Fascinating landscapes full of steaming fields, surreal rugged mountains, countless waterfalls and glaciers with volcanoes underneath. And sometimes even an erupting volcano!
Iceland is the love child of powerful geological forces. When the Mid-Atlantic Ridge mantle plume and tectonic plates collided 25 million years ago, they created an insane landscape. It’s the geological laboratory of the Earth itself.
The overwhelming beauty of Iceland.
The spectacular island of Vestmannaeyjar and its festival.
The Fimmvörðuháls hiking route across Eyjafjallajökull – the easy way, the hard way and a grand encore!
Helfgafell offers sweeping surround views of brooding volcanoes and a heart-shaped crater. For a long time, Helgafell was the ruling volcano on Heimaey. The one that merged the chain of rocks to the north and Stórhöfði to the south into the present island, its classic volcano-shaped silhouette dominating the interior. Hike to the top and you may have Helgafell with its beautiful views virtually for yourself.
The Icelandic dalalæða is an elusive natural phenomenon of fog waterfalls. When it crawls up a valley and bumps into obstructions, it causes waterfalls of fog tumbling down the mountain tops. I was incredibly lucky to experience this, being at the right place at the right moment when it accidently happened. I stood right in the middle of it, and saw spectacular waterfalls of fog flowing over the rocks and mountains all around me. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was absolutely magical.
The hike to the top of Eldfell is the one every visitor to Heimaey wants to do. It’s the famous volcano that erupted out of nowhere in January 1973. Eldfell is very colourful, the track is easily accessible, and the views are absolutely stunning in all directions. From the top you can gawk onto the impressive lava flow that was furiously roiling & boiling only a few decades ago, and single-handedly enlarged the island by several square kilometers. It’s incredible to think it didn’t even exist just over 50 years ago.
Heimaklettur is the iconic Home Rock of Vestmannaeyjar. It may look a bit inaccessible at first sight, but there are ladders and chains to help you up the path to the top. I made a detailed description of the Heimaklettur hike, including lots of pictures of what the track is like. In the darker days of the year, people like to light candles on Heimaklettur. And around Christmas and New Year they get totally out of control, with a multitude of candles all over the upper slopes. It’s an incredibly beautiful sight.
GeekPic at the intimidating steaming heaps of the Fimmvörðuháls fissure lava flow in Iceland. I had to brave howling winds in order to even stay upright, while holding a relic lava rock that was coughed up by the mighty Eyjafjallajökull himself. The nearby Magni and Móði craters were still steaming at their edges.
When I thought of a name for my blog, I came up with two distinctive expressions. I already used these phrases for a long time, but this is the first time a Wilderness Coffee and a Natural High are actually simultaneously featured in one picture. Having a Wilderness Coffee on this beautiful beach was pure bliss!
Eldfell volcano suddenly arrived in a spectacular way on the island of Heimaey on 23 January 1973, and caused quite some upheaval. After it finished its business on July 3 of that same year, it now lies dormant and watches over the island peacefully. But occasionally it still erupts a rainbow.