Our very first glimpse of Cairns during our 2007 visit to Iceland |
Day 2 (8/21/13)
It was really hard for me to decide which of my blogs to put
my Icelandic trip on. On one hand I usually put my vacation stuff on my Onion
River Site, but on the other hand if there was ever a cairn heaven it would be
Iceland. In reality we saw our first ever cairns while spending a day in
Iceland on our way to Norway in 2007. I did not get pictures of them this time
because I was on the wrong side of the bus. They are still there though and
look like they will be for quite some time, although the area around them has
really grown up with buildings. I decided to compromise and post my daily blogs
at: onionriver.blogspot.com and make one posting about cairns on this site. We
saw many areas around Iceland where people had built hundreds of Cairns.
Unfortunately on a bus we didn't always get a chance to photograph them. I told
Eileen that if we drove around the island it would take us months with
everything there is to see and build. Because of the fragility of the
environment there are some areas which they do not allow cairn building. If at
all possible we tried to build cairns at spots that we visited. Often somebody had
built there before us. In Iceland there are many places where they utilize cairns
as marking stones and in one instance we followed cairns for miles and miles
that marked an old border or road. In my reading, I have found of more than one
life saved in the winter because they were able to follow the cairns. I don’t think
a day went past that we didn't see a cairn of some type. At first people on the
bus were a little curious when we would start building at our stops but soon
they expected it and even joined in and built one o f their own. Of course we
also had to pick up some choice little stones for Eileen to make cairn necklaces
when we got home. It was wonderful being in a place where rocks are such an
important part of life and people still appreciate the simple things in life.
Not Cairns but Cool |
Eileen working on her first Cairn in Iceland |
My first Cairn in Iceland |
Cairn's Denied |
Mother Nature's Cairns |
Miles and Miles of Cairns |
Eileen starting another |
Cairns in the Wasteland |
Waterfall with Cairn |
Cairn at Black Sand Beach |
Cairn at Glacial Lagoon |
A Start |
Closer |
Just on More |
Finished |
Stephan and I building at the Glacier |
Michael and Stephan |
Two More |
So many Rocks So little Time |