During breakfast, we swapped stories with a Vulcanologist leading a college trip from North Carolina. In addition to some geology, he told us about a scare they had yesterday when the other driver in the group fell asleep at the wheel and drove off the road - luckily into a swamp. Falling asleep at the wheel in Iceland...are you out of your Vulcan mind??? Yesterday, at the bird cliffs, we ran into a group trying to figure out the birds' migration patterns. They tagged 20 birds last year and have been back since June looking for their tags. They actually found their 14th while we were there chatting them up. Part of the tag is light sensitive so they can deduce where the birds "winter" from how far the chemical reaction has progressed. Iceland is clearly a great place for scientists to come explore - whether your interest lies (lay?) in geology, ornithology, or just good old fashioned elementary science.
We hit our first real stretch of "unsealed" roads today - the mountain bikes finally worked to our advantage! Stretches of uphill, gravel, and head winds made for our most difficult conditions yet. The climbs were harder, but the views from the top more spectacular. We were above the snow (glacier?) line at points, weaving in, out, left, right, up, and down through the countless fjords. A natural hot spring (our first in a completely natural setting) and an incredible waterfall made for idyllic lunch and camp stops.
Throughout the whole day, we leap-frogged with two nice German ladies. We helped them navigate the hottest parts of the natural hot spring when we first met; they passed us during a big climb after lunch (and asked if we needed help - clearly we looked strong going up the hill); we then caught up to them as they were finishing a picnic; they quickly passed us again (still in the same climb!!), and we finally saw them walking down from the main chute of the spectacular Dynjandi waterfall as we were eating dinner at camp. It was a great feeling to think we accomplished exactly what they did today.
Okay Austin - I'm going to have to insist that you not take Stef away for so long next summer. Don't you know I am completely unmotivated to workout with out her here using her special Jedi mind tricks? 2nd week of Crossfit starts Monday. You guys should totally do it when you get back. It's insane. Miss you much!
ReplyDelete