Day 16 Friday May 27th

Right now I am reading an Icelandic magazine. There's the photograph of the year showing a pregnant woman posing motionless in the ocean. The caption says she is 35 weeks pregnant and that "The selection committee for the impression that the woman was like Mother Earth, who was either sinking or rising. The Image makes us aware of how we treat nature-an appropriate and current message." I love that. The photograph immediately caught my eye but the caption really made me think. The way we treat nature isn't consistent. We value some landscapes more than others and devalue the ones we think don't fit us. Humans try so hard to make nature fit to their needs and wants that we are destroyed ourselves too. The food industry is a prime example. The photograph also makes me think of what life will be like for future generations, like her baby. It's easy to think negatively about our current environmental and sustainable problems. I try to keep a positive attitude because I think that's the hardest thing to do. It's easy to get caught up in all the doom and gloom.

Iceland is lucky to have the natural resources it does. All the geothermal energy and the wind power and the local food production is what all countries should strive for. Sadly, it's harder for the U.S. because we have a much larger population and we still rely heavily on the coal and oil industries. But we are slowly moving towards a more sustainable way of life. It's going to take a while though...

Anyways, today was another long and fun day filled with adventure. We left the hostel around 10 and drove 20 minutes and stopped quickly at a glacier (sounds causal right?). We then drove another 20 minutes or so to hike to a glacier. We were supposed to go on the long hike but sadly It was closed off. But we did get to hike to a waterfall. The columnar basalts around the waterfall were the coolest I have seen yet. It was very unique. The hike was beautiful. I really liked the trail. It started to rain hard but slowed down and then completely stopped towards the end of the hike. The landscape was so green! I heard birds chirping and one bird sounded like a frog. The sounds of the streams and the humidity in the air reminded me of the Appalachian Trail. It made me feel home.
Seeing the glacier up close was the coolest thing. It was foggy at first so most of it was covered up but it slowly cleared up. We saw a lot of the glacier and the land below. It was cold and windy but I could have stayed at that ledge all day.

These are pics from our hike. The glacier was so close to us. You can see the fog clearing up.