Iceland 2013

Iceland lies astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. As its name implies, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a massive mountain range that runs north-south under the midline of the Atlantic Ocean. It is almost entirely below sea level, but its crest briefly rises above sea level near Greenland, forming the island we call Iceland.

Geologists call the Mid-Atlantic Ridge a spreading center, which means that an upwelling from below causes two tektonic plates to drift apart. This activity causes many interesting geological phenomena, such as volcanoes, geysers, fumaroles, hot springs, and more. It's like Yellowstone National Park on steroids. It gives geologists a glimpse of things that happen on a much larger scale on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean but remain unseen.

Politically, Iceland is a country. Its population is very small, only about 320,000, over half of whom live in or near the capital and principal city, Reykjavik. Though an island, it is considered part of Scandinavia because its history and cultural heritage are tightly interwoven with Scandinavia. The Icelandic language is very similar to Norwegian.

I have always been fascinated by Iceland and have wanted to go there for over 30 years. In June 2013 I finally got the chance. This page is a photo essay of that experience.

The volcanic nature of the island was evident from the minute I arrived. The entire island is all but treeless, and its soil is mostly a dark coarse sand. When rocks and boulders are present, their surface is extremely rough and abrasive, like sandpaper.

Typical Icelandic scenery near Reykjavik

Leif Eiricsson statue in downtown Reykjavik	Hallgramskirkja, a Lutheran church in downtown Reykjavik. This is Reykjavik's most prominent landmark.
Microsoft has a presence in Iceland. It is somewhat ironic that the spelling is unchanged since the letter c is not in the Icelandic language alphabet.	But, Microsoft is not the only trademark in Iceland with letters not native to the language.

Þingvellir is a place where the separation of two tektonic plates is particularly evident by the giant fissures in the ground. "Þ" is the Icelandic letter Thorn, which is pronounced like a soft "th" in English. Þingvellir is also where Iceland's Parliament was founded in the year 930 A.D.

Views of tektonic spreading fissures around Þingvellir

Views of Þingvallavatn, the largest lake in Iceland, near Þingvellir

The second day I was in Iceland, I climbed Hekla, the most famous mountain in Iceland. It is an active volcano; its last eruption was in 2000. That wasn't very evident from my climb, because I climbed from the side opposite the crater. For the peakbagging junkies who know me, Hekla's summit is 1491m (4892') above sea level, and its prominence is 796m (2612').

Though the name "Hekla" technically means "hooded", many interpret the name as "gateway to hell".

View of Hekla from a nearby highway

View from Hekla during the climb

The upper slopes of Hekla as seen from the climb

Just below the summit of Hekla are these tunnels in the ice, caused by steam vents underneath.

Iceland has a wide variety of waterfalls. Although that can be said of any group of waterfalls, I feel it is more true in Iceland than in most other places. Since Iceland is of almost exclusively volcanic origin, many of Iceland's waterfalls are formed where water flows over, around, or between layers of lava. There is an endless variety of ways that can happen. If Iceland's waterfalls were a product of deliberate human design, the person who designed them would be heralded as having a wide variety of creative artistic ideas.

The first Icelandic waterfall I experienced close up was Seljalandsfoss. A tourist trail goes through an alcove behind the falls. Because of the spray mist, a raincoat is advised when hiking this trail regardless of the weather. It reminded me of the Mist Trail which climbs directly alongside Vernal Falls in Yosemite.

General view of Seljalandsfoss

Close-up views of Seljalandsfoss

Rainbow in Seljalandsfoss	Looking outward from the trail behind Seljalandsfoss
a secondary waterfall near Seljalandsfoss	grotto near Seljalandsfoss

Foss á Síðu, a waterfall farther east on Iceland's south coast

I spent approximately one day exploring Skaftafell National Park on Iceland's southeast coast. It features waterfalls and glaciers. Hidden in the highlands of Skaftafell is the vast Vatnajökull (pronounced "VAHT-nuh-yo-kul"), which is Iceland's largest ice cap. Many glaciers drain the Vatnajökull on all sides.

Skeiðarárjökull, one of the glaciers that drains the Vatnajökull, which is barely visible in the distance

Svínafellsjökull, another glacier that drains the Vatnajökull

Svínafellsjökull eventually melts into a lake, shown in these views

Skaftafellsjökull, yet another glacier that drains the Vatnajökull

Views of Svartifoss, one of the more popular hikes in Skaftafell

As a very prolific mountain climber and peakbagger, one of my main objectives in Iceland was to climb the country's highest peak, Hvannadalshnjúkur (pronounced "'kwa-nuh-dalsh-NYOO-kur"). For the peakbagging junkies, Hvannadalshnjúkur rises 2110m (6923') above sea level, and its prominence equals its elevation above sea level since it is the highest point on an island in the ocean.

Hvannadalshnjúkur is a steep ridge of ice that projects about 250 to 300 meters (800 to 1000 feet) above the Vatnajökull.

I enlisted the services of Icelandic Mountain Guides, as did my friend and climbing companion Duane Gilliland, who was also in the climbing party with me. The climb is normally done in one long, strenuous day, starting near sea level. The climb gains about 1000 meters (3300 feet) on dry ground, then we reach the snow where we rope up, and after gaining an additional 800 meters (2600 feet), we reach the vast expanse of the Vatnajökull. We walk across the ice cap for a few kilometers to the summit ice ridge, which requires ice axes and crampons to climb. We must be roped together because of hidden crevasses; one member of our party (slightly overweight, I must say) broke through the ice crust several times and fell partway into a hidden crevasse.

