For a change of pace today, I decided to join a whale watching tour out of Húsavik aboard the good ship Nattfari. It was a lucky decision. The beautiful scenery would have been reason enough to get out on the water. Our first sighting was a small pod of white beaked dolphins.

When the crew of our boat became hyper excited it was clear we were in for a rare treat. They had spotted a blue whale of which estimates place the total North Atlantic population at between 600 and 1,500.  At 100 feet in length and 200 tons or more in weight, it is the largest extant animal and among the heaviest that have ever existed. Our whale dove for about ten minutes at a time and then surfaced to blow its spout two times before diving again without showing its tail fluke. Spotters would look for the first spout (~40 foot high) and then we would race nearer to the whale. With luck you could get a shot of the second spout (~30 feet high) which I was fortunate to do.

Our final sighting of the day was a humpback whale which was far easier to track and photograph.

Hvítserkur is a basalt rock rising about 15m just off the coast of Vatnsnes peninsula in the north of Iceland. The birds, which rest and nest on the rock have deposited quite a few droppings, colouring the rock largely white, hence the name hvít-serkur which means “white- shirt”.  Sea erosion has carved out two holes in the rock‘s foundation, giving it distinct features resembling a petrified monster, an animal of some sort or a troll. An old tale says Hvítserkur was a troll from the Westfjords planning to break a church bell in a fjord a little further east but was caught by the sun and turned to stone.

On the way to Hvítserkur I encountered a beautiful church and a nice lighthouse …

… and about a dozen horses blocking a one lane bridge I needed to traverse. Unmotivated to move by the approach of my rented 4×4 Subaru, several of the horses began licking the hood. Naturally, I rolled down the windows so that I might better photograph this strange behavior (I think they were after the salt spray residue which had accumulated while I was parked by the ocean earlier in the day). I became less amused when one horse began nibbling at my windshield wiper and down right worried when he poked his head inside the car for a look around.  When he started to abscond with my camera bag, I  decided it was time to  nudge may way through the impetuous gang who continued to block the bridge.

Krafla and Leirhnjúkur are volcanoes east of Lake Mývatn. I climbed to the top and around the rim of Krafla whose caldera is now filled by a lake. Regrettably it was still frozen and covered by snow. Fortunately, the lake in the adjacent Viti explosion crater had thawed, revealing the beautiful aquamarine water. It took another hour to hike mostly through deep snow to a vantage point on the rim of the Leirhnjúkur (“clay peak”) crater, a rhyolite formation, rising about 50 m above the surrounding lava field to photograph its lake passing some interesting volcanic fissures and craters along the way.

Game of Thrones fans may recognize Grjótagjá as the place where John Snow is, ahem, deflowered by Ygritte. It is a wonderful little subterranean cave that has a geothermal pool within.

The nearly symmetrical crater of Hverfell demanded that I make the 1500 foot ascent to see what was inside. The effort was well worth it, offering views of both the colder and surrounding mountains.

Goðafoss means “Waterfall of the gods” and the waterfall got its name in the year 1000 when Iceland converted from the old ásatrú-religion (norse heathenry) to Christianity.  According to the Book of Icelanders, the local chieftain and lawspeaker, Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, was given the authority to decide whether Christianity was to be adopted in Iceland. After the decision was made, it is said, he threw his statues of the old Viking gods into the waterfall, as a symbol that the old religion had been discarded.

Aldeyjarfoss, about 45km upstream of Goðafoss on the Skjálfandafljót River, falls in a rather narrow but powerful current into a large round basin framed by impressive rows of hexagonal basalt columns. It was one of my favorite destinations because of its isolation. Unlike the other falls, I had this one to myself with not another soul to be found for ten miles.

Puffins are so charming that I could watch them for hours and that is exactly what I did this morning at their colony in Hafnarhólmi. They are only one of many different bird species which can be seen in the eastern fjords region.

Seyðisfjörður is a small town/artist community at the end of one of the more scenic fjords. I paused here for lunch and enjoyed exploring the town which features a beautiful blue church and a working telephone booth sculpture built into the side of a mountain.

Working my way around to the northern region by afternoon, I visited the falls of Dettifoss and Selfoss. The former is 330 ft. wide and has a drop of 150 ft. down to the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon. It is the largest waterfall in both Iceland and all of Europe in terms of volume discharge, having an average water flow of 193 m3/s. Although it is quite impressive, Selfoss located a few hundred meters upstream is actually the more photogenic.

Sunset happens at about midnight at this time of year (with sunrise at 3:30am) making for a very long photographic day. My destination for the evening is Lake Myvatn. Despite a very late arrival, the area was still being bathed in golden light and I decided to make a quick tour at the Hverir geothermal area to wrap up the day.

I encountered more frozen water than falling water today as I traversed the southeast corner of Iceland with stops at the Svínafellsjökull glacier tongue and the glacial lagoons of Fjallsárlón and Jökulsárlón. Recent volcanic eruptions are evidenced by the amount of ash that can be observed everywhere.  The Jökulsárlón lagoon empties into the ocean through a river which is only a couple of hundred meters long. Icebergs formed by the calving glacier float out to sea where many wash up on the black sand beaches creating a veritable museum of ice sculptures.

My final destination for the day is the Stokksnes peninsula where winds shape the landscape and wildlife of all manner can be found.

Today’s itinerary included visits to several waterfalls including, in order of appearance, Skógafoss (200 ft.), Seljalandsfoss (200 ft.), Gluggafoss (shot from behind the falls) , and Gljúfrabúi (from above and from below).  The shot from above required scaling a very steep 180 foot spire and climbing the pictured ladder and shooting down the sheer cliff on the other side.  The shot from below was taken by wading into a mist filled canyon at the base of the falls. I either use slow shutter speeds to render the moving water as silky strands or fast speeds to freeze every drop in mid air.

