Rainy and Raw in Myvatn

I am glad that I changed my plans from camping to a hotel at Lake Myvatn (Lake of Midges)  These midges are a biting fly that lay their eggs in the lake and when they hatch out they become food for the birds and a nuisance for the tourists.  Although, I missed this experience due to the cold weather that is uncharacteristic for the area. 

Today, the weather was so bad that the whale watches 20 miles to the north were canceled for the day.  The temperatures stayed in the high 30s for most of the day with a crushing 35 mph wind and steady drizzle.  Snow was reported to the southeast of here today closing some of the roads.  It was painful to be outdoors exploring the different sites.  On top of my pants and long sleeved shirt, I was wearing two winter hats, 2 jackets with the hood up on one of them, winter gloves and I was still miserable. 

The only time I warmed up all day was late in the afternoon when I hiked/ran from the lava fields of Dimmuborgir to the top of the crater edge of Hverfjall and back.  What a climb up the face!  There are two "trails" that leads up and I of course took the difficult trail up the face which requires digging your feet into the slope side in order to summit.   



Pointing to my turn around point on top of Hverfjall half way from the start at Dimmuborgir.
Finally warm enough (from running the trail between the two) in order to take off my gloves and one hat.

The landscape to the east of Lake Myvatn is out of this world.  Some of the information signs compare it to the Mars landscape.  I would agree with those claims.  This area is rifting along the boundary of the North American & Eurasian tectonic plates.  As one of the geologists from the area described it:  "it isn't a neat break between the plates, it can be quite messy."  This area last erupted in the 1980s with the Krafla fires, a series of volcanic eruptions that spit out lava that flowed down towards Lake Myvatn.  The '80s do not seems that long ago...to me, but it is prehistoric time to my high school students who were born in the mid-late 90s.   The area is void of vegetation and a combination of hydrogen sulfide, water and heat are escaping from cracks the earth to create large gas clouds erupting from the ground.  It is amazing to see (and smell) especially in 35 mph winds which send these clouds out sideways and cover the ground in a sort of fog.


Hydrogen sulfide and water vapor mix and push out of openings in the earth. 
The wind is helping these clouds stay low to the ground making for an eerie "Martian" landscape.

 

The heat escaping up through the cracks in the earth is boiling the mud in this crater. 
In the background are hills of sandstone mixed with sulphur giving them their tan color.

After a rest for a second night in Myvatn, I am up early to head to the north around an area called the Tjornes and then over to end up in the reindeer country of the eastern fjords of Iceland for a night in Egilsstadir.