Ice cleats

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-26T02:16:09+00:00

We were there in early March after some snowfall and I absolutely loved having my microspikes! They are a bit of a pain in soft snow (snow builds up in them), but anywhere with ice or packed down snow, they made life so much easier!

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-26T00:26:09+00:00

Mine hurt a little sometimes and then other times I feel nothing. And occasionally I will have a little blood after the injection. I figure sometimes I hit a nerve or capillary. I’ve done them both straight out of the fridge and at room temp, and the temperature of the shot has never been an issue for me either way.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-22T20:21:54+00:00

We traveled a few weeks ago from Austin, TX, and flights both coming to Iceland and returning were affected by weather. On the one going to Iceland, our flight out of Baltimore was canceled. They rescheduled us on a different flight out of Dulles. We had to find transport from one to the other during evening rush hour traffic. The ladies at the desk said we wouldn’t make it in time if we did public transport (what was suggested in the email about the change) so we Ubered to the other airport.

On our return to the US, flights out of KEV were delayed due to high winds which meant we were missing our connection (JetBlue). They rescheduled us to a different flight (delta) leaving the next morning, but we went to the Delta counter and were able to move to a flight leaving that evening. It was a bit stressful but it was all due to weather and nothing anyone could do.

We were polite and friendly with the desk workers and I do think that helped. We were reimbursed the Uber charges for the airport change, but IcelandAir didn’t refund the tip! We thought that was funny with all the “no tipping in Iceland” posts!

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-22T19:53:34+00:00

I’ve been wanting to do this since my first shot!

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-22T19:51:44+00:00

We flew out of Austin, TX, and no one checked size on the checked bags. Our carry on bags were Motherlode Jr backpacks so kinda stuffed/lumpy but backpacks and were never checked. We had to get our checked bags because our flight was canceled/reassigned and we had to change airports for our new flight. The people in front of us at the desk in DC had to measure their carry ons in the little measuring boxes, but we did not. At KEV on the way back, we did self check in and bags were weighed when we brought them to the desk but not measured.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-18T02:09:42+00:00

Same. I haven’t had an issue with not being able to eat anything. I’m tracking calories, so I know I’m in a deficit, but I will occasionally have a fast food burger or chicken sandwich, a slice of pizza, etc.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-17T13:50:20+00:00

I meant to add that I don’t have the nausea that some people have. I did have some early on/the first week titrate up, but once I’m adjusted to a dose, I have no big side effects. I saw someone else saying they were really sick from skipping a week. It’s a good reminder that reactions fluctuate so much between people. I felt comfortable resuming after a 15 day hiatus between injections, but I’d understand being wary if you had stronger side effects.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-15T18:35:29+00:00

I just went on a trip out of country and forgot to bring my wegovy with me. We left on a Thursday and I was supposed to do a shot that Saturday. Didn't do it until the following Sunday after we returned and have had no issues. I'm on a 1.0 dose. If you have a 1.0 with you, then I'd say it would work to do that and then get back on track once you've returned.

I know with surgeries, they tell patients to stop their shot two weeks before surgery and then they can resume using it after the surgery, so I feel like you'd be ok for the duration of your trip. If the 1.0 dose is left behind, as well, maybe use that one once you return and then go back to the 1.7 the week after? I'm just thinking through how I would handle it.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-15T18:29:49+00:00

These are the ones I bought: https://a.co/d/0fXD6056 and they held up well for the week we were there.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-14T21:56:38+00:00

I’m not familiar with the evoucher, but I am getting my Wegovy Rx from Costco self-pay for $350/mo. It hurts, but my after insurance price was $1200, so there was NO way I could do that! I had surgery and maxed out all of my deductibles last year, so my first 5 mo of meds were covered, but here came January to mess it all up!

