Hiking and icebergs and waterfalls, oh my.

It's such an awesome feeling waking up in the middle of a snowy campground, with no one around but the mountains and glaciers and crows squawking in the trees. And just like that, the first tour bus of the day pulls into the Visitor's Centre - boo. After a nice hearty bowl of oatmeal and coffee(good morning coffee!), we too head out in exploration, to travel the trails to Svartifoss, a beautiful waterfall in a canyon, surrounded by hexagonal basalt columns. Luckily, we leave the sneaker-wearing tour groups in our dust as we descend the trail to the water with the help of our micro-spikes. Word to the wise: if ever travelling in Iceland in the winter, BRING crampons! They are a total life-saver, and make all adventuring much more comfortable.

After our walk to the falls, we begin the drive for the day. The threat of bands of storms coming from the south is looming, and we want to beat them. We head east - away from Rekjavik, though only temporarily - to the iceberg lagoons of Jokulsarlon and Fjallsarlon. With all the chunks of thousand-year-old ice breaking away from the glaciers to begin their journey to the ocean, the lagoons are quite the sight to behold in summer, but they are something else in winter! Less heat means less melting, so there is a sort of traffic jam of bergs in the lagoon. Not pretty, but what draws the eye is the brilliant blue of the ice, so much more bright and technicolour in the colder months. And they are visually ever-changing, so the beauty we saw at Fjallsarlon this summer is dull and brownish, whereas Jokulsarlon shines like a jewel. And neither one can compare to the amazing views at Diamond Beach, where the bergs wash up with the rough waves of high tide, and shine like stars on the pitch black sand. What can I say? Icebergs are cool in all their forms.

Through all of this, we travel on roads that are snowy but cleared, with the sun peaking out every once in awhile, but the weather is good. We discover that a storm hit just past Skaftafell overnight, so we were spared the mess, especially driving back west, slowly making our way back to Reykjavik. Unfortunately, the storms catch up, and we are met head-on with blowing snow somewhere after Vik. We make our way forward, following a convoy of snail-slow cars, inching closer and closer to our final destination for the night. There are some campsites near the Seljalandsfoss waterfall(where you can walk completely behind the falls), and they are supposed to be open for winter. When we finally find the road and the campsite, everything seems to be closed. Uh oh. Back at the falls, a man cleans out the washrooms. I inquire if the 24-hour parking also includes use of the toilets all night, and could we possibly camp out here for the night. He responds no problem!...as long as we pay the 700 krona parking fee. Awesome! I practically run to the pay station with my money, thank you very much. Even better? The washrooms are HEATED! No sooner do we set up for the night and huddle into the campervan to cook dinner, but the snow starts again, mixed with wind and ice pellets, and boy are we ever glad to be stopped for the night. Plus, the view of the waterfall just out the window isn't half bad, either.