Iceland Adventure, Day 2

Our Iceland adventure resumes with a trip to the Mid Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. This is the fault line that causes the area to have such an abundance of earthquakes and volcanoes that act to constantly reshape the landscape....and delay every flight on that side of the world lately.

There are large areas directly on the fault line, where the earth has been literally split open.

Several of these areas have filled with crystal clear glacial runoff water. As the glacier melts, the water percolates through the porous volcanic soil and is naturally filtered to give the purest water you can imagine. You can always see the bottom of these wells, even on some that appear to be about 30 feet deep. I longed for my SCUBA gear, however the water would have been quite chilly.

the glacier in the distance on mount Esjan provides a constant runoff of pure water

Many areas of Iceland are covered with moss, as this is the only thing that can survive the cold, wet conditions.


Our next stop was to visit the Haukadalur valley to see the hot springs and some geysers. This park is home to the oldest known geyser in the world, Great Geysir (see video at bottom of post). It erupts about every 5 minutes, but is not very consistent. We stood in freezing rain long enough to see it erupt 3 times, then decided to get back inside after I finally caught a good, violent eruption on film, ahem, I mean flash memory. ;)

much akin to the Painted Pots in Yellowstone, the hot waters are home to lovely colors

Our next journey of the day was to visit the ice cap Langjokull, where we pushed the adventure to the extreme. Let's just say I was giddy like a little kid getting his first Tonka truck when I saw our tour guide arrive in this beast:

...we would later find out that we desperately needed every inch of those balloon tires and lifted suspension to get through the snow and ice. At times, the roads were so rutted and rough, it was easier to just take off on a random path across fresh snow. Here's a view of the "road" from the cab:

"It's very lonely at the top" is an expression that is quite fitting when you are on top of a glacier. The vast barren land can be disorienting as there are no landmarks for reference.

"When in Rome..." ...we decided to splurge for the snowmobile tour. The tour company had a warming station setup out in the middle of nowhere on the glacier with about 40 snowmobiles parked outside with keys in the ignition. I guess no one could actually get up here to steal them. Besides, you need a monster truck to even get there and there are not roads, just small stakes every 20 meters to mark the path.

Em is sporting Iceland's latest fashion apparel

I have the agility of a fully suited astronaut at this point; I am wearing a base layer, a wool sweater, a NorthFace coat, a sherpa vest, and a snowsuit.......and I am still struggling to stay warm. We had to frequently switch drivers because, even with 2 pairs of gloves, your hands quickly freeze when holding the handlebars.

Much to the chagrin of our tour guide, we ended up tipping the snowmobile over twice. The last one left Em with a nice black and blue souvenir on her leg.
Halfway through the snowmobile trip, we paused for a brief snowball fight with another couple in our group (there were only 4 of us and a guide...nice). This was followed by frolicking in the snow and just acting like schoolchildren on their first Snow Day.

Em just couldn't fight the urge to do the ever-so-popular Snow Angel

Our last stop of the day was to see Gullfoss: arguably one of the most interesting waterfalls ever created by nature. There are multiple falls that are stacked on top of one another and juxtaposed at acute angles, leading to a violent collision of water and rock. It was intriguing to try to trace the intricate path that each drop of water must make to get through these falls. The pictures do not even come close to doing them justice, you have to hear the force of the water and feel the cool spray of the mist to truly experience this place.

the mist from Gullfoss quickly freezes on the opposite bank to form a large ice overhang

Finally, we end with a video (below) of the Great Geysir (mentioned above)....you have to wait a little while into the video before the eruption occurs. I could have edited this out, but it does build the drama a little.....and besides, we stood soaking wet in the freezing rain to capture this, so you can now enjoy it in the comfort of your living room. ;)

....and I promise I will get the next Iceland blog post up a little faster than I did the first two!!