By evening, I found myself visiting the costal sites of Reynisdrangar and Dyrhólaey where the water moves horizontally rather than vertically.

Spring in Iceland this year is colder than usual. That was less of an issue than the wind and midnight summer as far as sleeping last night was concerned. A constant 20mph wind buffeted my tent all night and the sky never grew dark. Despite little rest, I found my way to the Brúárfoss (any name ending in “foss” is a waterfall) for morning light and then on to Gullfoss and Hjálparfoss by midday. Gulfoss is part of the popular Golden Circle tour that many visitors take. I found it to be unimpressive photographically speaking even after making a 30 minute drive and one hour hike to view it from the east side bank. I arrived at the oasis of Gjáin and spent the rest of the day there enjoying absolute serenity. My new hip waders proved invaluable as I navigated through and across the rivers for optimal angles and access.

I decided to navigate the Ring Road which goes around the entire island in the counter clockwise direction to give a few more days for the northern regions to get warmer.

I covered a lot of ground on my first full day in Iceland. I started from Keflavik where I spent the night and made stops at the Blue Lagoon, Krysuvikurburg Cliffs, the Seltun geothermal area, Kliefarvatn Lake, Þingvellir National Park, Geysir, and back to Þingvellir where I pitched my tent.  Pictured above is the Strokkur geyser located 50m from Geysir, the first known to Europeans and after which all others have since been named. Geysir erupts infrequently now whereas Stokkur goes off every 4-8 minutes when a telltale dome of water rises under the pressure of steam from below.

Tomorrow, immediately following my soccer game, I leave for Iceland where I will spend ten days camping and touring the island.  I will not be posting again until I return on June 10.

Jeanine, Nico, Maya and I attended the midday memorial service for Grant Backerman, who died at the age of 22. Grant was on Nico’s wrestling team, worked briefly for Kyle at Yard  Dogs, and was a neighbor of ours.  The service was poignant and beautiful.  It left everyone in attendance deeply moved. Mourning the loss of someone in the prime of their life is very different than celebrating the life of someone who has lived fully and to an old age.  No parent should outlive their child and no child should have to lose a sibling. Our deepest and most profound sympathy rests with the Backerman family.

I have decided that bicycle riders are motivated by two basic desires and can be categorized as; (a) go fast types, or (b) find ice cream types. I am unequivocally a member of the later group. Jeanine invited me to join her “go fast” riding group on a 24 mile ride this morning. I opted instead for a 22.6 mile solo ride with stops at not one, but two ice cream shops. Sadly, the first one did not have chocolate almond, my favorite flavor, and the second which does, was not open when I arrived. Pictured above is the altitude profile (one way) of my first real ride with my new bike and on which I learned many important lessons.

• Riding with your mouth closed is highly adviseable unless you enjoy small crunchy protein snacks.
• Sand is a four letter word.
• Best to ride VERY slowly through standing water.
• Unlike trekking, going down hill is better for your knees (and morale) than going up.
• Very wise to uncleat your shoe well before you need your foot.
• As in life, stopping to smell the roses is a good way to ride.

My journey took me into downtown Lexington by way of the Minute Man National Historic Park where I paused to photograph the Captain William Smith House (built circa 1692), a prominent colonial period house with a rare cove cornice, one of only three remaining unrestored examples to be found in Massachusetts.

For years, Jeanine has encouraged me to take up cycling. Foremost, it is an activity she loves and is now something we can do together. Secondarily, it is a great form of exercise that does not put as much wear and tear on the knees as my various other sporting endeavors. We did a leisurely ten mile ride yesterday and I must say it felt pretty good (despite the fact that my rear tire was severely under inflated). The bike is a run-of-the-mill hybrid. I was tempted by the high tech versions but the benefits for my use (exercise and short range photo touring) did not justify the cost and I would be far better served by shaving a couple of pounds off my belly rather than my bike frame.

Jeanine and I joined Maya for her end of the year rowing banquet at CRI last night. Maya looked quite elegant and I have Jeanine to thank for a rare father daughter portrait. I was recruited by the coach to take a team photo (below) which I think came out rather nicely. Each co-captain gave a short speech recognizing a different member of the coaching staff. Maya spoke in appreciation of the coxswain coach who was deeply touched by her kind words. I spent the day finalizing my plans to visit Iceland. I will leave on Sunday and return ten days later. I have rented an SUV and plan to visit and camp in some of the more remote areas of the island.

For the second time in a year, I had a chance to photograph the Blue Angels, this time over Boston Harbor. At $65M a copy this may be the most expensive photo subject I have ever aimed my camera at. With a 10% fatality rate for Blue Angel pilots, this may also be one of the riskiest professions in the world.

I rose early to enjoy a three-hour, 9-mile kayak tour of the Tenny River and Panther Pond. The water was glass flat and the sun diffused by soft clouds. Humans were mostly asleep while wildlife was not. I encountered a bald eagle, turtle, deer, loons, woodpeckers, and a variety of other birds as I explored the waters. I returned in time to join the others for breakfast before making the two-and-a-half-hour drive back to Concord. A lunch stop at Duckfat in Portland completed our gastronomic indulgence for the long weekend.

On this Memorial Day, I would like to add a note of appreciation to all of our nation’s veterans for their service to our country and for the sacrifices they have made on our behalf.

Jeanine, Maya and Nico left yesterday to visit and stay with family friends at their summer home on Crescent Lake in Maine. After my soccer game this morning, a satisfying 1-0 win over Belmont which solidified our first place standing, I drove up to join them. A relaxing afternoon on the water was followed by a delicious salmon dinner with a beet salad prepared by Jeanine and a late night desert created by Maya and her cohorts.