Volcano chasing and thinking of a dearly departed friend

 

Most pre departure boxes for the trip well and truly ticked, but one big one still remaining. One of our best mates Ellen Lewis passed away a few months ago; rock was her thing, whether it was the heavy metal variety or igneous variety. We needed to find a bit of lava in her honour, but also volcanoes are in general one of my general interest areas since boyhood and one of the few things I got to grips with in physical geography.

Mixing my science and religion metaphors, it is fair to say the Norse gods were not smiling on us weather wise, but it did not prevent us doing the volcano chasing thing.  Whether it was to reference some obscene Bridesmaids phrase ‘it was coming out like lava’ or to reflect on the home of Smaug, surely another Icelandic influence on Tolkien, we needed to spend some more seismic time before leaving this beautiful country.

 We wolfed down some breaky, got in the hire car, looking rather lonely in it’s night time gravelly parking lot (free) and got on a now familiar road, out toward the airport and beyond the Blue Lagoon. In March of this year Fagradalsfjall begun to erupt quite spectacularly. We have seen the molten lava shots in recent days and we’re aware of the number of viewing hikes. As we got nearer and nearer the weather worsened and cloud and rain closed in as we ascended toward our parking place.

Wrapped up we had a choice of hikes to get us nearer. We did 2 separate ones, making some pretty sheer ascents, and getting absolutely soaked to our core. On the first of the hikes, about half way we encountered the lava flow mid point from the eruption. Got up close and personal, took a large rock that had broken away, and made this our Ellen moment. AC/DC said it’s a long way to the top if you’re gonna rock n roll. (or hunt volcanoes)

We did continue to the top, and the smoke from the eruption combined with the weather to make visibility more than poor. We were reassured that there were a few other idiots around us but their numbers were dwindling. Chrissi had a little panic that we might not find our way back, Tolkien might have been a bit unhappy that we had left the path, so we turned, waited for the mist to settle, and picked our way back down to where the hordes were gathering.

Fellow hikers had tipped us that a secondary route might give us the money shot molten magma picture but it was not to be. We walked and climbed another route, saw a lot of smoking lava, smelt a lot of smoking lava, but the distant eruption was obscured by mist and cloud. We tried another climb, some of it requiring us to pull up by rope, but the clouds did not clear. The weather was dreadful but I had seen and smelt enough to know we were in the presence of newly forming earth. It was great, and humbling, we all come from this, we all return to this, and for some of us that happens sooner than it should.

By the time we got back to the car we were shivering and drove to a nearby town Grindavik to get a much needed hot chocolate and biscuit. I think we had hiked in excess of 10k all told. 

We definitely needed to warm up,luckily for us we are in a country that embraces its geothermal water to do just that. A range of options presented themselves to us on the way back to Reykjavik but we chose a simple one. They have created a lovely man made beach near the University. Nautholsbik which includes a communal hot tub, where you can rest your aching limbs, stare out across the water, and chat to the locals if you so wish. A great way to wind down and find sensation in cold bones.

Final short drive to the hotel where we had a little bit of time to chill and start to think about life back in the real world. Put that on hold though as a last night out beckoned and we wandered into town for a pre dinner G&T in a bar we had stopped in on Saturday night.

We could have stayed there for food, but chose to take a look at other options, and so glad that we did. Walked up through town almost reaching the old church, discarding different menus en route. We suddenly found a lovely, quirky little place with all manner of ornaments, odd little art and artefacts, and music that resonated with us both. It felt homely.

Got a table by the window, a lovely shared starter. Salmon with a chutney undercurrent on rye bread, and some hummus and tomatoes on sour dough. For main I had the Reykjavik 121 fish pizza, a masterpiece of cod ( fish of the day), olives and cheese. Absolutely stuffed. Chrissi had a fish pie also fishy and cheesy with sweet potatoes and looked thoroughly content. The local beer and further G&T might have also contributed, the service attentive and first class, top marks for Salkavalka. 

Our last walk through a town that has really felt like home for a few days, and a night cap in one of those study type rooms that we have been using in our fantastic hotel, they even move the furniture around to keep you on your toes!