Iceland VII: Myvatn - Aug 18/26

Our lodgings were in a great location so it was a very short drive to a large volcanic crater, Hverfjall, that was to be our first stop of the day. There was construction ongoing though (I think due to the early hour) so we continued a few minutes down the road to Dimmuborgir, famous for its lava fields and dramatically-shaped rocks. Here we found a trail to Hverfjall that was only a couple of km so we decided to just walk there even though I was pretty sure the road would be free later on. A windy trail through forest in the lava field did indeed leave us to the base of the volcano. Unfortunately the trail was straight up on rocky shale but we went for it and walked all the way around the crater. (Cars were already in the original parking lot by this point and the trail up from there was a lot easier than our slog). The crater was massive and it was a nice but windy walk with great views of the lake. Every side of the mountain had a different view - pastoral farm landscapes, a red hellish area representative of extensive geothermal activity, the lake, or a lava field with basalt dumped over a large area, with trees growing in between.

We then got off the volcano and hiked back to Dimmuborgir, which was getting pretty busy with some large groups. There were several trails around the area, taking in views of different rock formations left by the last eruption. We did most of them and saw many cool-looking lava towers.

Next we drove a little further up the road to see the pseudo-craters at Skútustaðagígar.  These are not true craters as lava did not erupt from them; instead lava passed over water and caused a steam explosion. We did not find this all too engaging after seeing real craters but took a quick walk near the lake, getting swarmed by flies all the while (the worst thing about Myvatn without question).

We also stopped in at the restauarant at Dimmuborgir, where they had an unlimited soup buffet (lamb, vegetable and coconut curry). They also had bread though the selection was more limited than the tomato soup we had the first day.

On the way back, we stopped briefly to take a look at some interesting rock formations and walk on the shore of the lake.

Next we headed up a mountainous road where we saw a the Krafla geothermal power plant en route.

The next attraction was the Leirhnjukur volcanic cone, where you can look around the epicentre of another eruption. A trail led around the rocks. In places, steam continued to rise from underground.

Just a short drive down the road was the Viti crater. While smaller than the one we had seen earlier in the day, this one was more appealing, with a lake at the bottom. Paths led about halfway around the crater.

Next, a long drive west, which we broke up by stopping at the Godafoss waterfall, just off the road. Legend has it when Iceland converted from the old Norse religion to Christianity, the speaker of the national assembly at the time threw all his statues of the old gods into this waterfall.We managed to catch an intermitternt rainbow over it as well. 

Next was a long drive to Akureyri, the second-largest city in Iceland (20,000 people) and the "capital of the north". We had skipped the Myvatn Nature Baths, a commercial hot spring pool. All the guidebooks recommend taking part in Iceland's longstanding bathing culture by visiting a local pool. Akureyri has the highest-rated pool in Iceland (as voted on by Icelanders) so after finding our apartment (a nice Air B&B basement suite) and starting some laundry, we headed off for the pool. Akureyri is a popular cruise ship stop so there were some foreigners like us there, and the front counter was ready with a laminated information sheet for visitors to make sure we followed all the rules (shower thoroughly since there is no/low chlorination in these pools, make sure to shower naked, etc.) The pool was pretty good with several hot pools, a lap pool, a sauna, a large warm pool and two good waterslides (one of the toilet-bowl variety and the other an enclosed fast slide). I saw other adults going up the glass tower to go down them so I went for it and nobody blinked an eye. 

We made a short walk down to near the seashore to take a look at the church there, designed by the same state designer who came up with the Hallgrimskirkja in the capital. 

After getting gas and provisions, we headed back to our apartment.