Iceland Day Two
Mar. 2nd, 2025 02:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Our second day in Iceland was a busy one, visiting a number of different spots. Yes, I've spent hours whittling down the photos from the insane number I took. Yes, I still have too many.
Our first stop of the day was the lava cave at Vidgelmir. 10am is still early in the morning when the sun doesn't come up until after 9.
Ice on the lava flow above the tunnels.
Steps down into the tunnel.
There are no stalagmites in a lava cave, but in winter there are icicles! The water seeps through the rocks, then freezes when it gets into the cave and is exposed to air temperatures. The icicles were absolutely gorgeous lit up by our headlamps. Honestly, they were the best part of the cave.
Cave ceiling as abstract art.
Once out of the lava tunnel tour, we headed for a couple of nearby waterfalls. Hraunfossar (lava waterfall) is a series of rivulets dropping down into the Hvita river. All those mini waterfalls have come from the same lava field as the tunnel we were walking in, travelling most of the way underground then emerging onto the surface right here where the lava field ends.
Just upstream is Barnafoss, which is more of a rapids than a waterfall, but a beautiful shade of blue where the river flows through narrow gaps in the rocks. Named Barnafoss because of two kids supposed to have fallen in there and drowned many years ago.
We made a brief stop at Deildartunguhver, the highest-flowing hot spring in Europe, producing 180 litres of basically boiling water every second. It's not that big, and obviously it's fenced off so that idiots don't fall in, but the rocks around it are pretty colours, and with the right angle (and the right gap in the wind-blown steam), you can get some fun shots.
Once you've seen it, you're done, and we were only there about 15 minutes. Definitely not worth a detour to see, but if you're driving fairly close by, it's worth a look.
The church on route 523 (that's literally what it's called) demonstrating the Icelandic love of white buildings with a red roof. As you drive around Iceland, these tiny little churches are everywhere, many of them nowhere near a town and seeming to serve only the local farms.
Views around the valley from the church.
Icelandic ponies in one of the nearby fields. Whenever you stop to take photos by a field with ponies, they come trotting over to see if you're bringing food. We had wanted to photograph the ponies out in the field with the mountains behind them, but they voted with their feet and ruined that photo op, so we got close ups instead!
Where a low bridge crossed a partly frozen river.
White and red farm in the low hills below the mountains.
This time the ponies were too far away to bother visiting us and stayed out in the field :-)
Our next stop was Glanni waterfall, near the village of Bifrost on route one. Route one is the Hringvegur (ringroad) that goes all the way around the main part of Iceland, generally in the vicinity of the coast.
View downstream from Glanni falls overlook, with the river still part frozen.
Frozen pond by the Glanni Falls parking area.
Our final call for the day was Grabrok, a volcanic cone just five minutes' drive to the north on the other side of Bifrost. You can hike up to the crater rim and all around it, though doing that involves a lot of steps!
Definitely worth it for the views though. Including another red and white farm...
Another, smaller volcanic cone hidden just behind Grabrok.
The remains of a 19th century sheep corral breaking up the lichen-covered lava flow.
The frozen Hredhavatan lake behind Bifrost.
South all along the valley and route one.
It was getting towards dusk then, just after 5pm, and we headed back to the hotel with our quota of exercise fulfilled :-)
Our first stop of the day was the lava cave at Vidgelmir. 10am is still early in the morning when the sun doesn't come up until after 9.
Ice on the lava flow above the tunnels.
Steps down into the tunnel.
There are no stalagmites in a lava cave, but in winter there are icicles! The water seeps through the rocks, then freezes when it gets into the cave and is exposed to air temperatures. The icicles were absolutely gorgeous lit up by our headlamps. Honestly, they were the best part of the cave.
Cave ceiling as abstract art.
Once out of the lava tunnel tour, we headed for a couple of nearby waterfalls. Hraunfossar (lava waterfall) is a series of rivulets dropping down into the Hvita river. All those mini waterfalls have come from the same lava field as the tunnel we were walking in, travelling most of the way underground then emerging onto the surface right here where the lava field ends.
Just upstream is Barnafoss, which is more of a rapids than a waterfall, but a beautiful shade of blue where the river flows through narrow gaps in the rocks. Named Barnafoss because of two kids supposed to have fallen in there and drowned many years ago.
We made a brief stop at Deildartunguhver, the highest-flowing hot spring in Europe, producing 180 litres of basically boiling water every second. It's not that big, and obviously it's fenced off so that idiots don't fall in, but the rocks around it are pretty colours, and with the right angle (and the right gap in the wind-blown steam), you can get some fun shots.
Once you've seen it, you're done, and we were only there about 15 minutes. Definitely not worth a detour to see, but if you're driving fairly close by, it's worth a look.
The church on route 523 (that's literally what it's called) demonstrating the Icelandic love of white buildings with a red roof. As you drive around Iceland, these tiny little churches are everywhere, many of them nowhere near a town and seeming to serve only the local farms.
Views around the valley from the church.
Icelandic ponies in one of the nearby fields. Whenever you stop to take photos by a field with ponies, they come trotting over to see if you're bringing food. We had wanted to photograph the ponies out in the field with the mountains behind them, but they voted with their feet and ruined that photo op, so we got close ups instead!
Where a low bridge crossed a partly frozen river.
White and red farm in the low hills below the mountains.
This time the ponies were too far away to bother visiting us and stayed out in the field :-)
Our next stop was Glanni waterfall, near the village of Bifrost on route one. Route one is the Hringvegur (ringroad) that goes all the way around the main part of Iceland, generally in the vicinity of the coast.
View downstream from Glanni falls overlook, with the river still part frozen.
Frozen pond by the Glanni Falls parking area.
Our final call for the day was Grabrok, a volcanic cone just five minutes' drive to the north on the other side of Bifrost. You can hike up to the crater rim and all around it, though doing that involves a lot of steps!
Definitely worth it for the views though. Including another red and white farm...
Another, smaller volcanic cone hidden just behind Grabrok.
The remains of a 19th century sheep corral breaking up the lichen-covered lava flow.
The frozen Hredhavatan lake behind Bifrost.
South all along the valley and route one.
It was getting towards dusk then, just after 5pm, and we headed back to the hotel with our quota of exercise fulfilled :-)
no subject
Date: 2025-03-02 10:45 pm (UTC)It's such a weird and beautiful place, Iceland
no subject
Date: 2025-03-03 12:48 am (UTC)I really enjoyed going there in winter. There are some things you just can't do or won't see in the summer, though of course the reverse is also true. The next time I go, I'll make it a warmer weather trip, but it was starkly beautiful and desolate in February.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-03 06:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-03 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-05 06:19 am (UTC)How long did it take you to do all those stairs? My hip hurt just seeing a picture of it!
I rather like the white buildings with the red roofs, it looks clean and uncluttered.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-05 02:32 pm (UTC)We spent a bit over an hour at Grabrok, doing the hike up and all around the rim, with stopping time for photos. It's about a mile around the loop.
The white buildings really stand out against the dark Icelandic rock or the green/gold of the fields. It's a very cheerful choice for a landscape that can look pretty bleak, and I approve!
no subject
Date: 2025-03-05 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-09 12:18 pm (UTC)