Iceland: Exploring the Island’s Volcanos and Waterfalls

A trip to Iceland was on my bucket list for many years.  My only previous “visit” to this remote nation was in 1970 when my low-cost Icelandic Air flight from New York’s JFK to Luxembourg stopped there briefly for refueling.  For years I have been saying that I had landed in Reykjavik, but in reality, I had stopped briefly at the airport in Keflavik, about thirty miles southwest of the capital city.  I learned on my recent trip that the Keflavik airport is on the site of a US Naval base, established during World War II as a strategic location for the Allies.  The US “occupation,” as the Icelanders referred to our presence there, didn’t end until 2006.  When Icelandic Air (now Icelandair) started flying between the US and Europe, it was given tax breaks because it flew out of the US Naval base.  So many young Americans flew this route in the early 1970s, that Icelandic Air was also known as the “hippie airline.”

Before the Covid pandemic interrupted all or our travel plans, Scott and I had planned a trip to Iceland.  We researched several possibilities—cruise ships, guided tours, or going on our own. We settled on a combination of time on our own and an active, off-the-beaten-track offering through Country Walkers.  According to the pre-trip publications, we could expect to walk between five and eight miles a day and stay in some small towns not on other tour-group itineraries.  Our original plan was to go to Iceland in 2021, but an uptick in infection rates led us to postpone the trip for a year.  While many have returned to travel, we were pleased to learn that our tour group would have only four travelers in addition to us.

We began our trip with a day on our own in Reykjavik before meeting our guide, Sori, and the other travelers in our group—Cindy and Bill from Massachusetts and Karen and Pat, women friends from Alberta, Canada.  I had worried about being older and less fit than the others on the tour, but it turned out that Scott and I were the youngest in the group, and Scott was, by far, the best hiker of the bunch.

Iceland, an island about the size of Ohio in the North Atlantic Ocean, was formed from a series of volcanic eruptions.  It is called a nation of “fire and ice.”  There are 32 active volcanos, and one or another of them erupts, on average, every four years.  Iceland sits between two tectonic plates and over a hotspot deep in the earth, such that there is significant geothermal activity across the country—enough to provide hot water and energy to most of the population.  In contrast, Iceland also boasts over 200 glaciers which cover eleven percent of the island’s landmass.  This is a fascinating place to visit for the geologically minded.

The best known of Iceland’s geothermal pools is the Blue Lagoon, located between Keflavik and Reykjavik.  The water in the Blue Lagoon comes from a nearby geothermal power station.  Visitors can enjoy the warm waters of the Blue Lagoon for about $80 per person.  We elected to skip that experience in favor of one of the many public complexes in towns throughout Iceland.  We visited one in Borgarnes which included several hot tubs fed by local hot springs, a steam sauna, an Olympic-sized pool, and a water slide.  Prior to entering the pools, we were required to take a full body shower in the community facilities. (There were separate facilities for men and women.)  A second shower was also required when leaving the pools.  We quickly overcame our inhibitions and joined the other women in the communal showers.  We spent a couple of hours at a Blue-Lagoon type pool in the north of the country.  Our guide called it the smaller and prettier sister of the Blue Lagoon. 

While we learned something of the geology of the country, our particular trip focused on exploring some interesting parts of Iceland on foot—hiking up volcanic mountains, viewing spectacular waterfalls, and enjoying the pastoral beauty of the farmlands that fill the river valleys.

Our first hike was an easy trail on Mt. Esja, the volcano visible from Reykjavik and our last one was an eight-mile trek through varied terrain and ending in a giant, jagged lava field at Dimmuborgir (literally the “Dark Castles”).  The strange lava pillars were created about two thousand years ago when newly-erupted lava flowed across older lava fields and was dammed into a fiery lake. The surface of the lake cooled, and when the dam broke, the remaining lava flowed onward and left behind the cooled, oddly shaped pillars.  Accdording to folk lore, these are trolls who came out at night but failed to return to their caves before day broke so were frozen into rocks for eternity.

Other hikes took us along lava-strewn banks of a river, up a mountainside to discover a stunning waterfall that wasn’t readily accessible to the tour buses, and up 660 steps to look into the Grábrók crater which was left from a volcanic eruption about 3,400 years ago. 

Along with busloads of other tourists, we visited several stunning waterfalls.  Hraunfossar (Lava Falls) and Barnafoss (Children’s Falls).  

Goðafoss, which means “waterfall of the Gods,” was named for the lawspeaker who made Christianity the official religion of Iceland, and threw his statues of the Norse gods into the waterfall.  Dettifoss is Europe’s most powerful waterfall (often compared to Niagara Falls). 

A large feature in the north of the country is Lake Mývatn.  The region is geologically active with volcanic craters, lava fields, and bubbling mudflats.  It’s also where you’ll find Europe’s largest migratory-bird sanctuary, with many species of waterfowl feeding on the insects and algae of the lake’s warm, shallow waters.  Lake Myvatn sports an impressive array of pseudocraters, which were formed when hot lava crossed a cool body of water, and steam from below pushed debris into a crater-like shape. Also called “rootless cones,” pseudocraters are found only in Iceland and on the planet Mars!

Driving around the island we enjoyed dense spreads of colorful wildflowers, mostly purple lupine.  According to our guide, the government distributed seeds to anyone who would sow them in the hopes that the flowers would thrive, produce nitrogen, and thereby replenish the soil so that other plants would grow.  Another botanical project involves planting trees.  Thirty years ago (or so) the government paid people to plant trees to replenish those that had been cut down centuries ago and also to stop the erosion of soil from the tree-less areas. 

 

In addition to hiking, we also had several interesting cultural experiences.  Iceland was originally settled by Vikings or Norsemen around 871.  (The date can be well-established thanks to volcanic ash layering.)  In the 900s a parliamentary government was formed, making Iceland the world’s oldest republic.  To commemorate the thousandth year of the Icelandic parliament, called the Althing, the United States gave the country a statue of our common explorer/ discoverer Leif Erickson.  The statue stands in front of a beautiful Lutheran church in Reykjavik. 

 We spent one afternoon walking around a farm where we learned about the cairns that were used to help wayward travelers find their way during storms.  Our guide was a woman farmer who raises a breed called leader sheep and goats. 

We had a lunch of soup and bread at an agritourism bed and breakfast, Dæli Ranch.  The ranch breeds and trains Icelandic horses.  Before lunch we were treated to a program that told the history of these small but sturdy animals.  These horses have up to five unique gaits, but I would be hard pressed to tell anyone what they were.  Should you be interested in staying at Daeli Ranch, your job would likely be planting trees.

Another culture experience was a visit to historic Skagafjörður for a tour of the turf home of a preacher built in the 18^th century.  Family members and workers slept in a series of bunks in one large room.  Food was prepared and served in a separate kitchen and members of the household ate on their bunks.  A separate guest room was maintained for any travelers who needed temporary shelter. 

We enjoyed a spot of tea and pastries and a chance to warm our chilled hands in the lovely 19^th century house on the premises.

Our tour ended in the northern coastal town of Húsavík.  After a quick stop at the town’s scenic harbor, we boarded a small plane for our flight back to Reykjavík.

Iceland is a most interesting and beautiful country and we are glad to have experienced it.  There are many more sites that we did not see but we can't imagine that the ones we missed were any more spectacular than the ones we did see.