This is the last post of my trip to Iceland, which was almost a year ago already. Got so much content from there so it's no wonder I got all posted by now. I spent there almost 3 weeks and every day visiting places and going for hikes. Even though this is my last post from the last trip, I am going back to Iceland in 5 days lol, to see the eruption firsthand.
For the last evening in Iceland, we hurried so we could make our way to the Fagradallsfjall eruption site. Sadly, this system stopped erupting in the middle of our trip. I really hoped to get close to the crater and face the eruption directly. Even though I didn't see the eruption close, I saw it from farther away, from Reykjavik when I started my trip. During the darkness, it was already insane to see.
I might have missed the eruption but I still wanted to see the area and newly created lava fields. We made our way to the location in Reykjanes peninsula. To get to the lava fields, a short hike of 2 kilometers was required.
I had followed this eruption when it started 7 months ago from webcams and news sources. You always see pictures of lava fountains and lava-covered lands but pictures don't show you the scale of how much lava there really is, this is only visible firsthand to get the depth. This here is only one of the valleys that is full of new lava, there are a couple of more that are not visible from here.
The photos are a bit grainy, sorry for that. It was already getting pretty dark because we arrived there fairly late.
The solidified lava you see in these pictures is around 3 or 4 months old. The remainder of the flow went to the other valleys. The cone itself is not visible from here, it is up on the mountain. You can see lava trails that come down the hill.
The lava is solid, yes, but it was still warm and in some cracks, hot air steamed through. This lava might emit warmth even many years after it came there. It really takes a very long time till it cools down.
Yes, this is me on the lava. I have to bring out that this action is INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS and you should never step a foot on lava that is recently flown there. First of all the terrain is incredibly rugged and solidified lava edges are very sharp. You can easily hurt yourself or fall into some hot crack. Also, you never know if the lava might be still liquid under the solid crust.
Why in the hell did I go on it then if it's so dangerous? I had kept myself up to date with this eruption every day for 7 months. I knew that it has been several months till there was any flow to this valley so there is no liquid lava anymore. I took extreme caution as well when walking on it. I didn't go far at all, just about 10 meters onto the field. Of course, these are not excuses to go on the lava but after all I like to live a little bit dangerously sometimes.
I would never go on the lava near where it's still an active flow or the erupting crater is nearby. There often are under crust tunnels where lava flows. You just have to use common sense in this area which some don't have. A couple of days ago two tourists went near the new erupting crater and the lava stream was just a mere meters from them. If they don't fall into the lava river they can get hit by and erupt lava from the crater if a bigger burst comes.
I watched a drone live stream of a current eruption when the streamer saw some people on the lava field. He can't tell them to get off but he flew his drone above these two people's heads to hint that get out of there fast. After a couple of minutes of hovering the drone above their heads, these idiots got the hint and walked off the lava.
Here is also the video of this event when the streamer( Isak Finnbogason ) found these people and tried to get them to leave fast. I watched it live and held my breath and hoped they don't fall into a fresh lava tunnel. Go watch it and be amazed of the stupidity...
Okay, back to my trip.
I had originally planned to hike up the mountain to see the actual crater too where the eruption happened. We started going up the hill but suddenly the weather got absolutely hostile. The wind got so strong that we were hardly able to stand up, also small rocks were flying and rain started to go sideways, it got worse the higher we got. At this point we decided to abort the hike to see the crater, it was impossible to hike it.
We didn't get far up but I got some shots of the lava field from higher up.
Close-up of the hardened lava.
I am so glad that I go back there in 5 days and see the new eruption that happens right now. Hopefully, the weather holds decent enough and the eruption is still going on. I am so excited about this. Hiking up there takes quite a bit longer because the new crater is a bit farther away than the old one. Right now there is quite a bad storm and all of the areas are closed off so tourists don't go and set their lives in danger.
People who have visited the eruption now say that it's insane to see in real life. One of them said that he saw several people tearing up when they saw it for the first time because it was so special.
Yeah, I can't wait till I'm there, even if it's just for 2 days in Iceland, I am always extremely excited to go back to this amazing country! Hopefully getting some awesome content too to bring back and post here for you.
