73 DAYS AND COUNTING
i find myself getting excited for this trip every couple weeks (or when i purchase something for it) and it begins my researching all over again. this time around my mom started posting pictures from a website about iceland. in one of them was this amazing picture of an ice cave. i thought, DAMN! i gotta see that for myself. the internet wasn’t exactly helpful, there’s not a lot of info and the bits that are out there say that it’s too dangerous and not available for winter travelers. then i got an email from someone on flickr saying that there is someone who ONLY goes during the winter. i sent him a message requesting a reservation, ill be sure to let you know what happens with that.
i got back onto couchsurfing today. talk about a warm response! people amaze me sometimes, im really excited to hang out with some locals when we get there. my mom is in recovery so im sure she’ll be meeting some awesome people when she goes to meetings… getting the low down on what we should and shouldn’t do. heck, i might even crash her meeting just so i can talk to people with her afterwards. or i’ll just patiently lounge in one of the many pools in reykjavik and play with my underwater camera. the possibilities are endless. man, i am so excited for this trip. planning it makes me want to go back again in the summer though. not this year or next year but for sure in 2014. i have this 2 month trip planned and i’d really like to make it happen. we will see. life is what happens when you’re making plans :)
Five Of The World's Most Intricate Ice Caves
Eisriesenwelt, Austria
Located forty kilometers south of Salzburg, Austria on Mount Hochkogel, the Eisriesenwelt cave is the largest ice cave in the world. Discovered in 1879 by natural scientist Anton Posselt, the name translates to the “World of Ice Giants,” which is a rather apt one given that the ice and limestone covered wonder stretches for 38 kilometers. While the Salzach River erosion process formed passageways in the mountain to create Eisriesenwelt, other ice caves in the region were formed by snow thawing, seeping into the slots and eventually freezing there during the winter.
Patagonia Glacier National Park, Argentina
The Glacier National Park in Patagonia, Argentina is home to some of the most amazing glaciers in the world. Embedded within these glaciers are various ice caves to explore, all of which have been formed by water running through or under the glacier.
Big Four Ice Caves
Located in the Cascade Range of Washington State, the Big Four Mountain trail’s illustrious caves make it one of the most popular hiking destinations in the state. The mountain itself is over 6,000 feet tall and its staggering ice caves are created during the summer when snow melts and causes ice debris to pile up.
Vatnajökull, Iceland
With pristine blue ice caves located inside of it, Vatnajökull is the largest glacier in Iceland. The glacier and the caves maintain centuries old ice and are able to be enjoyed thanks to the ice that flows from the region’s tallest active volcano.
Mount Erebus Ice Caves, Antarctica
Mount Erebus houses numerous ice caves that are the mystifying results of the Erebus volcano’s hot gases. The volcanic gases travel up through the cracks in the rock and seep into the summit of the mountain, where they eventually form an intricate system of ice caves. Rather rococo, each ice cave room is covered in hexagonal ice crystals and ice particles that hang from the ceiling.
