Geothermals, Geysers and Gallivanting on Glaciers

This last couple of days have been the type of days that live in your memory ........for ever.
Red letter days,  where the events are so special they form part of the "highlights reel" of your life.
In fact they were just OUTRAGEOUS!

Iceland has a reputation for the extreme. Extreme weather, extreme landscapes, extreme  outdoor activities, and over the past couple of days we experienced our fair share of extreme ........and a bit more!

Our first excursion day was on a private tour of Iceland's famous Golden Circle drive of waterfalls, geysers and glaciers in our hired "Super Jeep" with our very knowledgeable Icelandic driver, Inge. We set off at 9.00am (in the dark) to see where the Icelanders held their first parliament in 974 which happens to sit on the fissure between the Eurasian and American tectonic plates.....that just happen to be separating .......at about 2cm per year. A bit hard to see in the dark but it was interesting to note that there were people snorkelling (in dry suits because of the cold) in the lake that fills the void. 

When I asked Inge why?...he said......"so they can say that they have!" Fair enough I thought.

A very grainy picture taken on the phone in the dark but this is the point where the two tectonic plates meet...and the lake below is where they snorkel.....which is a bit extreme I think.

From there we skated along the road ( I do mean skated) to or next destination which is a famous geyser. It is an interesting location as it iswhere the volcanic aspect of Iceland is really apparent, where the underground activity is on show....and quite a show it is wth the geyser spouting water about 30 metres into the air on a regular basis. There is a constant stream of steam from a number of vents and the unmistakeable  smell of sulphur in the air. The water bubbles up through fissures in the earth with boiling, steaming water ......and the signs on the path say don't touch, 80 - 100 degrees! I was tempted to though, because while waiting for the geyser to blow it felt like my fingers were being frost bitten.

But, the most exciting part of the excursion was yet to come, as we were heading into the mountains to go snowmobiling on the Langjokull Glacier. 

Now the roads in the mountains of Iceland during winter are narrow, icy and treacherous at the best of times but we hadn't bargained for the extra degree of driving difficulty caused by blizzard conditions. Well, I call it a blizzard when the snow is driving in sheets and visibility is zero....I mean zero, zilch, nothing..... no can see.... and there is no road to speak of but a few stakes in the ground marking where it should be....... four feet under a fresh drop of snow. 

At one stage I was calling out to Inge when I was spotting for him, that there are stakes on the left...and another one...and another one. Good he said, the stakes are supposed to be on the right but the snow is still too deep to cross back over on to the road.

"Are we anywhere near the road??????" I asked looking at the arrow well off the green line on the satellite screen map.

"Nearby" he calmly replied.........what?

When we were bogged (yes, that's correct, stuck up to our running boards) he got out and reduced the pressure in the tyres......from 10psi to 5psi.....and then to 3psi and voila, the tyres bit into the snow and we were off again. I was amazed but it appears that it is nothing here to be bogged a bit occasionally...... it happens all the time and it is all in a day's travel in these parts. Interestingly, Inge told us that they use these type of vehicles just this way in the Antarctic as well.

Anyway, wild ride to our destination aside, we got to the snowmobiling place with snow piling up all around us .....could't see a thing and the instructor calmly informs us that "yes, it's a white out" (apparently this is normal from time to time) but that's OK and we were all going to be skidooing up on to the glacier ...........just as arranged.

Normal is a relative term I think.

Our skidoos lined up ready for the adventure.

As you can see, we were suited up in waterproof, windproof overalls with helmets and goggles. Getting into these suits in itself was quite a trial and, with our coats on underneath, we all felt a bit like Michelin Men. 

After our very brief briefing on how to manage the skidoo and what to do if we get lost (what!) we headed out into the blizzard, the "white out", the frozen sky falling on us in sheets. We  started our skidoos....turned on the handle bar heaters ....adjusted our goggles and then started roaring up and on to the glacier. Well, more like follow the leader really, hoping like hell not to lose the group or drive over a cliff!

She really was enjoying it....you can tell by those eyes!

It actually  turned out to be an amazing, unforgettable experience. After a while, and with encouragement and reassurance from our guide who was constantly rounding us up, we started to relax and enjoy it for what it was....riding a skidoo on the Langjokull Glacier in Iceland......OUTRAGEOUS! 

