Lava and Snow

Today was a BIG day, and our last in Iceland. We left our comfy warm hotel at 7am and ventured outside into -5 degrees for the long drive to Vik followed by an adventure tour to Katlan, Iceland’s super volcano (second to Yellowstone) that sits beneath a glacier.

We didn’t understand the concept of an inland tsunami previous to this experience. A glacier above a volcano means instant and explosive water when mixed with lava. Katlan blows historically every 30-70 years and is well overdue at 100 years since she last went up. Vik (local village) has prepared with large berms to slow down the tsunami and buy time to evacuate to higher ground, should the need arise. 😬

So… we took a leap of faith and ventured into an ice-cave in the glacier that sits above the volcano.

Wow. The photos say it all, the glacier mostly appears black from ash, but inside the naturally occurring cave (created by water) you can see clear ice created by the one hundred year old glacier (a youngster in glacial terms)

Then on to a unique demonstration where we experienced real lava up close and felt the intensity of the heat (800 degrees celcius), I thought my iPhone was going to melt.

We visited a black volcanic sand beach, followed by a mandatory waterfall stop and then drove to Keflavík to stay in an ordinary but expensive airport hotel ($200 for one steak, a salad and 2 gasses of wine).

Today we achieved our jobs to get the required video footage for Fiona’s new song Lava and Snow. What an interesting day.

Tomorrow we fly to Dublin. ☘️Read more