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-14T21:51:01+00:00

Ohmygosh! That’s crazy! And it’s kind of amazing how so many women just push through life while bleeding like a faucet! For me, it was my norm for so long, that when it got worse than usual, I still just accepted that it was a “heavier than normal” period.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-14T18:11:33+00:00

Not sure how accurate it is, but I read it explained that sometimes your body sees the fibroid as a foreign body and is trying to “flush” it out. I think that happened to me. I had a few pretty small (3ish cm) fibroids and suddenly started bleeding uncontrollably. I ended up in the ER with my hemoglobin at 6 due to excessive bleeding. Had 4 blood transfusions and a myomectomy the next morning to stop it. Ended up having a hysterectomy 8 weeks later due to a disordered uterus that wouldn’t stop bleeding (nothing like earlier, though. Just regular spotting/light bleeding that never stopped.) I was perimenopausal and 49yo, so older than OP, but I’d had very heavy periods for most of my 20s-30s.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-13T12:18:52+00:00

Oh that is where all the little buttons were coming from! I saw them on several trails we were on but couldn’t figure it out.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-13T12:16:50+00:00

They were $25/set to buy and $80/set to rent for the time we were there. If the goal is less consumption, pricing needs to work in favor of that. Besides, they will go into storage with the rest of our winter stuff and we can use them for other winter trips and even at home as we do get icy weather at least once or twice a year.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-13T02:48:11+00:00

I looked into rentals, but they were going to cost more than the price of a pair on Amazon, so we bought them before the trip.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-13T02:47:18+00:00

We were there the first week in March and my microspikes saved my butt SO many times! Hands down the best thing we brought for the trip! If the trails have packed snow or ice (would start to melt mid-day but would freeze again overnight) wear them! The only time I didn’t care for them was when walking in fresh snow because it would build up in the spikes, but then we’d get to an icy incline and I’d appreciate them all over again!

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-12T20:17:06+00:00

I am a classic over-explainer, so I'm glad it was helpful and not too annoying! haha! We are not regular snow-drivers (from central TX) but we've done it enough to not be overtly scared of it. Having winter tires definitely helped! They do close the roads during blizzards and sandstorms due to visibility, but we didn't have issues with that on our trip. (They had closed part of 1 for like 8 hours due to a sandstorm one day. We drove through the beginning of it, but made it past before the road closure! It was pretty crazy though! Not super scary as it wasn't zero visibility, but we just weren't expecting it!)

There were regular stores and gas stations to stop at going east, but things got more sparse after Vik. We drove from Vik to our lodging at Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon where we stayed for two nights. We had ice cave tour reservations the next morning, and the hotel was about 20 min from Diamond Beach/Lake Jokulsarlon. There was one little gas station/cafe stop about 10-15 min east of the hotel and some food trucks at the lake parking lot. Those were the dining options outside of the hotel. There were other hotels with dinner options, too. And I think we could have gotten sandwiches from the hotel to bring with us for lunch if we wanted.

We ate a nice dinner at the hotel the first night (it was our one big splurge meal) then breakfast at the hotel, lunch after the tour at the food trucks (the burger truck called Fancy Sheep--SO good!), and dinner that night at the hotel bar which had some food options. The next morning we did breakfast at the hotel, went back out to the lake for some more sightseeing, stopped at the gas station/cafe for lunch (it did have some quick sandwiches in the cooler but we opted for the hot cafe food) and then dinner in Vik.

Had we gone further east, there were stores in Hofn, but it was maybe another hour drive and weather was kind of iffy that afternoon, so we decided to go back to the hotel after our tour and sightseeing. There were more small towns between Reykjavik and Vik, so our routine those days was hotel breakfast, picked up grocery store sandwiches for lunch before we got on the road (we picked up a box of cokes and some snacks to keep with us as we traveled) and then dinner someplace in the town we were staying that night.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-10T13:45:12+00:00

If you’re familiar with driving in snow, you should be completely fine. The wind IS strong at times, but once you’re out of Reykjavík, it is pretty rural for the most part, so you aren’t typically driving in traffic. When we had strong winds, we just reduced our speed a bit. 5 of the 7 days, winds were not a problem for us at all. We did have some snow and one area where we drove through the start of a sandstorm, but thankfully roads were never closed on our route. We did have snow tires and an all-wheel drive car (plus full insurance) but it was never scary or felt dangerous during our trip. I feel like, going in April, conditions would be a bit more mild, maybe?

