You cannot even see the vast expanse of ice and snow of the Vatnajökull icecap whilst driving around Iceland's ring road.
Only the fingers of glacial ice, oozing slowly through gaps in the encircling mountains reveal the existence of this secret fastness. It is a vast, icy white expanse, often socked in by clouds, depositing the snow, that compacts to ice and fuels and builds the ice cap.
There is no better way to explore this icy world that to tour it by snowmobile. We chose Glacier Journey, based at Flatey á Mýrum (during the summer) for our adventure. A super jeep, with enormous bubble tyres was our chariot, taking us up to the plateau on the windy and precipitous F985 road, with vertiginous drops to the coastal plains and the icy crevasses of Skálafellsjökull. Once we were high enough for the glacial ice to have a sufficient snow cover (1000m) it was snowmobile time.
Five minutes sufficed for driving instruction, then throttles were twisted and our party of doughty explorers zoomed across the ice at speeds of up to 50 kmh, in very impressive style. The snowmobiles are quite easy to ride, and we did so for a pleasing hour before it was time to wind our way back down to the coastal plain. An expensive treat, but well worth while. And with a blue sky bluebird day, most impressive.
Only the fingers of glacial ice, oozing slowly through gaps in the encircling mountains reveal the existence of this secret fastness. It is a vast, icy white expanse, often socked in by clouds, depositing the snow, that compacts to ice and fuels and builds the ice cap.
There is no better way to explore this icy world that to tour it by snowmobile. We chose Glacier Journey, based at Flatey á Mýrum (during the summer) for our adventure. A super jeep, with enormous bubble tyres was our chariot, taking us up to the plateau on the windy and precipitous F985 road, with vertiginous drops to the coastal plains and the icy crevasses of Skálafellsjökull. Once we were high enough for the glacial ice to have a sufficient snow cover (1000m) it was snowmobile time.
Five minutes sufficed for driving instruction, then throttles were twisted and our party of doughty explorers zoomed across the ice at speeds of up to 50 kmh, in very impressive style. The snowmobiles are quite easy to ride, and we did so for a pleasing hour before it was time to wind our way back down to the coastal plain. An expensive treat, but well worth while. And with a blue sky bluebird day, most impressive.