Being silly in the caldera during our stop. We were really happy that guide was so relaxed, making snow angels and taking photos of us all.

We stopped for a break and a play in the caldera of the volcano that the glacier sits over and before we knew it we were riding like pros.....leaping over snow mounds, bouncing off snow covered rocks and going hell for leather on the flat bits.......hoping not to drive flat out off a cliff!

And these are the conditions we had to drive home in!

I did ask Inge if we would have to stay the night because of the "blizzard"  and he assured me that no... he was going home and we were all going as well. I really can't explain the ride down the mountain....but for what seemed like a couple of hours it looked something like the picture below.
All in a days work for an Icelandic guide.

Snow blind. How we got through this I don't know....but we did.

Day Two Excursion.

We were really "beat" at the end of the day...... but fronted up again for our visit to the other side of the glacier to see the iconic "points of interest" towards the north of the island. We set off again before dawn (which is not hard when dawn is 11.30am) and saw a geothermal plant utilising the hot water bubbling up naturally to generate heat and power for the residents of the island. Ninety percent of homes in Iceland use this boiling water to heat their homes and 100% of their electricity comes from steam generated power which is generally drilled for, down to about 2000 metres. Iceland is the only country that is completely fossil fuel free for power generation. Pretty impressive.

This plant utilises boiling water coming naturally to the surface from deep in the earth. It was hot, smelly and strange.

From there we went to see some waterfalls that have formed from water flowing under the ground, through the lava fields.....again a strange phenomena but without the sulphur smells.

In the snowy conditions they did look mighty impressive, blanketed in snow and with icy stalactites dripping off cliffs everywhere .....

The river flows swiftly and the waterfalls come from under the ground....very unusual!

.......but not as impressive as what we were about to experience.....the Langjokull Glacier again....but this time from the other side.

None of us had any idea of what to expect when we booked an Ice Tunnel experience......or for that matter, that we would be driving in "white out with no actual road" conditions again. But after yesterday.......well, let's just say that it was another "memorable" ride.

After we had cleared the rough, rocky lava fields and started to climb up on to the glacier, we ran out of road.......there was no road....just miles of flat snow with a few stakes in the ground and a satellite screen on the dash providing directions.....refer to "snow blind"picture........yes, same, same.

The view coming off the glacier in the afternoon.....heading towards that more distinct road (track) in the distance.

When we did eventually reach the tunnel....it was just a huge pipe sticking out of the snow....but inside it was just the most marvellous, interesting and memorable thing. A tunnel drilled out over two years, deep into the glacier to allow people to see the inner workings of this mighty natural thing. It is 35 metres deep but the glacier is 200 metres deep and it just gives us a taste of how it works. Always at zero degrees, the compacted snow eventually turns to ice at about 30 metre down. It is constantly moving over the volcano it covers and it is the second largest in Iceland and one of the largest in the world.
It appeared after the ice age during the mini ice age about 2000 years ago and they estimate that by 2160 it will be gone....just like it was between the ice ages.

Again, it was an experience really difficult to put into words so I'll provide a few pictures with explanations and hope it provides some idea of what it is like to be deep into a glacier.

The entrance tunnel. It was completely invisible until we just happened upon it....thanks to the satellite tracking in the vehicle.

Wendy, ready for another adventure.

One of the tourist vehicles...an eight wheeler with huge tyres and chains on two of the wheels for better control.
Two of these came up after us, taking quite a while to climb up the glacier.

Are we really doing this? About 70 metres further down we had our briefing regarding safety etc, put on our crampons (it is an ice tunnel after all) and headed deep into what appeared to be Jules Verne territory.

It's is an impressive piece of engineering that requires constant maintenance because of the movement of the glacier.

Us in the chapel. The phone was really the best way of taking photos in the gloom of the tunnel.

The guide singing in the chapel to demonstrate the echo.

A large crevasse. I couldn't help but think of  books I've read like "Touching the void" and "Mawson" where people have fallen into crevasses and survived. Remarkable!

An amazing experience

A stunning thing.

It was marvellous, exciting, memorable and beautiful.....unlike anything we have ever seen or done..... and the only one of its kind in the world.

What a huge couple of excursions they have been ........... just OUTRAGEOUS!