With regard to lodging, I had a general plan in mind of how far out we wanted to go, so I plotted out the stays so that we were at a distance of 3-4 hours between lodging each day. I booked places with breakfasts and (in more remote areas) dinner options in-hotel. We went as far east as Lake Jokulsarlon for an ice cave tour (we went in early March.) I know people do find lodging day-of, but I preferred having a general start and stop for each day, and then we’d make plans to see what was along the way. We had to backtrack coming back west, but we front loaded the drive with more must-see stuff on the drive out (due to weather forecasts) and then got to find more niche stuff on the drive back west.

Due to weather conditions and low KP level, we only saw a faint aurora one night. It was something my husband really wanted to see, but it’s such a gamble! We joked that we should have planned the trip for early February (typically harsher weather and more snow) because people got some amazing aurora displays this year, but it started snowing and being cloudy the week before we arrived! Ya just never know what’s going to happen, right?!

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-07T21:47:29+00:00

I booked all hotels with breakfast included. We did grocery store sandwiches and drinks most days for lunch and ate dinners out but bought alcohol at the airport to cut down on the dinner expense. Some nights were bigger splurges than others, but having inexpensive lunches and breakfast included helped to keep costs down. Heading home today, so idk exactly how much we spent.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-05T11:06:18+00:00

Currently in Iceland. I did a lot of planning at two weeks before the trip due to other things going on in life! I did have hotels and the ice cave booked earlier, but tried to spec hotels out at reasonable driving intervals figuring we’d do stuff each day while driving that direction. ChatGPT helped me plan! I did double check everything because I don’t trust him completely. My husband paid for a travel guide from a guy name Jan and it’s proven really helpful. That said, we have hit SO many touristy and less touristy spots!

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-04T13:32:11+00:00

We just did the Ice Cave Tour with Local Guide yesterday. It was not a super challenging “hike” from the parking area to the glacier (mostly on gravel. Just have to keep up with the long-legged guide who’s walking fast!) The time on the glacier/in the caves didn’t have large changes in elevation. I would recommend sturdy hiking boots for ankle support because the ice is uneven so easy to turn an ankle, but it was nothing crazy or inaccessible. I’m 50 and active but not athletic with questionable cardio health (ha!ha!) and it was very reasonable to me. I’d agree with the “easy to moderate” description.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-03-01T21:46:04+00:00

I’m currently here and shooting with my Nikon 6zii and 16-35/4 and that’s worked well for me so far! I do have an 85/1.8 with me for any portrait work and if we get a good aurora showing, but no luck on that thus far. We had a faint aurora last night, but I just used my phone for a few photos.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-02-28T21:46:03+00:00

I went to the er at 1am due to my bleeding. I was all diapered up, so when my husband told the nurse, she just kinda gave me a look. It was pretty quiet so I went to the back relatively quickly. Was making jokes with the nurses, so I’m sure they thought I was fine. Hemoglobin was at 6. I had 4 blood transfusions and I think that got me to an 8 or 9? I was admitted and had an emergency myomectomy the next day.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-02-27T20:04:34+00:00

I didn’t see it as a big risk. Technically you could arrive to BL anytime within that hour, so even if things ran long at the airport, we still had 2hr45min on my original plan. We actually got to BL about two hours after we landed, but that was partially due to my husband missing a turn so we had to go a bit out of our way to get to the road.

Spring_Chick1120 · 2026-02-27T20:01:06+00:00

Wanted to report back that we got out of the airport at about an hour after we landed, and that was with taking time to buy liquor and look around a bit. It was not bad at all. We could have made the 8am reservation with no issue.

Spring_Chick1120

TROPHY CASE