One of the activity we dreamed about was hiking on a glacier. However, due to a glacier flood that dream almost didn’t come true. However, we took a chance and decided to just drive to Skaftafell national park, and find and alternate route back to Reykjavik later on. This was one instance in which taking a chance was worth it.
Glacier Fast Facts:
1) Svínafellsjökull literally translates to pig mountain glacier.
2) the Glacier is receding faster in the past few years
3) There are several volcanos under the glacier
We booked the Glacier Adventure with Icelandic Mountain Guides, which was based in Reykjavik and Skaftafell National Park. We chose to do the glacier hike from Skaftafell National Park. I highly recommend Icelandic Mountain Guides, when booking your tours in Iceland. From the beginning of my interaction with them, they were nothing but professional. We had to cancel our initial booking because of the glacier flood, and it was done without any problems. They were easy going, polite over the phone, and gave me a full refund right away.
We arrived at Skaftafell National Park at around 9:30pm. The Icelandic Mountain Guide office was right in front of the Skaftafell visitor center. Unfortunately it was already closed when we arrived. Instead, we waited until the next morning to visit the office to arrange our Glacier Adventure activity. We paid about $85 per person for the 1:30pm hike. The tour is about four hours from beginning to end. The hike itself only lasted about 3 1/2 hours, and that was more than enough for my group. In difficulty, it is a moderate level 2. Which means, “Accessible to all those in good health, who are doing some sport regularly, and who are used to all-terrain walks. 4-6 hours walk per day, without much carrying.”
We went to the office 15 minutes before hike, to get our equipments ready. We were given crampons, ice axe, helmet, and harness. To do this activity you must have proper footwear, which means boots with ankle support. Also, don’t forget your gloves. You can rent boots and gloves at the office.
Kenneth wore Hi-Tec Men’s Altitude IV Hiking Boot, and Kate Hi-Tec Women’s Montclair Mid Hiking Boot. I only had hiking sneakers, which I previously wore hiking in Switzerland. Mark had sneakers, and upon my insistence rented boots. Seanne on the other hand, had Timberland boots.
One thing I wished they emphasized on was proper footwear. We were inexperience with glacier hiking, and didn’t know what to expect. We asked one of the guide if she should change her boots, and was told that her timberland boots was fine. I will tell you, DO NOT take a chance. Your footwear goes on top of the crampons. Once you start walking on the glacier, you need to have a snug fit. That way your feet doesn’t move, risking an injury. With the Timberland boots, there was a big space left between the boots, and the crampons. Even I wished I rented their boots instead of wearing my hiking sneakers for better ankle support.
Once we were set with our equipment we piled into the van, for a short drive to the entrance of Svinafellsjokull. We walked up through the gravel path, climbed down the mountain to the entrance of the glacier. Our guide was Margrét , and she was awesome. She was friendly, knowledgeable, energetic, and kind. Mark didn’t have gloves, and luckily she had an extra pair for him to borrow. She was patient and helpful with everyone in the group, and paid close attention to the people that needed help the most. She not only told us facts about the glaciers, but several stories of Iceland’s “hidden people.”
At the entrance of the glacier we learned to stomp our crampons to get a good grip on the ice as we walked up. The hardest part was going down, but the technique was to bend to your knees and sit back. Imagine that you’re sitting on a chair as you stomp down the glacier. You’ll have better balance, and have a secure footing on the glacier.
Once everyone was comfortable walking on their crampons we were ready to hike up the glacier. What an amazing experience as we walked up. Glaciers were normally blue, but due to the recent volcanic eruption of Grímsvötn, the glacier was still covered with ash. It kinda had a rocky road ice cream look to it, with the swirls of white.
Unfortunately near to the end of our hike, Seanne twisted her ankle. We were pretty high up the glacier, which caused some concern. I was amazed with the professional, prompt response of Icelandic Mountain Guides. The guide ahead of us, came back. He gave Seanne some Motrin, and examined her foot. It didn’t appear to be broken. Mark, went down the glacier with Seanne, while we continued on with the rest of the group to finish the hike. The office also sent more guides, which ended up to be a total of 5 men who helped Seanne down the glacier safely.
Here’s here account of what happened: During the glacier hike, I was unfortunate enough to sprain my ankle when I was just a few more feet away from the main view of the tour. I had taken one step, but had tripped and ended up landing on my right ankle. Immediately, the tour guide used her walkie to tell the other guides that I was injured so they could help me down the glacier. A tall male came to my rescue and reassured me that I was going to make it down safe. He gave me some pain killers, bandaged my ankle, and fastened a rope around me to ensure that he’d be able to catch me if I were to fall or slip. He made the travel down the glacier easier by making me lean against him, and supporting my weight with the rope.
We went down the glacier and met up with 2 other male guides. These 2 guys helped made stairs with their ice tools when it came to having to go down a slight hill. I now had 2 guys practically carrying me down a glacier, letting me lean against both of them, while another guy was making a clearer path for me to walk on. It was such a struggle for me to get up the glacier due to my size, yet alone get down the glacier with a sprained ankle, but these guys were able to make life so much easier. The workers were so friendly to me and got me to the bus back in one piece. They were all so genuinely nice and their objective was to accommodate me as much as they possibly could. One of them even suggested that if I didn’t want to walk anymore they could carry me down in a stretcher, or even a helicopter!
Moments like this made me thankful that I purchased a family travel insurance. Luckily, the injury wasn’t extreme that we had to seek medical help. However, the travel insurance gave us peace of mind, that if we really needed medical assistance our expenses would be covered. We were prepared with our own first aid kit, wrapped Seanne’s foot with an ace bandage, ice packs, and elevated her foot for the duration of the trip.
Overall, we enjoyed our glacier hike with Icelandic Mountain Guides. We highly recommend them and would not hesitate to book another tour with them.
