Into the Volcano!

By Glen Bruels
This is part of a series called Nordic Sojourn 2022
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Sounds kind of ominous, doesn’t it?  Well, this was our last day of touring and we only really had one activity for the day — descending 400 feet to the bottom of a volcanic crater and exploring.  Seems easy enough, right?  Let’s do it.  The volcano itself is called Þríhnúkagígu and has been dormant since the last eruption over 4000 years ago.  The name translates to “Three Peaks Crater” which apt, given that our crater is the most northeasterly of the three.  At the top of the peak is the opening to the crater — it’s only about 12 ft. X 12 ft. wide,  but at the bottom, it blossoms out to about 160 ft. X 220 ft. on the bottom.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  In order to descend into the crater, we had to hike about 2 miles from the meeting area and then get fitted with a harness and a hard hat.  Once again, I stressed their sizing system and ultimately got a harness that I think was meant for a horse… We then hiked the last steep bit up to the opening where we were harnessed onto a platform that was reminiscent of a window washer’s platform.  And then down we went.  During the initial descent, we scraped along the edges and were actually tilted off from vertical.  But then the magma chamber opened up below us and it was amazing.  The total time to go down or up was about 7 minutes.  Once on the bottom we had about 30 minutes to wander around which was pretty challenging given the uneven bottom covered with rocks and boulders of various sizes.  What strikes you immediately is both the intense coloration and massive size of the chamber.  This is particularly true given most earthquakes magma chambers get filled with cold, hard lava.  Volcanologists can’t quite figure out what happened here.  One said that “it’s like somebody came and pulled the plug and all the magma ran out of it.”  Anyway, this was truly a unique experience that we were very happy we did.

On our way to the volcano — the first of a set of lava tubes.
We’re going into the volcano on the right.
Crossing continents once again.
Climbing to the top.
Nearly there!
Getting ready to hook up and head down.
Near the bottom.
Investigating the cavern. Lots of rock climbing involved.
The colors were spectacular — lots of minerals.
A really amazing experience!

So that about wraps up our Iceland tour, except for some free time in Reykjavik.  Before I wrap up, I’ve been mentioning our guide throughout this narrative, but have never really talked about her.  Gudny (or Nini as her nickname) is a 30 something native of Iceland.  She grew up on a farm, is an avid horseman and fisherman, and is a fellow travel fanatic.  She can’t stand to let too many months go by without traveling somewhere new.  In fact, she was getting ready to leave for Tajikistan in a few weeks with her girlfriend to go ride horses!  It was fun to see Iceland through her eyes.  Her knowledge and insights were both excellent, adding richness to everyplace we visited.  She also was very curious about our lives, travels, etc.  Being a pretty active trip, it was good that Nini was also with us most of the time, making sure we didn’t get into trouble.  Finally, she was a good “cat herder,” initially keeping 14 of us in line and then down to 4.  It’s always fun to meet both natives and fellow travelers when we visit new places.  With Nini, we had both rolled into one!

Being our photographer.
Keeping us organized
Communicating with the locals.
Being one of the team!
This entry was posted in Iceland, Travel
Glen Bruels

I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.

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