Day One - Getting to know our surroundings

Breakfast served at 08.30, a combination of burnt porridge and tea, appetising to the last! Having ‘faired le menage’ troops were assembled in preparation for the day’s hike, armed with, wait for it, Healthy Life biscuits, tuna chunks and a Mars bar, we set down to the arduous task of crossing the river, a roaring torrent of freezing water – in boots without socks, bare feet, a recommended method for fast freezing. However the weather was nonetheless very beautiful.

Then we began the ascent up scree slopes and rock gulleys, pausing to admire the striations.



..glacial terraces..



......the delta

(Below) glacial snout

As well as the occasional 'short break' (with a little nap to settle our lunch)

We walked..... and we walked..... and we navigated ridges .... and fell down.... screes

And about 5 hours later..... our first real view of the ice cap

The snow cap, ice fall, medial moraines and Snofjell the nunatak where met and glaciology were camped under...

... and all around the cloud was coming down (up through the valley)

And soon we were closed in...

Finally we reached our destination, the Glacier Dammed lake

- which was supposed to be near full, at which stage it would force the glacier up and flow down under it to flood our own pro-glacial lake in what is known as a Jokullalp. See diagram below.

Gedit?

Anyway, it wasn’t full and just about to overflow to the disappointment of most people.

The two most hearty souls strode ahead (whilst having lost the rest whilst they were on a short one hour break!) reindeer spotting and in a hurry to reach the facilities offered in camp, even to the extent of refusing a warm cuppa from the Life Scientists further down the valley.

Having missed the ‘dry’ river crossing due to navigational error, we un-socked and waded across the now even colder, more torrential river and staggered back to camp.
The sun now being far over the yard-arm, the metre arm and the horizon, dinner was collected and water boiled for a brew to welcome the others.

Curry, rice and beans filled the ever increasing intestinal gap to a fairly satisfactory degree helped by Cuppa Soup and instant hot chocolate before we dragged our weary bodies onto the welcoming sleeping bags.