A quick detour
A few weeks ago a volcano erupted near Reykjavik while we were in the Westfjords. We’ve been watching and considering going, which we did today once we left the westfjords. Yesterday we drove south along the ring road to Grindavik, the nearest campsite.
We woke up with the plan to see it. We parked at the nearest parking lot. It was interesting because it was the same spot we had been to a few weeks prior with the Halliburtons to see the lava field from a previous eruption. It was much quieter then. Today there were lots of people.
There is one hike to see the volcano, which is 10 km and along a dirt road most of the way. It’s long, but a fairly easy walk. Towards the end you can start to see the crater and the lava spitting up out of it.
The end of the road has been closed by the local officers due to concerns of air quality. Instead you can walk up to the top of a nearby hill and look down on the crater and river of lava. The wind was blowing quite significantly with us and the hike upwind of the volcano so air quality didn’t seem like an issue.
We hiked up the hill, which is the only place the hike is steep and isn’t an easy road. It’s even windier at the top, but the views are even better. At the top we ducked down into the lee side of the mountain and sat and enjoyed the volcano. Sage also enjoyed the sand and rocks. You can see the lava bubbling out of the top and a river of lava flowing down through the valley below. It was very cool to see.
When we were done we hiked back. In total it was 13 miles.
From there we drove back to Reykjavik for dinner and ice cream and then back north to the ring road to continue with our plans… A memorable day for sure.
