SNORRI GUNNARSSON PHOTO BLOG

The volcanic eruption is still going strong and last week another fissure developed adding to the show. As a result some restrictions have been made at the eruption site, people are no longer allowed to go right up to the crater. There are two ways to hike to the eruption site, one way is from Skógar, a difficult 15km hike that makes for a very long day, the other one is from Þórsmörk, much shorter but the destination is further away from the crater.

I decided, along with half the population of Iceland it seemed, to hike from Þórsmörk and try my luck.The hike is very pretty, the landscape beautiful in a tolkienesque way, even the last hill is called Morinsheidi, a name that you would not be surprised to come across in the Lord of the Rings. Some parts of the hike are pretty thrilling, a short part called Kattahryggir or Catsspine are very narrow with gullies on both sides. In daylight they were fun, in the dark on the way home kind of scary! Hit the more button for the rest of the story, a gallery and a map

I went with my friend Huldar, who is also a photographer, on the way we were warned by everyone we talked to that there was nothing happening up there, only cold, solidified lava and very little activity in the craters. We marched on as we were all ready 1/3 of the way up and that first part was the hardest part anyway. The hike it self is very beautiful and as the twilight hit it became even prettier. When we reached the end of Morinsheidi we saw the eruption site and the solidified lava fall going into Hvannárgil nothing special was going on and the twilight was quickly turning to darkness. As we were cursing our luck we started hearing sounds from the eruption site and more activity from the crater. Before we knew it the lava fall started again, with much rumbling and clouds of steam, in minutes the lava fall was in full action flowing like a red river down into the gully. It was a magnificent sight, something I will never forget as long as I live.

The hike down was unbelievable, the eruption and the lava fall behind us, aurora borealis dancing and the stars very prominent. Hiking down in the dark was surprisingly easy although the many stops to admire our surroundings helped a lot. As luck would have it the aurora borealis never went over the eruption site, which would have made a hell of a photo. We arrived at the car around 1:15am tired but very satisfied after an awesome hike.