Into the North

 

After the Ring Road leaves the East Fjords, it cuts straight(ish) west, through the upper inland North. A lot of it is hummocky greenish moor with any lonely, wind-beaten sheep, and even more of it is absolutely barren volcanic sand desert. It is a fascinating, desolate, vast landscape and a stark contrast to the eastern fjord lands. 

These cairns date fro 1100, and were erected to divide the north country into the jurisdiction of two different bishops, one from the east and one from the west. Not exactly sure what they were fighting over…

I’ve pretty much given up thinking I’m taking “one last photo” of a spectacular waterfall, as there are spectacular waterfalls around every bend. I doubt anyone in Iceland knows just how many waterfalls there are here, so pervasive is the turbulent water off the Vatnajokull ice cap. The one above, Dettifoss, is the most powerful waterfall in all of Europe, carrying 400 cu meters of water PER SECOND toward the Arctic Ocean. I’ll show you the video when I get home!

Not far past the hike to Dettifoss lies a vast geothermically active area around a water-filled basin that sits squarely atop the Mid-Atlantic ridge of the two continental plates, Myvatn lake. This area is full of spluttering mud pots, weird lava formations, steaming fumaroles and volcanic craters. Basically, everything you’d see in Yellowstone, except all within a pretty small area. Enterprising Icelanders have tried a number of different projects in this area, including growing potatoes on the surrounding moors—problem was, they say, when they dug the potatoes, they were already cooked! 

We climbed to the rim of Hverfall, a near symmetric crater that appeared 2700 years ago from a cataclysmic eruption that sprouted cindercones and pseudo craters all over the area.

A fascinating, stark, almost forlorn region, stunning in its contrasts. I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to live here in the endless dark of winter. Maybe these guys would help the mood?