I came, I thaw, I conquered by Kath Norgrove

credit: Kath Norgrove

The journey began with a drive through a moonscape; well that's my best description of it, with basalt, solidified lava, greyish volcanic granite, and silica. This place is known as "The land of fire and ice" for good reason; from its centre on a geological hot spot with 132 volcanic mountains and 30 active volcano systems, including subglacial volcanoes, to the glaciers that cover over 14% of the entire country. The combination of high mountains, glaciers, thaw/freeze cycles and copious precipitation has also created an abundance of waterfalls. 

We began our day at Gulfoss Waterfall, which is actually two falls that cascade 32m into a steep-sided canyon kicking up a wall of spray in the process. The two falls are 11m and 21m respectively. When the sun catches the spray, it lights up the falls with a warm yellowish glow giving it its other name of the “Golden Waterfall”. The spray wet me and the air was cold, so I felt like I was getting a chill.

Gulfoss - credit: Kath Norgrove

At least our second stop was a bit warmer; a visit to the geyser geothermal field, home to the now inactive "Great Geyser" Geysir and its buddy Strokkur. The “Great Geyser” was the original sprouting hot spring and all the others around the world are named after it. Strokkur, translated as “The Churn”, sends a column of water some 30m high at regular intervals. There's a rope round it so you don't get too close, but one can still end up a little soggy when it goes off.

credit: Kath Norgrove

Our last stop of the day, where I had almost warmed up was Bingvellir National Park where the first national parliament (Alpingi) in the world was created. It first convened in AD930. þingvellir also sits on the mid-Atlantic Ridge where the continental plates of Eurasia and North America are pulling apart creating earthquakes and volcanic activity. This is causing the country to grow. Indeed the land in the Almannagja Fissure where the Alþingi met literally sits between the two continental plates.

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The next day was a glacier hike on the glacial tongue of Solheimajökull off the main icecap at Myrdalsjökull reputedly the islands´s 4th largest, with the dormant volcano Katla lying underneath. Our guide cheerfully explained that the country usually gets an eruption every 2-5 years before quietly adding that there had been none for 5 years so "we´re due one now"! 

As it turned out, another ice-capped volcano, Eyjafjallajökull (meaning “island mountain glacier”), only 25km west of Katla did erupt just six months later. Following several months of increased seismic activity, starting soon after the hike, the first explosion was relatively small. Despite that, a month later, it sent a large smouldering plume of volcanic ash containing microscopic particles of hard volcanic rock over nine kilometres into the sky. The ash cloud moved eastwards with the jetstream and eventually covered all of Northern Europe, stretching from Greenland to Russia and parts of Mongolia. Fortunately the all-clear was given the night before our next global trip. Thirteen eruptions have been recorded since the island was settled in the late 9th century; the deadliest eruption in the country’s history being the Skaftáreldar (fires of Skaftá) in 1783-1784. 

However, on the day, we had an exciting walk up the icefield viewing ice ridges, sculptures, crevasses and cauldrons. The glacier covers 700 square kilometres, rising to 1480m at its highest point with a thickness of over 1km in places. Crampons and ice axes were provided and we were accompanied by two glacier guides.

 credit: Kath Norgrove

 credit: Kath Norgrove

On the way back we stopped at Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls. Skógafoss tumbles 62m over a rocky scarp kicking up sheets of mist. The cliffs surrounding the waterfall is where the sea used to be and the Skóga River flowed into the ocean here. A local legend says that Vikings hid a chest of gold behind the falls but no-one has found it yet! Water from Eyjafjallajökull's melting ice eventually flows over the spectacular Seljalandsfoss waterfall. Made up of several smaller waterfalls creating the effect of one, it has a single clear drop of 60m into a calm pool below set in a flat area of meadowland. I opted to stay dryer, and warmer, by skipping the walk behind the falls. 

 credit: Kath Norgrove