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Caption: ICELAND South
Caption: We decided to do something different for Thanksgiving this year, we packed up and headed to Iceland.
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Caption: Day one We started the day off watching the sunrise at the Blue Lagoon before heading north
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Caption: Taking a break from the drive as we head further north on the Golden circle towards the geyser to say hello to the little Icelandic ponies
Caption: Really is the land of fire and ice. There was barely any snow on the ground in the south but once we got 2 hours north the sky closed up and everything was snow covered. As we got closer to the geyser we could see bubbling water and smoke for miles
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Caption: After a long first day we dropped anchor in a guesthouse near by where we had an amazing host and an adorable keychain showing love for the search and rescue guys.
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Caption: Day two we booked it back down south to head towards hofn. We stopped to play in the lava fields, glad to be out of the snow and icey roads.
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Caption: First stop Fjaðrárgljúfur to hike up the canyon and throw blocks of ice from the river.
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Caption: After a couple waterfalls we headed towards Vik to check into our cabin on the black sand beach.
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Caption: Day three we head further East along the south coast passing through Hof to the glacier Lagoon.
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Caption: It was such a good clear day we knew if there was a time we would see the Northern lights. I checked in forecast and it was set to be a 4 so we grabbed a bite to eat before heading out.
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Caption: While we were eating dinner the server gave us a heads up on the epic show happening so we dropped our food and ran outside.
Out of 7 night we only had one fully clear night and one partially clear sky so we regrouped and headed out to the glacier Lagoon to get some shots.
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Caption: Needed to leave the light show so the we could get some sleep in prep for our glacier hike early the next morning
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Caption: We decided to do a private tour that would take us further from the crowds, when we made it to the cave we had it all to ourselves for a couple hours. It was specifically a photography friendly tour so we had one other couple with us and a guide interested in photography as well so it was a really chill and quality vibe.
After a long glacier hike that took about 2 hours we were getting close to the entrance of the ice cave. I knew we would be seeing a ton of ice but I wasn't prepared for how clean and clear it really is.
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Caption: Being in the cave when your eyes adjust is amazing it's such a true blue glow.
Caption: With the days being short we had to keep an eye on daylight. We started back down the glacier and headed towards a second cave that would be empty as well by time we got there. After some time there we wrapped up just in time for it to be pitch black.
We asked our guide if there was a place to grab dinner and he sent us to a gas station up the road for some cheeseburgers.
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Caption: The last day of our trip we needed to make the 5 or 6 hour drive back to Reykjavik. We had some bad weather for a few days so we had some things to hit on the way.
First spot was the plane wreck, it was raining this day as well but we decided to go for it. There and back ended up being 4 or 5 miles so it was pretty brutal and wet but glad we made it.
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Caption: #stellerstories
#stellerid
#goexplore
#thanksgiving
#iceland
#northernlights
#icecaves
#steller2016 @ggunderson
Thanks for reading 🙏