First view of Hvannadalshnjúkur

View of Hvannadalshnjúkur from partway up the climb.

Hvannadalshnjúkur from the east as I departed. The summit is the blip near the left side of the glacier.

Fjallsjökull, another glacier that drains the Vatnajökull

Breiðamerkurjökull, another glacier that drains the Vatnajökull

The Breiðamerkurjökull eventually melts into a lake called Jökulsárlón, which teems with icebergs.

Various views of Jökulsárlón.

Ice from Jökulsárlón sometimes even washes up onto the beach!

Visitors can take an amphibious boat tour of Jökulsárlón. I would have loved to do that, but I didn't because the facility was closed when I arrived, and it would be three hours before they opened.

Fláajökull, another glacier that drains the Vatnajökull

Views of Breiðdalsheiði Pass, the highest point on Iceland Highway 1, the "Ring Road" that circumnavigates the island

Driving up Jökuldalur, a valley near Eggilstaðir, I observed a number of plumes rising from the hillside. In Iceland, the first guess about their origin would be hot springs. On closer approach, however, they proved to be waterfall mist.

Waterfall mist in Jökuldalur

The waterfall that's the source of the mist

I took a short hike up a steep trail with a closer view

Dettifoss is the "Niagra Falls" of Iceland. Located on the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river near Iceland's northeast coast, it is claimed to be the most powerful waterfall in Europe. This might depend on one's definition of the "power" of a waterfall, but a reasonable definition would be the number of megawatts that could be generated if it were dammed completely; in other words, the height of the falls times the flow rate.

A major reason for the "power" of Dettifoss, however that term is defined, is that the Jökulsá á Fjöllum drains a large area of northeastern Iceland, including all of the glaciers that come off the north side of the Vatnajökull.

Views of Dettifoss from the east side

Views of Dettifoss from the west side

Views of Selfoss, about 2 km upstream of Dettifoss

Iceland is noted for alternative energy in general, and (because of its volcanic origin) geothermal energy in particular. Krafla is a geothermal power plant on Iceland's north coast which generates 60MW of electric power, enough to supply approximately 45,000 homes.

Views of the Krafla geothermal power plant

Geothermal well sites at Krafla

Near the Krafla power plant is Námafjall, an area of muddy hot springs and fumaroles. Some of them emit the exceedingly toxic and foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas. Fortunately its odor is greater than its toxicity and hence the odor provides ample warning of the danger; as long as the odor remains tolerable, quantities are well below the lethal level.

Views of hot springs, fumaroles, and steam vents at Námafjall

Lake Mývatn, on Iceland's north coast, is the site of a wide variety of volcanic features. Pillars, caves, and arches are just a few of the many types of interesting features to be seen. One can spend months exploring them all. Sadly, I had only about one day.

Lake Mývatn and geothermal sites

Lava beds around Lake Mývatn

Crater of Hverfjall, a cinder cone near Lake Myvatn. A hiking trail leads up to and around the crater.

Views of Lake Mývatn from the rim of Hverfjall.

Dimmuborgir is a patch of lava near Lake Mývatn that was formed in a very interesting way. It began as a molten pool which froze on top first. Unlike water, solid rock is heavier than liquid rock, so the frozen surface began to sink. The liquid rock underneath was forced to ooze upward and outward through cracks in the solid layer, forming a fascinating array of exotic structures.

Dimmuborgir is well-named, translating to English as "dark cities" or "dark castles".

Dimmuborgir is replete with exotic lava structures.

Goðafoss is another of Iceland's endless variety of waterfalls. If you think the name looks like "God Falls", you're not wrong. The name derives from a legendary incident when Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, a lawspeaker and pagan priest, converted himself (and the Icelandic nation) to Christianity and threw his statues of the pagan gods into the falls.

Goðafoss

My next major mountain climb of the trip would be to Grjótskálarhnjúkur, which is the highest summit in the Vesturheiði range east of Akureyri. It is situated in the heavily fjorded north coast, which I found to be the most beautiful part of the country in terms of alpine scenery. For the peakbagging junkies out there, Grjótskálarhnjúkur is 1214 meters (3983 feet) above sea level and its prominence is 1084 meters (3556 feet), ranking third in Iceland by that metric.

Climbing Grjótskálarhnjúkur on snow and talus

Views of Austurfjall from the slopes of Grjótskálarhnjúkur

Views of Eyjafjörður, the longest fjord in Iceland, from the summit ridge of Grjótskálarhnjúkur

The summit of Grjótskálarhnjúkur

Geysir is the site of a cluster of geysers and hot springs. The English word "geyser" is literally derived from this name.

Plumes of steam from the hot springs at Geysir seen from about 1 km away

Hot springs at Geysir

Little Geysir

Strokkur, the most regularly erupting geyser at Geysir. It erupts about every 6 to 10 minutes. It is very difficult to get a picture of an eruption, because each eruption lasts only about 5 seconds.

Views of Gullfoss, near Geysir

My tour of Iceland was now concluded. It was followed immediately by a tour of Scotland.