Diving between tectonic plates in 35 degrees, hail pelting my face,ninja jumping
Didn't sleep too bad last night. The loud rain kept me up more than the cold. We have one large sleeping by so anytime I needed warmth Andy just held me closer. Up at 730 which was amazing we slept in. We quickly tore down the tent, climbed over the fence on the stairs, and headed for the scuba meeting place.
We met up with the Dive.IS diver masters and headed for Silfra. There was another couple, a British and Argentinian. The wind was blowing, it was raining, and I was getting very nervous about getting into the 35 degree water. Just get it over with I thought. My shoes were still wet from yesterday so I was really happy to put on the jumper that goes under the dry suit. Then I found out the gloves were not part of the dry suit. Oh shit, that was the remaining bit of hope that was keeping me from freaking out. We checked out the dive site for the briefing and the water was crystal clear.
The dive was amazing! We could we 200+ ft and all sorts of colors. I have no idea how there can be so many colors when there's no plants or animals. There was this neon green algae that add dramatic pops. Up and down between the tectonic plates. Very cool. At the end we made a sharp left to be sure we didn't get caught in the lake current or we would have been screwed. Once we got out of the water, we had to walk 500 yards back to the truck. It was HARD. I felt like I was walking at altitude. Going up a small hill had me breathing hard. However I was working up a sweat and that was a good thing. Back at the truck, the wind was blowing so hard I left my hood on. Andy had to help me pull off my gloves. Then I noticed my left hand was swollen from lack of blood flow from the wrists being too tight on my suit. They are still puffy now 12 hrs later.
I considered not going back in for my second dive I was so cold. Then I remembered its warmer in the freezing water than it is outside. Back in we went again for the same dive, so beautiful. Once we got back to the car I quickly made up sammies of cheese, salmon and beluga caviar. It was so delish. That mixed with the warmth of the car made me a happy person. My lips were so swollen from the water. Quite impressive.
On the road again, we headed to Hverageroi since it has thermal springs and that's what we needed. The whole town runs on these springs, greenhouses and restaurants. Andy read about a hot river and set his mind to do it so that's what we were going to do. It was raining so hard and I was still recovering from the diving, it was the last thing on my mind. I grabbed a large garbage bag to protect my pants from a kid working at the public hot spring area because he felt bad for me, and I was ready (kind of). The kid said the water was prob 35 degrees C which isn't warm enough for me to get out of my clothes in the hail. We went into the little cafe near the entrance of the hike and they said it was hailing earlier. Are you fucking kidding me? I'm so over it and it hasn't started yet.
We started up the hill, cold rain hitting out face, Beth not happy. I started to warm up and my world got brighter. We saw amazing waterfalls and had to ninja jump over several water/mud ponds. My shoes were kinda dry and that's very important to me these days. The garbage bag was working wonderfully to protect my pants from the rain. In the end, the hot river Andy was looking for wasn't hot so we turned back. My shoes did get wet but it was worth it. The views were so beautiful. We could see the hail/rain over the valley. We decided to spring for a campsite for $25 and cook some Mac and Cheese and hotdogs. Yum! We put up the tent before it we raining or windy so that worked for me. Another full day and I'm beat. The wind is picking up like a mo fo. This is going to be another interesting night.
We met up with the Dive.IS diver masters and headed for Silfra. There was another couple, a British and Argentinian. The wind was blowing, it was raining, and I was getting very nervous about getting into the 35 degree water. Just get it over with I thought. My shoes were still wet from yesterday so I was really happy to put on the jumper that goes under the dry suit. Then I found out the gloves were not part of the dry suit. Oh shit, that was the remaining bit of hope that was keeping me from freaking out. We checked out the dive site for the briefing and the water was crystal clear. We put on our 26+ lbs of weights, the BCD and oxygen tank and walked over to the site. This crap is heavy up I was happy to work up a sweat before the dive. Into the water we go. Once I go down for the check, my face freezing and so does my brain. Holy shit this is going to be a long 25 min. First was the dive master, then the Argentinian, then me and Andy brought up the rear since he had the most experience.
The dive was amazing! We could we 200+ ft and all sorts of colors. I have no idea how there can be so many colors when there's no plants or animals. There was this neon green algae that add dramatic pops. Up and down between the tectonic plates. Very cool. At the end we made a sharp left to be sure we didn't get caught in the lake current or we would have been screwed. Once we got out of the water, we had to walk 500 yards back to the truck. It was HARD. I felt like I was walking at altitude. Going up a small hill had me breathing hard. However I was working up a sweat and that was a good thing. Back at the truck, the wind was blowing so hard I left my hood on. Andy had to help me pull off my gloves. Then I noticed my left hand was swollen from lack of blood flow from the wrists being too tight on my suit. They are still puffy now 12 hrs later. 
I considered not going back in for my second dive I was so cold. Then I remembered its warmer in the freezing water than it is outside. Back in we went again for the same dive, so beautiful. Once we got back to the car I quickly made up sammies of cheese, salmon and beluga caviar. It was so delish. That mixed with the warmth of the car made me a happy person. My lips were so swollen from the water. Quite impressive. 
On the road again, we headed to Hverageroi since it has thermal springs and that's what we needed. The whole town runs on these springs, greenhouses and restaurants. Andy read about a hot river and set his mind to do it so that's what we were going to do. It was raining so hard and I was still recovering from the diving, it was the last thing on my mind. I grabbed a large garbage bag to protect my pants from a kid working at the public hot spring area because he felt bad for me, and I was ready (kind of). The kid said the water was prob 35 degrees C which isn't warm enough for me to get out of my clothes in the hail. We went into the little cafe near the entrance of the hike and they said it was hailing earlier. Are you fucking kidding me? I'm so over it and it hasn't started yet. 
We started up the hill, cold rain hitting out face, Beth not happy. I started to warm up and my world got brighter. We saw amazing waterfalls and had to ninja jump over several water/mud ponds. My shoes were kinda dry and that's very important to me these days. The garbage bag was working wonderfully to protect my pants from the rain. In the end, the hot river Andy was looking for wasn't hot so we turned back. My shoes did get wet but it was worth it. The views were so beautiful. We could see the hail/rain over the valley. We decided to spring for a campsite for $25 and cook some Mac and Cheese and hotdogs. Yum! We put up the tent before it we raining or windy so that worked for me. Another full day and I'm beat. The wind is picking up like a mo fo. This is going to be another interesting night.