go than the thermal river?! Conveniently, it’s accessible 24/7 unlike the spas. The catch, of course, is that you have to hike 5 miles round trip.
It was my last night, so why not?!
I started my (very safe, very comfortable) hike at 10:30 pm. Even though the sun technically sets after midnight and rises after two, it’s still light enough out to see well. This is called the celestial twilight. I know this because I looked it up before I went out. The LAST thing I wanted to do was get stranded out there in the dark 😂
I found my own perfect spot in the river and sat there, staring blankly at the water for 1.5 hours. I replayed every moment of the day and thought about how grateful I am. It was wonderful. Surprisingly, there were a bunch of other people there too!
I was about to leave when a herd of sheep started running down to the river. I guess they wanted to join! My animal encounters did not stop there. I also saw a pair of lambs that kept bleating at me. It almost sounded as if they were saying, “Clara! Don’t leave Iceland! Stayyyyyy” 😂
I also saw two ducks taking a bath in the steaming hot water. Apparently, ducks like to have spa days too!
Thank you SO MUCH for following along on this incredible adventure of mine. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my experiences with you all.
Until next time, whenever that may be.
Clara