Geldingadalir - Yes. The Volcano

 We saw a volcano! A real, honest, active and spewing lava volcano! Geldingadalir has been erupting in Iceland since mid-March 2021 in southern Iceland.

On our first full weekend, we took the hour or so long drive down to the volcano, hoping to see real lava, as J put it.

We had gotten her a pair of good hiking boots and were dressed in layers and with lots of water and some snacks, set out to see what we could. One thing about Iceland so far. It's windy. Very windy often. J does not like wind. So, we learned some new uses for face masks! Helped her tremendously on the first part of the hike.

After a fairly short walk, we reach an earthen berm. A quick climb up, and there it was. A recently cooled river of lava, still steaming in the middle. It was magnificent. A quick test by E and S guaranteed the edge was cool and J was able to stand on a river of lava! She loved it. She studied a piece of the lava rock closely and we watched the steam and smoke coming from the crater nearby.

We decided to make an attempt at an ascent up a ridge to get a closer look. It was steep. It was rocky. It was windy -- very windy. J was a total trooper and made it a little way under her own steam, but eventually went the route of a piggyback ride from Dad. Even so, it was a slog. We made it about half-way up the first steep ascent before deciding this was not the way for us. The height had however given us a view of some people on the other side of the lave flow. On what appeared to be a much more reasonable climb. We climbed back down. Had a rest and a small snack, and tackled the other side.

We had gone a ways up the other side -- the right decision -- and came across an area of the ground cover that had been scorched away by the now-cooled lava flow. It was warmer near the flow and you could still smell the sulfur.

Another snack and a hike up some hills and switch-backs, we had made it! J was an absolute rock star. She made a huge portion of the hike under her own power. We are so proud of her.

A small walk through so rocks and right in front of us! We found a spot and sat and watched. There was a river of lava constantly flowing out of the crater that varied in intensity and eruptions that would spurt above the lip of the crater occasionally. It was absolutely breathtaking.



First step on cooled lava!


Face masks work well to block the wind!

The river of lava







Erupting!

More eruption!

Family!

 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Here!

Image
 Hello!  Welcome to ESJ Adventures. This will be our little spot to share our summer in Iceland. We will be here for 63 days -- yes, we had to confirm with both the customs agent and the rental car customer service agent, 63 days was right. The Adventure began like so many do. Double and triple checking for important documents, saying "see you later" to the kitties, shoving suitcases into a car and a trip to the airport. We checked in, had our vaccine cards verified and made it through security and proceeded to explore the terminal while waiting for our flight. Boarding went quickly and smoothly. Icelandair was fantastic for our littlest traveller. A special travel bag and kid-friendly meal were delivered promptly much to her delight. Helped take up a little of the 6 hour 55 minute flight.  E and S both took little cat naps on the plan, but J was wide awake the whole time. Thank goodness for crayons, princess Goldfish crackers and downloaded movies. We landed at around 6:...
Read more

A little bit of everything - Museums

Image
 We are trying to see as much as we can while we are here in Iceland, while not being crazy about it. We are taking the morning and afternoon and visiting museums and other sites of interest around Reykjavik as a family. Our first museum visit was to the Settlement Exhibition. A little place with some great stuff for children, and based around the actual site of an excavated settlement from around 1,000 years ago. Our second visit was to Perlan, a big dome that overlooks Reykjavik that houses a museum and other activities inside. Another big win. There was a video on volcanic and seismic activity that J loved and she has decided that arctic foxes are her new favorite animals. They also have an ice cave. As excited as J was to be Elsa, the reality was a little too cold for her liking though she really enjoyed the glacier exhibit that it led to. Fascinating, and scary information there. There was also a great Aurora movie. We ended up having lunch at the top. It slowly moves in a cir...
Read more