Jim Herron

Our last day together included two crater hikes before lunch, a drive to Akureyri, a flight back to Reykjavik, and dinner near the pond. The morning hikes took us to Namafjall and Hverfjall, two overlapping calderas. Before and after hiking up to the main rim of Namafjall we took in the airs of the nearby mud geysers. The pumice trails easily gave way under our feet and we were fortunate to avoid the rain which would have made the surface dangerously slippery. The hike up to Hverfall on broken stone was not as eventfull as the way down. This provided a fun slalom run for the more nimble, and a challenge of balance and quad strength for others. At the bottom of the trail we entered Dimmuborgir (Dark Castles) as area of raised lava formations. After ... read more

This was a driving day - repositioning to the Myvatn area for a few hikes in the north central area of the country. Before leaving Hofn we took in the Glacier Museum. Besides the historical and geologic displays was a running loop of the Aston Martin car chase scene from the James Bond film Die Another Day. The scene was filmed on Jokulsarlon which had been blocked and allowed to freeze. Scenes of several other movies have been at that location. Riding along the east coast fjords we moved into one of the older parts of the country. Most of the country's landmass is relatively new; shaped by volcanic and glacial activity, and erosion. The east and west coasts are older and shaped more by sea erosion; the last volcanic activity being before the last ice ... read more

The day began with a stop at the Vatnajokull National Park western offices and museum for a talk by the director of the park's western region. Vatnajokull is the glaicer in the southeastern part of the country that covers roughly 1/8 of Iceland. As we found later in the day it is also the name of a local beer that uses indigenous thyme for a slight floral taste. In addition to the mid-Atlantic ridge, Iceland is over a hotspot in Earth's crust centered under Vatnajokull. The are 10 volcanoes in the park, 7 of which are under the ice cap so there is a long history of interplay between fire and ice. One unique feature is the hyaloclastic brown rift rock that is formed under glaciers when lava interacts with ice and water. It is rarely ... read more

Our first day's driver Matti left us yesterday and this morning we met Olie, our driver for the remainder of the trip. He would turn out to be wealth of information if one asked. A morning drive towards Myrdals-Jokull, the country's southernmost glacier, offered us views across the lava plains toward Hekla. This volcano was believed to be the entrance to hell, the name being one of several Icelandic words for that destination. At the entrance to Thorsmork, Valley of Thor, we stopped for a walk around and behind Seljalandsfoss. The suffix foss denotes a waterfall. After a drive through a flood plain up Thorsmork, including the first of many river fords, we stopped short of the end of the road, avoiding the campsites there, for a hike up a side canyon. The canyon floor was ... read more

Departed SeaTac Thursday afternoon on a direct Icelandair flight to Keflavik. Landed Friday morning and were met by Raggi, our guide for the next 10 days. As the rooms were not ready yet, we dropped our bags at the hotel and took off on a walking tour of old Reykjavik. After an afternoon of further sight seeing, shopping, napping we met up for a seafood dinner before heading off to an evening of adjusting to the new time zone.... read more