Jonny Fay
Ice Cave in Vatnajökull Glacier
This was without a doubt the best day of our trip. We went out with Einar and his son from Öræfaferðir / Local Guide Travel Service. They were both amazing, and we would highly recommend their services! Please feel free to check out the link below for more information.
For our third stop, we joined up with Einar's son and another group to head into another ice cave on Vatnajökull Glacier, about 15 minutes away from the first one. This cave had two floors! We had to do a small rappel about 8 feet down to get to the bottom floor.
This shot was from the bottom floor. This particular section was not tall enough to stand in, so it required kneeling and crawling. I liked how the sunlight could be seen peaking through and lighting the rocks and icicles here.
Being in these caves was unlike anything we've ever experienced. They were well insulated so it wasn't extremely cold, but the textures and formations were completely otherworldly. The ice will often take on a rich, deep blue color in these caves. However, we were told that because it was a bright and sunny day, that blue became more of the aqua/teal type color you see here.
Interestingly, due to the constant changing of the glaciers and temperature changes, these ice caves are rarely ever around for more than a couple of weeks at a time. You can go back every year and have a completely different experience every time. We were told that the ice caves we enjoyed, for example, were gone within a week of our visit. This cave in particular, had partially collapsed the day before we entered it, so we only got to see about 2/3 of the cave they had intended on showing us.
Nikon D800
14-24mm f/2.8 Lens
Ice Cave in Vatnajökull Glacier
This was without a doubt the best day of our trip. We went out with Einar and his son from Öræfaferðir / Local Guide Travel Service. They were both amazing, and we would highly recommend their services! Please feel free to check out the link below for more information.
For our third stop, we joined up with Einar's son and another group to head into another ice cave on Vatnajökull Glacier, about 15 minutes away from the first one. This cave had two floors! We had to do a small rappel about 8 feet down to get to the bottom floor.
This shot was from the bottom floor. This particular section was not tall enough to stand in, so it required kneeling and crawling. I liked how the sunlight could be seen peaking through and lighting the rocks and icicles here.
Being in these caves was unlike anything we've ever experienced. They were well insulated so it wasn't extremely cold, but the textures and formations were completely otherworldly. The ice will often take on a rich, deep blue color in these caves. However, we were told that because it was a bright and sunny day, that blue became more of the aqua/teal type color you see here.
Interestingly, due to the constant changing of the glaciers and temperature changes, these ice caves are rarely ever around for more than a couple of weeks at a time. You can go back every year and have a completely different experience every time. We were told that the ice caves we enjoyed, for example, were gone within a week of our visit. This cave in particular, had partially collapsed the day before we entered it, so we only got to see about 2/3 of the cave they had intended on showing us.
Nikon D800
14-24mm f/2.8 Lens