We didn’t grasp about on our journey to Iceland. After we landed within the afternoon at Keflavik Airport, bought by means of safety, collected our luggage and picked up our rent automotive, the straightforward possibility would have been to go straight to our lodge, however as a substitute we opted for immersing ourselves into the nation immediately with a tour of Grindavak volcano.
One of many beauties of visiting Iceland within the Summer season months is that the times are lengthy – actually lengthy – and there’s a wealth of experiences to get pleasure from. In July, the solar rises at round 3am and doesn’t set till midnight – that’s 21 hours of daylight to play with! And so, as a substitute of driving straight to our lodge after amassing our luggage on the airport, we as a substitute headed for the small fishing city of Gindavik, simply to the south of The Blue Lagoon, to fulfill Haffi, a educated native information for 2Go Iceland Journey. This was in order that we may discover the Fagradalsfjall volcano website. And from Gindavik, it’s a good shorter drive alongside street 427 to a small automotive park the place our hike commenced.
This can be a totally non-public expertise which you could get pleasure from with your loved ones. Though dormant on the time of our go to, the same tour from 2Go Iceland Journey featured on the BBC Journey Present when one in every of Iceland’s hottest new points of interest burst onto the scene – fairly actually – and the volcano was nonetheless lively.
Located within the Geldingadalir Valley on the south of the Reykjanes Peninsula, roughly 40 kilometres from Reykjavik, Fagradalsfjall – though lively for round a million years – lay dormant for six,000 years, till final yr when it erupted from nineteenth March to 18th September 2021, making it the longest-lasting eruption in Iceland for greater than 50 years.
Haffi, a Manchester United supporter, informed us how he occurred to be watching a soccer match at his residence in Grindavik on the night of nineteenth March 2021 when his accomplice known as to him and stated “There’s a volcano outdoors the kitchen window”.
He bought up to have a look and, while they couldn’t see the eruption from the window, certain sufficient the sky was utterly orange. Haffi defined that the location of the eruption would have come as an enormous reduction to many Icelanders. It was initially thought that an eruption may happen 20 kilometres to the north-east of the place it had occurred, which might have positioned it a lot nearer to civilisation, however fissures can open anyplace and this website was a lot safer from a human perspective. Funnily sufficient, solely two hours earlier geologists at this website had concluded that an eruption was not imminent.
As we neared the lava fields from the eruption, Haffi informed us that this may have been a website not often frequented by individuals – possibly just some locals. There was no automotive park and no climbing paths, but comparatively quick access from Reykjavik, which created an issue of chaos on the roads, and folks climbing however with out following any pre-defined routes. The street was closed and guests had been made to stroll from The Blue Lagoon space or one other aspect, however both approach it was a stroll of round 10 kilometres every approach.
This resulted in individuals having to be picked up as they had been exhausted alongside the best way, or they bought misplaced within the lava fields, creating a brand new downside for the rangers. They needed to both shut off the world utterly or make it extra accessible – and fortunately for everybody desirous to see this wonderful phenomenon and panorama, they opted for the latter.
While a stay volcano is doubtless an unimaginable sight, so too is the panorama that it leaves behind and, as we gained extra altitude, we had been in a position to look in surprise on the extent of the lava fields from the eruption. By April of 2021, a 300-metre fissure had developed and, after 6 months, lava flows lined a number of sq. kilometres.
By the way, the landowners can’t cease individuals from visiting the location as there’s a ‘proper to roam’ coverage in Iceland, until it’s fenced off from public entry. So on this case, it was the landowners who created the paths and the parking. They make their income from the parking – they will’t cost an admission price so it’s actually the one approach they will get one thing again from the bizarre scenario they discover themselves in.
Having climbed additional nonetheless, we deviated from the trail to traverse a part of the lava subject with a purpose to be somewhat nearer to the crater. Unbeknown to us, Haffi had somewhat shock for us, because of a discovery he made just some days earlier – one thing that, to the perfect of his data – no person else knew about.
