No we didn’t end up in Texas, this saga is about the trip we made to the West coast of Iceland, travelling firstly through that 4 mile tunnel under the fjord which I mentioned in the last post.
First stop of the day was Deildartunguhver producing 180 litres of hot water per second it is the largest thermal spring in the world, and along with two neighbouring springs produces 62 megawatts of electricity. As the water comes out of the ground it is 212F. One of the things I found very refreshing in Iceland was their attitude to personal responsibility, here it is clearly displayed there is a sign clearly stating the danger of the hot spring on a low wooden fence, however if you are stupid enough you could still reach out your hand and touch the water as it bubbles up, however it is your responsibility not to, don’t try and complain if you are stupid enough to ignore the warning, it wont get you anywhere. This attitude is as true whether you are visiting hot springs, geysirs, climbing inside lava tubes, on glaciers, in deep snow, in fact wherever, the dangers are obvious and evident it is up to you to take care.
Having seen the water come steaming out of the ground we were now to see it coming out and freezing as we headed off to Hraunfossar. Hraunfossar is not just one waterfall - did you notice the foss sufix - but a stretch of water which pours out from beneath a lava blanket. Water seeps through the lava and at the end of this lava field you can see it pouring out onto the bedrock. While under the lava the water doesn’t freeze, but at some points as it hits the cold Icelandic air it freezes.
This water pouring out from under the lava joins a river which also has a waterfall just a bit further up steam, a waterfall called Barnafoss, translated as Children’s Waterfall, which gets its name from a rather sad story. There used to be a natural stone arch that bridged the river below the waterfall. One Christmas day a family living nearby went to Church apart from two of the children who were supposed to stay at home. When the family got home the children were nowhere in site, but their footsteps in the snow led to the river and the stone arch, the children could not be found anywhere and their mother in her distress destroyed the stone arch which it was presumed her children had fallen off and drowned in the fast flowing freezing river below the waterfall. There is now a wooden bridge where the stone arch once was and it is easy to see how anyone falling in wouldn’t stand a chance. Like the pictures I posted of Hjalparfoss earlier in the week it is hard again to grasp the scale however if you look closely at the last picture you will see a red mark in the top right hand corner that is a person!
We were in a super jeep again for this day out, and just as well as waterfalls done for the day we headed off the beaten track, through Reykholt to Langjokull Glacier.
It is actually illegal to off road in Iceland, they don’t want the ground to be churned up and damaged, however when it is frozen that can’t happen, so if a road is impassable and you can get around by driving on frozen ground that is allowed. That also goes for crossing streams, which is just as well as we were soon to discover what that sign was there for.
Reykholt an alluvial plain at the rear end of Langjokull Glacier, we had had plans to visit the other end of the Iceberg, but they fell through at the last minute so we ended up at this end of it neither of us were complaining, it was a trip not to be missed and next time, once I have bought him his waterproof camera, we can visit the other end!
If pictures have not done the waterfalls justice, it is even more so when it comes to glaciers. The scale, the sense of awe and wonder, the remoteness, the beauty, none of which can be captured by a camera lens. The thrill of dusting back the snow and standing on galacial ice, knowing that it was slowly moving and hundreds of meters below it was polishing a new valley floor. It really did feel as if you were on top of the world.
But you can’t stay on top of the world, and we ventured back down and underground, well sort of! Volcanos have shapped Iceland and underneath the lava crusts are mazes of lava tubes which once carried molten rock. In a few places the roofs of these vast tubes have caved in and you can venture in at your own risk. Inside you can see where the heat has polished the rock, and in some places it looks as if the rock itself has melted due to the heat of the lava pushing through.
Iceland had once more had surprised and delighted us.
