What does the inside of the earth smell like...?

Thursday and Friday were written off as travel days, but turned out to be rather special. After bidding a fond farewell to our forest home in Hólar, we drove down to lake Mývatn and after setting up camp, went for a late afternoon walk around Leirhnjukul, or 'clay mountain', part of the Krafla caldera in north-east Iceland. This is an active volcanic area which erupted almost continuously for nine years between 1975 and 1984 in what was known as the 'Krafla fires'. To be able to walk amongst the aftermath (on an excellent boardwalk constructed by previous ICV volunteers!) was a real privilege. Steam rose from craters, mud pots bubbled all around us and we climbed over the young, lumpy lava which reminded me of caviar spread across the mountains. The top of the trail offered an incredible view across the scarred landscape. I felt so lucky to be there. We then finished the day off with a soak in the natural Mývatn steam baths, and when we got back to camp we found an amazing Icelandic feast waiting for us in the mess tent, lots of delicious breads, cheeses and pates. What a day.




On Friday morning, we stopped to have a look at the geothermal area at nearby Hverir, one of the largest hot spring areas in Iceland. The landscape was so raw and uninviting, steaming, hissing and bubbling away with no regard for us humans who for some reason think that we are the masters of this planet! Mud pots splattered menacingly and fumaroles spurted endless quantities of steam out of the ground - it took my breath away, both figuratively and literally, because the smell was almost unbearable - like caustic rotten eggs! I stood and thought about how that smell was coming from deep inside the earth, far below my feet, from a place that we are unlikely to ever photograph, let alone see with our own eyes. This was about as close as it gets.
I would love to return to Mývatn at some point, as there is just so much to see there. The landscape is like a cross between how you would expect Mars and the moon to look, and it really stirs up the explorer in you. Then of course there is Lake Mývatn itself - a unique ecosystem due to its rather effective under floor heating system. It's a paradise for birds, especially ducks, as parts of the lake are warm enough to avoid freezing over in winter, and they have plentiful midges to eat (Mývatn translates as midge lake, thankfully they don't bite!).

We are now settled in at Skaftafell and the ash from the recent eruption is still very much in evidence. The park is surrounded by glacier tongues, which are black and sooty instead of their usual blue-white, and the dust is everywhere, like fine sand. The good news though is that we have a hut for cooking and relaxing in, which we gave a thorough spring clean this morning. The sun is shining and it's all quite homely! Tomorrow we hope to go out on a guided walk of one of the glaciers, then next week we will get cracking with lupin surveying and removal in the valley. More on that soon!