Dominating the southeast portion of Iceland is a massive Glacier/Ice Cap
known as The Vatnajokull Glacier. At more than 3,100 square miles, it is the
largest glacier in all of Europe and host to more than 30 outlet glaciers. These
outlet glaciers are fingers that extend down from the highlands of Vatnajökull
National Park into the inland valleys in central Iceland and the ocean along
the southeast coast. The result of these fingers melting as they reach lower
elevations are two natural phenomena: 1) Beautiful glacial lakes that when
combined with the rugged landscape of Iceland lead to braided rivers and
amazing waterfalls; 2) Spectacular ice caves that are constantly evolving
through the seasons.
Currently, one of the most beautiful ice caves is known as The Sapphire Ice
Cave. It received this name because of intense blue ice that exists throughout
the cave. The Sapphire Ice Cave is part of the Breiðamerkurjökull outlet
glacier that extends out from the Vatnajokull Ice Cap near the town of Hofn.
Getting to the cave requires a 30 minute drive in an all-wheel 4x4 with at least
a 36-inch clearance to get through the snow drifts and across several streams
and small rivers, followed by a 3 mile hike to the base of the glacier. The main
cave is an amphitheater cave, but my local guide knew of a small, new
squeeze passage at the very back of the cave that had recently opened. The
only way into the squeeze passage was to crawl on my hands and knees for
about 30 feet with my camera and tripod. This image was taken from the far
end of the squeeze passage looking back at the entrance.