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Ţorsmörk, a gorgeous area that I visited briefly and did (surprise!)
some more trail work with the Trail Team. The weather wasn't terrific
while we were there, and I wasn't feeling 100%, so I didn't take many
pictures. The mountainside where we worked was covered in wild blueberries,
though, which were delicious and a great morale booster when the sideways
rain started to get annoying. |
August 16, 2005
Watched some American TV last night. It was bizarre. It's worth noting
that I haven't really had or watched much TV since college, so I'm out
of the loop a bit. But sitting there watching David Letterman with one
of my British comrades, I felt like I should be able to explain why it
was so popular in the States, or at least explain why it's funny, but
I was baffled. It was painfully UNfunny. Maybe Letterman was having an
off night, I don't know. Really, how entertaining is the pseudo game show
segment "Guess What Melted"? There was also a bit where one of the crew
members shoved a man in a bear suit into a closet. I don't really have
any idea what that was about. The studio audience was pretty amused, but
I was just confused...
Then again, I take photos of interesting mold that
I find in my fridge, so it could be argued that I'm not the best judge
of pop culture.
| The Dettifoss canyon |
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And Dettifoss itself |
| The final place I called home... in the shadow of the great Herđubreiđ. |
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The rangers invited us to hike to the top with them, but none of
us felt quite up to it. And when we came back later in the day to
see that the summit had gotten a snow storm, I wasn't too disappointed
by our decision. |
| We spent time in Askja raking the tracks of people who feel the
rules do not apply to them. The roads through the highlands are clearly
marked, and in fact you have to drive over a little brim to get offroad,
but people do it anyway. The ecosystem is much more delicate than
it looks, and tire tracks like these do not go away on their own...
they encourage other drivers to break the law, they change the natural
drainage of the soil, and when water collects in the tracks, vegetation
starts to grow there. Tire tracks filled with plants are like human
pockmarks on this beautiful area. DON'T DRIVE OFF ROAD!!! If you do,
you risk being chased by crazy people wielding rakes. And I can assure
you, they will show no mercy. |
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Lava and natural pumice- the greyish rocks were so lightweight that
they felt like fake rocks from a movie set. |
| Askja; The beautiful lake in the rear is deepest natural lake in
Iceland at 200 m, and in the foreground is a natural hot spring called
Vítí, which I think means Hell. |
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Steph takes a moment to soak in the view. |
| Driving through the East Fjords, we went through some beautiful
scenes like this. We also battled through some serious winds that
had ducks and geese hunkering down in the grass. One mountain pass
was littered with fist-sized rocks that had blown down off the rock
faces, and we drove through what amounted to a gravel storm, the car
getting pelted as we drove along the shore. We also saw waterfalls
that were more like waterflies, because the wind grabbed the water
as soon as it tipped over the edge and just flung it up and away. |
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What are Larry and Steph doing?? I'm not sure, but they're definitely
NOT redesigning, via saw and drill, a kitchen counter at 11:00 at
night.
Definitely not.
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He is truly wise
who's traveled far
and knows the ways of the world.
He who has traveled
can tell what spirit
governs the men he meets.
- from Hávamál Eddaic poems,
A.D. 700-900
(Hávamál is kind of like the Viking version of the Tao
- words of wisdom and guidance on how to live well.)
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Skál, og takk fyrir Ísland |
Go back
(I'd love to)
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