The Search is OVER!

I have found a troll!! During our canyon hike, I came upon him. According to Icelandic troll legend, if a "little person"/troll/fairy stays out past sunrise, they are made into pillars of rock. Trolls in Iceland are of the naughty and tricky in nature and love to haunt people and play jokes. But they must come inside once the sun rises. The good Iceland fairy will turn those bad trolls into rocks. How about these trolls! Can you see them? With these rock formations, I can really see how these people can be spooked into seeing gnomes!

The hills are alive!

Helgi, our guide, took us to a canyon that many tourist do not know of. We ventured to the cliffside and the views were astonishing. The moss covered ledges were very unpredictable, so you definitely had to watch your step at all times!

Into the middle of a volcano

We were able to hike down into one of the craters. Thankfully, there was no seismic activity, unfortunately, that meant no lava flow. However, it is not often that you can actually view the hole that lava once flowed out of.

Swimming Anyone?

One of the craters that we visited today contained a crater lake. We were able to hike down to the lake itself. It had to contain the coldest water that I have ever felt. We stuck our feet in for a picture and they literally were numb from the cold. It was a beautiful hike.

Laki Craters

The main part of today was spent at the Laki craters. In this area of the Icelandic interior, a large fissure broke open in 1783, and flooded Iceland with the largest lava flow ever recorded. As the story goes, after eight days of lava flow, a local priest gave a sermon condemning Icelanders for causing this disaster. God was paying Iceland back for their vile behavior. As the flow approached his village - it miracously stopped. His speech is known as the "Sermon of Fire".

In this area, there ar over 30 lava craters that spewed lava two hundred years ago.



This is a picture of the molten lava fields in the area. The lava rocks are now moss covered.

How Many Waterfalls does Iceland have?

In case you are wondering the answer to that question, I believe it is infinity. Every day, Helgi, our guide, takes us to new waterfalls that are simply beautiful. This first waterfall can be seen from our hotel room.

The Iceberg Lagoon

The highlight of the day was a trip to the Iceberg Lagoon. Here, all the glaciers break apart and fall into the ocean. We took a trip out in the lagoon to drive among the icebergs. It was beautiful. Blake, great location for casino - no sod roofs, may leak during wet periods.

The ICE in ICEland

We finally found the ice. We went out east and hit the glaciers. Approximately 10 % of Iceland is covered by Glaciers. They are currently shrinking. But, that is normal. It seems that Iceland has had 37 periods of known glaciation. They shrink and swell. This particular area has been very active. In 1996, a volcano below the glacier erupted violently, causing massive melting and flooding.

Our Friend, the Seal

While touring the icebergs, we were able to spot a few artic seals sunning themselves.

The Black Falls

Today, we visited the "Black Falls". This was a waterfall over black basaltic formations.

Legend has it

Today, we had a lettle gnome/fairy/"little people" lesson. We visited the dwarf cliffs - where dwarfs supposedly live.



According to Helgi, our guide, this is THE FAIRY CHURCH. Can't you tell?