Iceland Expedition - Part 1

It's been a long time since the last blog but I am glad to be back. I've had an exciting time in Iceland with Pop's dear friend, Bearbirds. Here is the first report of my Icelandic adventure, as reported by Bearbirds. Here I am hitching a ride on Bearbird's backpack.

The snowshoe lesson

Last month I took the plane to Germany to take part in Bearbirds' third Iceland expedition. I thought we would start immediately but Bearbirds said: "Gut Ding will Weile haben" (Haste makes waste) and prepared and packed for days. How boring!

Eventually we went to Denmark, took the ferry and arrived in Iceland three days later.There was a lot of snow in the mountains and we were going to try out our new snowshoes at once. The snow was very soft and it was a nice and easy walk till we reached a steep slope.

"Be careful", Bearbirds said, "there is a river under the snowbank."

I love snow but I hate water and I didn't really like to fall down through the snow in a hole full of running water. But the sun was shining warming up my fur and I forgot the hidden waterholes.

"Come on!" I shouted to Bearbirds, who had sat down on a rock at half height of the slope.

"I can't see the next marking pole," she said.

"Don't bother about it, we will find our way," I answered.

"You two, you are a bit silly, aren't you?" We heard a whispering voice and faced each other. No, this was neither Bearbirds nor me. Who had spoken?

"Sit down, Edelweiss, but take care of us," it whispered out of the ground.

I looked down to the small snow-free space around the rock. Between old grass, moss and heather some little flowers raised their lilac heads:

"We are the vetrarblóm, the winter flowers. We are the first who come out braving cold and snow. We are the forerunners of the summer."

"But why do you call us silly?"

"Because you are going to break your legs on your first day in Iceland," the vetrarblóm whispered in chorus.

After some thoughtful silence Bearbirds said, "You probably are right. Let's go down, Edelweiss, and many thanks to you, dear vetrarblóm."

The little petals nodded slightly in the wind.

Stay tuned for Part 2.