While you’ll be able to discover the volcano by yourself, I’d extremely suggest you are taking a guided tour to get essentially the most from he expertise. Not solely will get you a extra personalised perception into the area, however an professional that frequents the volcano will have the ability to rapidly assess the talents of your celebration and know the perfect routes to take you on.
There have been no accidents sustained by the eruption itself, however hikers have damaged legs and arms many instances (and proceed to take action!). As we crossed the considerably fragile lava, that generally crumbled underfoot, you possibly can see how this may occur.
The lava was stunning brittle and light-weight. For the reason that lava was quick flowing, there would have been a speedy warmth loss on the time of the eruption, which may enhance the viscosity and trigger differential flows, explaining the number of formations that we noticed earlier than us.
As we bought nearer to the crater, we additionally noticed extra proof of sulphur deposits (sulphur being a standard chemical ingredient discovered within the earth’s crust), in addition to indicators of warmth nonetheless emanating from the earth in locations.
However then got here the shock… at one explicit sulphurous-looking location, Haffi informed us to face again a second while he went to test on the invention he made just some days earlier.
He returned, explaining to us that – for those who bought the angle good – it was attainable to see lava down the cracks under. This from a volcano that was declared to have stopped being lively some 10 months in the past! Fairly rightly, Haffi stated that we had been welcome to have a look ourselves however that it was in fact at our personal threat, and to train care. So, one after the other, we every determined to have a look.
It wasn’t simple to see – and much more tough to {photograph} – however certain sufficient, there was lava under. Seeing lava was a primary for all of us, so this was a very thrilling second, even when we weren’t handled to the complete spectacle of an lively volcano, particularly because it was completely surprising.
Haffi had come armed with a pan, some water and eggs, that he deliberate to boil to exhibit the warmth coming from under, however sadly there was probably not a approach of reliably balancing the pan over the most popular areas due to the uneven floor so we abadoned that concept. Had we not been in a position to see the lava with our personal eyes, nevertheless, merely pouring water on the cracks and seeing it rapidly flip to steam was enough affirmation that there was nonetheless plenty of warmth under our toes.
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The climate had been sort to us, however the clouds had been coming in somewhat and it was now time to re-trace our steps again to the automotive park.
By now, it was night however nonetheless utterly gentle. And as we wandered again, we thought how fortunate we had been that, regardless of having solely been in Iceland for a couple of hours, we had already seen lava within the land of ‘Hearth and Ice’ (regardless of there being no lively volcano within the nation on the time).
For those who get the possibility to do that journey, we’d extremely suggest it! It’s a improbable tour to do as a household, with some fabulous panoramic views.
It must also be famous that, though the eruption had completed by the point of our go to in July 2022, and recorded seismic exercise had been diminishing, on third August 2022, the volcano erupted once more when a 300-metre-long fissure opened up within the Meradalir valley space, only one kilometre from away from the 2021 eruption website that we visited and doc on this article. This eruption is at present nonetheless ongoing with visits to it additionally in fact accessible with 2Go Iceland Journey.
These volcanic occasions have drawn vacationers from all world wide, giving Iceland a extra speedy post-COVID tourism restoration than many different nations. And while present vacationers will little doubt be drawn to the location of the current eruption, the location of the primary eruption continues to be effectively value a go to to admire the beautiful new lava fields which have been left in its wake. And, for those who’re actually fortunate like us… possibly you’ll see lava too!
On your comfort, the situation of the volcano is marked on this Google Map…
…and the precise route of our hike will be seen right here:
However do please go to with an skilled information for the most secure attainable expertise.
Planning a visit to Iceland your self? You may watch a video from our journey to Iceland right here. The opening 25 seconds are from our tour of Fagradalsfjall volcano website with Haffi and 2Go Iceland Journey.
Disclosure: This submit is sponsored by 2Go Iceland Journey. Our journey to Iceland was additionally sponsored by Helly Hansen.
