Iceland Day 9

Today was spent touring the Lake Myvatn area of northern Iceland.

The first stop of the day was at a place called Leirhnjukur (say that fast 3 times!). It was only about an hour’s walk but we walked on every type of terrain possible…gravel, hard rock, boardwalk, lava, and snow. Signs warned you to stay on marked paths or light brown clay as the ground had hot spots. Steam was rising out of many places and there were several milky green-blue pools along the way.

This place had the funniest sign I’ve seen yet on this trip….see below. Walking in soft snow was easy for this Canandian!

Although we weren’t really hungry, lunch was on the agenda and we stopped at a nice place nearby. It was so good, we came back there later for supper as well. I had a slice of hotspring bread with smoked arctic char. It wasn’t too filling so I had dessert – a chocolate, date merange concoction with whipped cream. Oh my! That filled up the cracks.

After lunch we visited Dimmuborgir. It is a walking path around some fascinating, solidified lava formations. One of them was called the ‘kirkjan’ (which means church) and we posed for a group photo. The trail was an easy walk for a change.

We had brought our swimsuits and towels and headed over to the Myvatn Nature Baths, which are thermal pools. The water was quite hot in places and bearable in others. I was surprised to find that the pool bottom contained rocks and sand or mud. It was not a traditional pool with a man-made basin. There were large natural rocks for sitting on in various places around the pool and I parked myself one of those for quite a while. The mineral water is supposed to heal all kinds of ills. It sure felt good on my tired feet.

After that we made a quick stop at Namafjall – a geothermal area with fumaroles and mud pots. Fumarole gas mixed with steam rises out of the ground like a mini-volcano. It smells very sulphury. They are very hot and super interesting.

Supper was on the agenda again then we headed back to our hotel. The light was wonderful and I snapped a few good ones. Our hotel is right by Skutustadagigar (say that fast 3 times). I walked amongst the pseudo-craters formed by steam explosions when burning lava encounters lakes or wetlands.

At the end of the walking path, a pretty orange-legged bird warned me not to get too close. I took some shots from a respectful distance and headed in for the night.