View photos from Iceland

While most spring breakers flock to the warmth of locations near the equator, we headed north, 66 degrees north, to the sublime, grueling, and sometimes horrifying volcanic country of Iceland. Surrounded by snow capped jagged peaks and a vast black sand and ash glacier valley we were put to the test as we completed demanding, physically and mentally, service work at Skaftafell National Park in the south eastern territory of the island. Through out the week we did numerous projects including clearing trails around Europe’s largest park, cutting large blocks of wood with all man powered tools, removing barbed wire fencing, and hauling pounds of timber on our backs into the mountains to build a bridge.

At night we enjoyed the “hot pot” a hot tub feed by natural hot springs, cooking local foods such as lamb and locally caught cod, star and aurora borealis gazing, and lots of bonding through games and after dinner reflections. On one of our free days we explored the geography through glacier hiking and ice caving with an Icelandic mountain climbing legend, Einar. We were also blessed by the presence of Gummi out Icelandic park ranger who lead us through many of our tasks. He was a glorious Viking who taught us a lot about Icelandic culture, politics, and once he even sang for us. We had an unbelievable week, we worked hard, bonded, and learned more then we could have asked for about each other and Iceland.

View photos from Iceland