Iceland - Day 8 pt 1

Day 8: Myvatn, Part 1 : Hverir and Krafla

Route :
Local. Part I : 848 back to town, then Ring Road 1 east to Hverir and Krafla

Campsite : Fossholl Guesthouse

I'd read several bad reviews about the campsite right up on the lake, so we opted for Vogar Travel Service, which is not as scenic and maybe a couple of miles out of town. But it was quiet, and there was a pizza place / bar on site that was super convenient - super expensive, but convenient. If you're camping you get a coupon at check-in for 10% off, so there's that.

This place was fairly busy, because it's like a combo of tent/car camping, hostel/communal self-service, and actual motel-style rooms. It's also in Myvatn, which is one of the larger tourist areas in the country. It wasn't our favorite campsite - probably in the bottom 2 - underwhelming, but adequate. For whatever reason, this photo is the only one I can find that I took at this campground - which probably speaks volumes about how impressed I was. So if you're interested in more, you can see additional photos here.

This was a HUGE day. I still can't believe how much we packed into one single day. This area is definitely a place you could spend 2 or 3 days exploring and not get bored. We started out at Hverir, which is a geothermally active area that sits at the base of Namafjall mountain. There are trails around the area, and a couple that lead to the summit of the mountain as well. Like Yellowstone, it's an assault on the senses. It's full of surreal colors and bubbling mud pits and hissing vents and the stench of sulphur - but the surrounding landscape is barren and desolate. You can see for miles, and the power of the planet is on full display here.

Hverir is easy to find - it's parking lot is right off the Ring Road, just east of Myvatn. It's not a big area, but it's definitely worth a stop. Like most other areas in Iceland (though I think this is slowly changing) - it's free of charge and doesn't close. So if you're visiting Iceland during the peak tourist season of the Midnight Sun, try visiting late at night. You'd likely be crowd-free.

"It smells. BAD." - Mark

Our next stop after Hverir was Krafla Viti Crater. It's basically right across the Ring Road from Hverir - you can actually see Namafjall mountain and the steaming fumaroles in the photo above. The buildings and pipelines above are all part of the Krafla Power Station - you drive past it (and underneath its pipeline) to get to the crater and lava fields.

You can walk the rim of the crater, so we took the time to do that. It's muddy as hell - and absolutely worth it.

MUD. And lots of it.

We left the crater and headed over to the still-steaming lava fields at Leirhnjúkur, which are the remnants of a Krafla eruption in the 70s. These photos were taken on the walk approaching the area from the parking lot.

Prepare yourself for 8 billion steamy lava photos.

This entire area is truly spectacular - the vibrant green moss against the scorched, black earth, mixed in with the colors of the rhyolite and sulphur - all muted through the steamy lens of an active volcanic region. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a paleontologist and a volcanologist AND work for NASA so I could go to the moon - so it came as no surprise to me that this was one of my favorite stops in Iceland. I feel like I can now check the volcanology & lunar landing off my bucket list.

We spent a good amount of time wandering through the larger trail system here.

Walking back to the parking area, you get a fantastic view of the richly colored mountains surrounding the Krafla Power Station.

The Snaefellsnes Peninsula (northwest of Reykjavik) is home to the site that inspired Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth - so it's only fitting that the northern part of the country should have what appears to be a Stargate connecting Earth to the Dark Side of the Moon.

(We didn't visit the Snaefellsnes Peninsula - but if you want to go on your own Journey to the Center of the Earth, you can).

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