If you missed the first post where I showed the 2021 eruption crater and hiked all the way to the 2022 eruption crater, then you can see it here .In this post, you'll see the prize of this hike. The still active volcano crater started erupting in 2022. Of course, a big disappointment to me, the eruption itself stopped 2 days prior to my arrival there. My whole point of going to Iceland at that time was to see the eruption with my own eyes. Well, even if there are no high fountains of lava, it's still unique to see the brand-new earth.
Picking up where I left off in the first post... I arrived at the 2022 eruption scene in Meradalir Valley, in southwestern Iceland, on the Reykjanes peninsula. This is the main crater that had watched for a month straight erupting on live streams. Finally, I was able to see it with my own eyes. It was a surreal feeling, I can't really describe it...
Yes, it stopped erupting. Yes, it's not as large as the 2021 main vent, but it was still mindblowing to see. As I said, I can't describe the feeling. You have to be there to feel it.
You also don't see how large this crater actually is, it's huge. The height is about 60-70meters. The lava fountains bursts flew as high as 250 m when it erupted, crazy.
Here is a picture of it erupting a couple of days earlier. Not my photo sadly.
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People have said that they literally started crying when they arrived and saw the eruption with their own eyes because it was so powerful sight. If I saw it erupting, I might even have shed a few tears, not gonna lie. It already felt surreal and powerful to me even without seeing it erupt directly.
Here are some photos of the photos I took of Meradalir valley which is now filled with solidified lava.
All this field is still scorching hot, I felt the heat even 60m higher up. Even if the surface is now solid, under the crust there is still liquid lava that has not cooled down yet. There was a guy who was flying a drone and he flew above one of the cracks, we saw the still red glowing lava there on the screen.
It's insane to think that I am watching at a brand-new landscape that came into existence just a month to two days ago. This is something that does not sink in easily.
Have to admit, I took a selfie with this crater, I cant leave without it. I went to Iceland alone, gotta have that proof that I really did go 😅.
People came there and just sat around. Took a breather of a pretty hard hike and just took in the scale of the event. I also spent there about one hour.
Toxic volcanic gasses were still spewing out of the vent. Not a good idea to breathe that in, need to check for the wind direction. Fortunately for me, these gasses went another way on that day.
On my right side was the 2021 Fagradallsfjall crater and parts of the lava fields it created.
I decided to take a closer look and went close to the lava field.
This is a year-old lava field but I was still feeling the heat at certain spots. It takes many years for a lava field to cool down, even decades. I also grabbed two lava stones. One for myself and one for my relative that requested it.
lava rivers that flowed downhill to Meradalir valley in 2021.
Helicopters were regularly flying over the area, monitoring conditions and people can also book fly-over tours with helicopters.
It was definitely an experience of a lifetime for me to see that. I will make sure that it does not stay the only one of its kind.
There have been two eruptions in the last two years right now. Nobody knows when the next one will be but scientists think that it might be the start of another eruptive cycle in this region after 800 years. If another eruption happens, I try to go back for this and hopefully see the eruption itself too.
Stay tuned for the third part. I still needed to hike back the distance and got several more cool photos and did some more observations.
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