The morning is promising.
In the sky all colors, sun shines somewhere.
Maarjo and Kadi arrive. Kadi stays to treat her
feet, Maarjo and I drive to the other side of the mountain to our little
climate march. From there is it shorter distance to the top. On the road is a
sign that it’s impassable but this has never bothered tourists before. The top
is not visible because it is inside a cloud. We stick our heads into cloud as well
and visibility reduces to a few dozen meters. The mountain is rocky, rocks
under our feet are well visible.
The mountain is called Ok that means yoke. Until
2014 the mountain carried a glacier. The smallest in Iceland but still. 2014
the glacier was officially pronounced dead because there was not enough snow
anymore that it would move under its weight. This is the characteristic of a
glacier. On 18th of August this year a plaque was placed on the
mountain with text written by one of the most well-known writers in Iceland Andri
Snær Magnason and that says: „A letter to the future. Ok is the first glacier
to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years, all our glaciers are
expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know
what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it. August
2019, 415ppm CO2.”
When we are on the highest point of the mountain
according to GPS are there neither the promised views nor the memorial although
we circle hopefully around every bigger boulder. There are some small patches
of snow and strong wind. No trace of a glacier. Snow tastes fresh, must be from
this year.
Wind that supportively pushed us up blows against us
when we go down. It also starts to rain so we eat waffles and jam in the car.
Wind shakes the car, sun shines everywhere but here. The bashful mountain has
found a new cover.
In the evening there’s again soup and more waffles
and after that lively discussion with a Dutch couple who has moved in.
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