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.
