We planned the Iceland trip months and months before we were to arrive. It was only 11 days before we arrived that the Sundhnúkur eruption began. For those 11 days I checked the news every day to see if it was still erupting. When we took off from Seattle I was completely sure we'd arrive in Iceland to find either (a) the eruption had ended to (b) it had gotten bigger and would shut down the entire Reykjanes Peninsula. Somehow we arrived to see the volcano still erupting. (Yeah. We actually saw it erupting from the plane.)
The eruption was located in the middle of... nowhere. We parked in what looked like a brand new parking lot. There was a single-lane road punched through the fields being used by the scientists studying the eruption and the Super-Jeeps.
Um, what is a Super-Jeep, you might ask. It's not a Jeep. At least the ones we saw weren't Jeeps. They were all different. The one characteristic they all shared was BIG TIRES. Probably a little overkill for this road, but we'd see on later adventures that vehicles like this have an important place in the backcountry.
We broke into two groups. HOS and I pushed hard to get to the viewpoint to see if it was worth the effort for everyone else. Each time we rounded a corner it was clear the volcano was just around the next. That happened over and over.
When we could finally see the cone spewing lava it was clear we were about a week late. We climbed a little hill to get the best views. Between us and the cone was a field of cooled lava. Cooled, but not cool. The air was wavy from the heat and there were spots you could see the bright orange of lava through cracks.
In the middle of the lava field was a hill with a trail leading up it. Had we arrived a few days earlier, we'd have been on that hill looking right into the crater. Oh well. We did walk a bit toward the cone to feel the heat coming from the field and we touched the newly cooled rocks.
We returned the way we had come and intercepted the ladies about a mile short of the destination. Unfortunately, we were out of time given our reservations for the Blue Lagoon so we all headed back to the car.
BUT WAIT! There's more!
After the Blue Lagoon we were driving back to the house and saw a small parking lot. We pulled in and found an equally good view of the eruption from the opposite side. The sun began to set (at about 11pm!) and the spectacle got better and better.
We stayed until it was fully dark. The smoke billowing out was lit by the glowing lava. Occasionally, the lava would splash above the crater rim. All the people in the lot would OOH and AHH each time. We could have stayed all night, but the morning's adventures would come soon so we left.
The eruption continued for only three days past the end of our trip. I know the earth didn't care whether we were there or not, but I want to believe we did something right to be so privileged to experience an eruption like this. Whatever. I'd love to see another. I will see another.
