Fire and Ice

Most everyone knows by now that Jen messed up her ankle quite seriously 2 weeks before the wedding, which changed our hiking honeymoon in Iceland a bit.

We still went and had an incredible time in a country of contrasts. The definite highlight were gigantic glaciers coming down to the road, 24 hours of sunlight and hot springs. Oh, the hot springs! Physiotherapy for the ankle.

My recommendation is that everyone take a honeymoon, married or not. It rocks.

Natural hot springs everywhere, rivalling the best we've seen worldwide.
Feeling small in a world of ice.
More hot springs. This one was actually a little uncomfortable because the creek in the background supplied near-boiling water into the cooler pool. You had to find the perfect spot where the two mixed to a tolerable temperature. This was tempered by the occasional current of scalding water surging through to scorch your back while your legs were chilled in front. Aric loved it.

Burned!
A midnight landscape. Not a tree to be found. Happy hiking though.

The traditional Icelandic farming house with a sodroof and only one tiny window out the front. Good thing it faces the alluvial fan spreading from Vatnajokull. Nice view.

My gorgeous husband. On a late night (10pm) hike in the middle of nowhere.

The Vatnajokull ice cap is breathtaking. This huge dome of snow and ice descends from the clouds to smother jagged 3,000-foot-tall mountains. Then it spills out from the peaks in a steep outlet glacier 9.3 miles wide and 12.4 miles long -- an insignificant appendage of Europe's largest ice cap despite its impressive size. It ends abruptly in an iceberg filled lagoon (Jokulsarlon) that spills into the ocean. Possibly one of the most impressive landscapes we've ever seen.

Everything is very raw and new; it's as if these waterfalls just appeared yesterday. The rocks are carved, not worn, and the thousands of rivers running from the ice cut very jagged pathways through the tundra producing massive waterfalls everywhere.

A good photo of what a typical dinner on our honeymoon looked like. No fancy restaurants (couldn't afford them!). We brought a ton of hiking food with us and a Pocket Rocket, and dined on the rocks in the cold enjoying the view.

Ocean meets mountain. Interesting, this photo is taken from the road. One helluva drop off and no guard rail.

The launch of Jenaric

Everyone else seems to have one, so why not us? We've decided this is probably a good way to keep everyone up-to-date with what is going on in our lives and in our travels. So, check as often as you want, or not at all.

To start, some photos from our wedding on June 17, 2006 in Golden, BC. These are courtesy of Al Maudie, our friend and amazing photographer.

The groom cleaning the puppy after a romp in the mud.

Our favorite shot.

Hiking boots and mud.