Bug Lake Area

Yesterday evening we had a couple of walks - before and after our meal - up both sides of the river to view the Foss - it looked as if it needed only about an additional foot of water to increase the width of the falls by about 25%.  Just by our guesthouse we watched a man fishing in the swirling water - whilst we didn't see him catch anything, he did have a couple of massive (the length of his legs) beside him on the bank .

We backtracked yesterday's route towards the small town of Reykjahlíð which sits on the banks of a big lake Mývatn. The literal meaning of Mývatn is midge lake.  At about 38 square kilometres in area, the lake is the fourth largest in Iceland and probably the most fertile spot on the globe at a similar latitude. It was created after the ice age ended in Iceland some 10,000 years ago. However, it was really only formed about 3,800 years ago when a lava flow blocked the valley to create a shallow lake.

Pseudocraters

The whole year round the lake is normally surrounded by midges that live as larva in the water. As a result lots of birds come here the whole year round - there are often 18 species of ducks alone around the lake. However, this year (to our great relief) there are very few midges - good for us but not for the birds and fish that rely on them for food.

Our first stop were the pseudocraters at Skútustaðir.  These are formed by steam explosions as flowing hot lava crosses over a wet surface, such as a swamp, a lake, or a pond. The explosive gases break through the lava surface and create depressions which can appear very similar to real volcanic craters.  To be honest, they just looked like mounds and islands across the landscape. 

Next we visited Hverfjall which erupted about 2,500 years ago. It is almost the classic crater shape spoiled only by a landslide that apparently occurred in the South part of the crater during the eruption.  We trudged up a shale path to the rim which is approximately 1km in diameter - we were given two options : a shorter steeper route or a longer gentler route to the downward path.  There was a certain amount of pressure to take the shorter route (which I did) but when we reached the path, the first of those who took the longer route soon joined us - not sure if we were slow or they were fast : some of both I think.  The path down was a bit of a challenge - steep loose shale.  There was a roped off path that guided you down part of the way through a number of short zig-zags but for the bottom half you were left to your own devices.  I decided to 'go for it' and, despite a complaint about the dust generated, too a more rapid approach to the decent.  All ended well - apart from boots full of fine lava grit.

Down track

Dimmuborgir

From here it was a short walk through the Dimmuborgir (dimmu "dark", borgir "cities") unusually shaped lava fields composed of various volcanic caves and rock formations, reminiscent of an ancient collapsed citadel (hence the name).    More boringly, it is a massive, collapsed lava tube formed by a lava lake flowing in from a large eruption about 2,300 years ago. As the lava flowed across wet sod, the water of the marsh started to boil, the vapour rising through the lava forming lava pillars from drainpipe size up to several meters in diameter.  Walking through we encounter some very well dressed tourists (French / Italian ?) who certainly weren't dressed for a hike up a crater.  A short time later they trooped into the cafe where we were having lunch - excellent smoked salmon on lava bread (bread baked in the ground by volcanic heat - not the Welsh variety).


 Again there was another trip to the local heated pool for some.  The remainder mooched around the very small town and the lake shore and all gradually gravitated to a small cafe as the rain set in.  This was the first of the holiday - we had done very well in a country that is reputed to have only three types of weather : reputedly it's either raining, just stopped raining or just about to start.