July 2014 – (with Gemma) Ascent from Skaftafell Visitor Centre. Today we rose early for a mountain hike up the 1126m peak, Kristinartindar. It was a simply magnificent climb with astounding views, exhilarating scrambling and knife edge arêtes; a 13 mile hike through changing scenery. Initially we climbed to Svartifoss, a wonderful waterfall with volcanic columns framing it. When we reached the flatter ridge, the views to the glacier and mountains to our west were excellent, including Iceland’s highest waterfall. We scrambled around here for a while, and then continued our ascent, with Gemma pausing to take in the flora and fungi! Eventually, we entered the corrie and ascended the scree to a col, where the views down to the glacier were tremendous. From here it was a steep climb and scramble to the summit which is set on an extremely narrow ridge. We sat here for an hour, enjoying our lunch and the occasional views through the clouds, in surprisingly warm weather. On the summit, there was a tremendous distant crashing noise, where we guessed a chunk of ice had fallen from the edge of a glacier into the water below. On the descent, we saw Snipes, Golden Plovers and a Ptarmigan with her chicks, all joyfully hopping around! The huge glacier of Skaftafellsjokull on the eastern side of the ridge was breathtaking, creating a contrast with the greenery and black rock. Iceland’s highest peak, Hvanndalsnukker, also occasionally popped out through the clouds.