The Alien Landscape of Iceland

Once again Iceland has not disappointed. 

I started my journey more than three months ago in Iceland and absolutely fell in love with the beauty of the land.  The simple joy of just driving between massive snow topped hills or dormant volcanoes… and not so dormant ones, always left me in awe.  I’m glad to say, Iceland has once again made me fall for her whimsical and unabashed beauty.  I started the end of my journey with one plan in mind, scuba dive in the pristine waters of Silfra, which I will be doing tomorrow.  That still left me with 2 days unaccounted for.  So I got to doing research of what was close to me that I could get to with relative ease and go off on my own and do some hiking.  Turns out there really isn’t any means of getting to the hiking destinations via public transit.  So I was left with two options; book a tour and get stuck with the geriatrics on holiday, or rent a car.  I did what any sane person would do.  I rented the smallest cheapest car I could find, for the day I wanted to do my hike, and waited for it to be dropped off the following morning.

I chose two places that I wanted to go to while I had the car.  Krysuvik/Seltun, and Krysuvikurbjarg.  I was not disappointed with my choices at all.  The moment I arrived at Krysuvik/Seltun I felt like I was on another world.  The volatile geothermal field is dotted with solfataras, fumaroles, mud pots and hot springs.  The colors of the earth were so vivid and vibrant because of all the sulfur.  The soil is colored bright yellow, red, and green due to all the geothermal activity and mineral deposits.  It was as if I was transposed to the surface of Mars.  All I can say is that the sulfur pools were something straight from an alien world.  I hiked up to the top of an adjacent hill to get a better view of the area and take a look at some other vents that were near the top.  Once at the top I had an amazing view of the entire area and a view towards my next destination.  The cliffs.

Krysuvikurbjarg was no easy feat to get to, especially with the tiny car I rented.  So I ditched the car at at the pull off and proceeded to walk the 5Km from the road to the coast. The walk was surely worth it because as I reached the edge of the coast I was greeted with a beautiful coastline with amazing cliffs at either side.  I lucked out that as I finished up my shots, a truck came over the top of an adjacent hill.  I flagged the driver down.  It turns out he was the lighthouse keeper and he was just finishing up his rounds on this stretch of coast and he was kind enough to give me a lift back to the road.

On my way back I made a quick stop at Grænavatn, an unusual green-blue lake that was formed in a crater formed by the explosion overheated groundwater.  The color is the result of the minerals in the water and a warmth-loving algae.  It is quite a sight.