Day 8, Sep 1: Myvatn to Myvatn (again)

Myvatn is a large, shallow lake that sits directly on the mid- Atlantic ridge and shows many of the volcanic effects of its location: mud pots, fumaroles, craters, and eruption cones, more than anywhere else in the country. An eruption 10,000 years ago under the then-present glacier, formed the flat-topped mountains (mobergs) that I've been calling buttes. More eruptions spread lava in thick sheets all the way to the fiord to the north - more than 40 miles. More craters were formed and more lava flowed over the centuries with the most recent eruptions in the 1720s. The small town of Reykjahlith sits at the northeast corner of the lake, just a half mile from the campground. In a nine-year string of eruptions in the 1720s, the church in Reykjahlith (that we can see from our campground and which has been rebuilt, twice) was miraculously saved from the lava flow. The lava destroyed the rest of the town but missed the church when the lava parted and flowed on either side.

Our day dawned windy with a low-hanging dust layer that obscured some of the hills and mobergs that had been so clear, yesterday. We learned that the wind had picked up dust and sand from the interior of the country and carried it across here. We broke camp and started south on the 848 around the lake.

We immediately were stopped by a large gathering of people (over a hundred) at a sheep pen along the road. On the first Sunday in September, the farmers gather to sort the sheep. The sheep had been grazing unattended since May and we're rounded up and brought here. Now the farmers, their kids, cousins, and anyone else jumped into the pen and tried to identify their sheep by the ear tags. Everyone seemed to be having a grand time. They had a tent set up to sell hot dogs and snacks. Naturally the tourists stopped to take in the sight and we did, too.

Continuing south through the lava field, we came to Hofthi, a wooded lava mound turned into a nature preserve. We walked around the footpaths and viewed the lava pillars that rise from the lake. These pillars are formed when lava flows over water or marsh. The trapped water flashes to steam and shoots through the lava, cooling a tube around the escape vent. The rest of the lava, still hot, may flow on or settle but the tubes remain.

Swung around to the west on the south shore of the lake. The visitor's center for the nature preserve is there among the collection of pseudo-craters. These craters are also formed when lava flows over wet ground and the trapped steam blows a caldera-shaped cone of lava, cinders and ash. The visitor's center had good displays but no brochures - go online. We caught the 1 on the west side of the lake and headed north, stopping to eat the sandwiches we'd made this morning while sitting in the bird sanctuary. Visited the small but modern bird museum and had an informative conversation with the docent there. She told us about the origins of today's dust. As we continued north the air had cleared some and the Hverfjall crater was visible on the east side of the lake. It is the result of a huge eruption some 2700 years ago and has a nearly perfect shape of a volcanic cinder cone.

Completing our circle, we headed east on the 1 a few kilometers. Stopped to look at the new mineral baths complex that is similar to the Blue Lagoon and powered the same way with spent water from the nearby geothermal power plant. Didn't go in but continued over the hill to the geothermal fields of Hverir. This area is an active volcanic zone from the Krafla volcano. The somewhat small area has mud pots, fumaroles, and steam vents. The sulphur smell is powerful. We walked around taking pics and marveling.

We returned to the same campground as last night and set up again. Took advantage of the laundry service to have two loads done. Dinner of salad and soup and watch the sunset.Read more