Gönguferð að eldfjallinu

Hike to the volcano (July 22nd, 2024)

Since last Wednesday (July 16th), the volcano on Reykjanes has been erupting again, the 12th volcanic eruption in the area since March 2021.

On Tuesday, we had a friend over for dinner, who showed us photos of a colleague who had hiked to the volcano the day before... oh, the pictures were great! And the wind was (relatively) favorable.

Ultimately, it happened as it had to, and my husband and child no. 4 (who's actually not a child anymore, but is now bigger than me!) left by car around 8:30 in the evening, as they also wanted to see the eruption and the lava. I didn't go with them; after my fall on the terrace, I'm not yet fit enough to tackle a hike of more than an hour over uneven terrain, and then back again...

You can now park at the paid parking lot P1 at Fagradalsfjall and then hike along a more or less good jeep track to the lava, to the fresh lava.

At 9:46 p.m. my husband announced: "Let's march!"

And at 9:55 p.m. he sent the first photo, full of enthusiasm: "We can already see him!"

Here is another section of the picture, with the active volcanic crater at the end of the path.

This trail to the volcano is currently not closed, but visitors are encouraged to closely monitor air quality and gas pollution forecasts on the Icelandic Meteorological Office's website. Veður, and to abort a hike if conditions change. Masks have been distributed to emergency personnel on site.

Police repeatedly post signs explicitly warning that you are now entering the hættusvæði, the danger zone. Everyone enters at their own risk.

It took my husband and child about 75 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the fresh lava. Around 11 p.m., my men finally reached the fresh lava.

When you stand there, pleasantly warm, maybe four meters away from the glowing, clinking lava, it's still something very special, even if it's not the first time! But it's always amazing!

But you have to be careful - the lava is really red-hot and even though it looks dark from above, inside it is still liquid and moving.

And you never know where something might burst open, and fresh lava will flow, setting the grass at the edge of the lava field ablaze again and again. At least it's wet enough right now that there's no need to issue wildfire warnings.

Child no. 4 had to do his daily Duolingo lesson before midnight to keep his streak going - and what better place to do that than sitting comfortably in the grass with good internet somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the edge of a fresh, still fiery lava field with a view of an erupting volcanic crater...?!?

My husband raves about it - he's experienced something like this a few times before. But it's still amazing every time. The hot wind. The clinking sounds the lava makes. The billowing air over the hot lava. The smell of burnt moss at the edge of the lava. The erupting volcanic cone in the background. And all the people happily sitting in the moss, fascinated by this natural spectacle...

At 11:26 p.m. my husband reported that they were on their way back, and at 12:42 a.m. he wrote that they were in the car and about to leave.

[Translated from here.]