The Glaciers, in touch with the cold giants
Today I’d like to talk to you about the extraordinary beauty of glaciers. Anyone who has never been to a glacier doesn’t know what it’s like to live this experience, I think it’s one of the most beautiful experiences a person can have, and I was lucky enough to start several years ago and to this every year…. I think it’s one of my absolute favourite environments along with the desert: here my article
For those who have never been there, you should know that glaciers are alive, they breathe, they move, they retreat (unfortunately)… visiting a glacier can be easy or very hard, there are some places that are easily accessible such as in Iceland and others that are a bit more complicated such as those in Switzerland.
In all cases, I invite you to do your search very deep and let yourself be guided by a professional guide, this is definitely an environment where you cannot improvise, it is good to know all the critical aspects and all the possible emergencies that you may find… so, before tackling these places, be very careful about all the logistics.
Seeing a glacier from afar is already a very fascinating experience, and if you then have the opportunity to enter and explore it up close it becomes even more magical.
From the experience in Switzerland, I remember very well the nights without a tent in front of the immense glaciers of the Alps. It was a summer visit, the temperatures were acceptable and the weather allowed one to enjoy the glacier all night long without having to stay in a hotel or tent.
Waking up at dawn and seeing this shining ice giant illuminated by the first light of day is a great magic are easily accessible from above via the cable cars in the area certainly the most beautiful I have seen are the Gornergrat and the Aletsch, where I had the chance to spend two of the best nights of my life
What I discovered in Iceland on the other hand was very different… I had just come from two weeks of photographic travel and decided to spend another week completely alone, sleeping in a car, discovering the island and the most difficult places to explore
In my exploration I arrived at the Sohleimajokull glacier tongue, definitely one of the easiest parts of the glaciers to reach on the whole island. I scouted for many hours looking for the most interesting areas to photograph until I found an incredible and easy to reach cave.
I captured probably one of the most beautiful images ever, to be there alone without anyone’s help, with respect and awe in front of such spectacular ice formations was incredible the sunset was draining the warm light with the cold of the ice. Crazy
I decided to stay outside the glacier to wait for the night but unfortunately I got sick with fever… I had to go to the nearest town, Vik i Myrdal, to look for a pharmacy the next day. In the morning I took some medicine (the name was “Panodil” what the hack was that hahahah) and went back to sleep in the car park of the glacier for three nights in a row it was cloudy.
Afterwards a good window opened in the overcast to photograph the aurora from inside the glacier and obviously I could not miss this great opportunity I decided to go back to the glacier after sunset even though I still had a fever… I went into a cave and waited for the northern lights.
When it arrived I was simply speechless it was magic to see the northern lights no place like this was one of my dreams I absolutely could not miss this great opportunity when the aurora turned into France I took so many pictures until I captured the most beautiful moment when I brought home this very special image
