Iceland Again, February 2015: Layers

It's cold in Iceland, though not nearly as harsh as Boston or Minneapolis this year. Cold for us Californians, anyway, with temperatures between 25 and 35. That's cold enough for ice to form alongside the waterfalls that are such a feature of the Icelandic landscape.

I feel almost sheepish making claims for cold while Niagara Falls is freezing over, but still, Gullfoss, a tremendous waterfall in its own right, is dramatic under ice and snow.

HHC photo

The facade of this civic building in Reykjavik draws inspiration from the island's geology, with its lava rock and mossy facing and the water pouring over it into icicles.

When it got warm enough to rain a little bit, things actually got dicier. Our van made very slippery progress only about two thirds of the way up the long icy driveway from our hotel one morning and then could go no farther without threatening to slide right off into the snow. Our leader, Bill, had to creep the van all the way back to our starting point, backwards, and try again--for some reason it was better off without our weight in it--while we walked, or skated, up the driveway on our own.

Even with his experience in northern Michigan, the blizzardy wind had Bill white-knuckled on the steering wheel more than once. This calm image by Harlan is made possible by the snow absolutely whistling across the road:

Roads feature big electronic signs that show not the current expected time to various destinations, as they do here in the Bay Area, but temperatures ahead and wind speed in meters per second. Travel got interesting when it felt like the van might easily be blown right over. Walking, too.

We were well prepared with pretty much all our warm stuff from home, though, and I took special delight in layering up, putting old and handmade favorites to good use.

Wool socks by Kitty Metcalfe, Harlan's wool ranger pants from the 1970s, Breton wool sailing sweater and cap from 1975.

Wool gloves by Kitty Metcalfe, my sister Ellen's down jacket from about 1978, scarf by Deb Jensen, headband by Tammy Krueger

When things got really chilly I added Harlan's powder pants from his high school skiing days.

Iceland has plenty of sheep, and some cows, but they are just about all inside this time of year. Most of the Icelandic horses stay out through the winter, growing their own thick, warm layers.