July 2021 – I have been to Iceland many times, but never for three weeks in one trip. I am a fan of Iceland, I love Iceland, Iceland has so many things to offer. Below I have shared pictures from some of the amazing days I had in Iceland during this visit.
Day One – Hiking into the Active Volcano
Since March 19, 2021, eruptions has taken place in the Fagradalsfjall mountains near Grindavik, not far from Keflavik International Airport and only an easy half hour drive from Reykjavik. We were told that activity was decreasing rapidly, but we had to hike into the area to see for our selves. Two very popular hikes goes into the area and ends on minor mountain tops with fantastic views of the crater. On this day we hiked the western trail, four kilometers in and a few hundred meters up. We didn’t expect much but was greeted with beautiful lava fountains up from the crater every ten minutes or so.
Day Two – Climbing and Summiting Hekla
Hekla is one of the most stunning volcanoes on Iceland, the base of the mountain is reachable by a ordinary car after two to three hours of drive from Reykjavik, and the climb to the summit is easy. From parking to summit the hike is around 7 kilometers in and a little short of 950 meters up. Round trip is between 5 and 8 hours.
We had beautiful weather almost all the way to the summit, but the last hundred meters of altitude was in clouds coming in. Still, it was easy to find our way. Also because this was my second hike to the summit of Hekla.
Day Five – Day tour of the South
Cosy day tour of the south, bathing in the hot water river in Grensdalur, visiting Skogafoss and numerous water falls above and finally a visit to the glacier Solheimajokull coming down from Mýrdalsjökull.
Day Six – Second tallest waterfall of Iceland
Only one hour of driving and one hour of hiking one finds the second highest waterfall in Iceland. The name of the waterfall is Glymur.
Day Seven – Flying into Grimsvatn in an old Cessna 170
By being a happy member of the flying club Thytur in Iceland, I have access to a wonderful Cessna 170B from 1952. We (my son, his girlfriend and I) had the airplane booked for the whole day and decided to fly west, eventually reaching Grimsvatn, the big volcano under Vatnajökull, the biggest glacier in Iceland.
On the way in we flew over Hekla, landed in Þórsmörk, flew over Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull and over Laki, the row of craters from the famous 1783 eruption. On the way back over Gullfoss, Geysir og Skjaldbreiður.
Day Nine – Climbing Kristinartinda
Packed my rental car with tent and food and started a tour along the ring road around Iceland, going anti clock wise. First major stop was Skaftafell south of Vatnajokull, a top destination for most tourists. The weather was just perfect and I went for the long hike to the summit of Kristinartinda, 9 kilometers in and almost 1100 meters up.
Day Ten and Eleven – Tour of the East
Another two days with stunning weather over eastern Iceland. I hiked a few kilometers at the Hoffell Glacier Lake, hiked up to the amazing Hengifoss waterfall and stayed in my tiny tent on the camp ground in Borgarfjörður Eystri. Second day I hiked into Stórurð in the Dyrfjoll mountains, 18 kilometers round trip, probably one of the mos beautiful hikes in the east. And finally, during the long drive to Myvatn I visited Stuðlagil Canyon, a really amazing canyon made of basalt pillars. And from 50 kilometers away, I had a fantastic view of Herðubreið, the volcano i climbed with my son in August 2017.
Day Twelve – Hiking Myvatn Volcanoes
Hiked almost 31 kilometers among the volcanoes east of Lake Myvatn. Reached the summit of Hverfjall and hiked all the way around the crater rim. Did the same with Lúdentarskál, a similar volcano 5 kilometers to the east of Hverfjall.
Day Thirteen – Diving the Hydrothermal Chimneys
This day I dived the submarine hydrothermal chimneys in Eyjafjörður, the fjord north of Akureyri. This had been on my bucket list for a long time, and for a good reason, the dives – I got two – are just awesome.
I dived with Strytan Dive Center, and I highly recommend them.
Day Sixteen to Eighteen – Multiple flights to the active volcano
During most of my visit, the weather on Reykjanes had been bad with clouds and very low ceiling. I had tried to fly into the volcano twice, but both times we had to return long before reaching the volcano due to weather. Finally the weather over Reykjanes was flyable, actually way more than that, it was beautiful with no or very few clouds.
I got the chance to take the old Cessna 170 into the area around the active volcano five (!) times, every flight more or less one hour of flight time. It was amazing to see how much the activity changed from flight to flight. On one flight, the crater was completely empty, only a tiny piece of orange lava could be seen deep down in the crater. On a later flight, the cater was full of hot boiling lava, and lava was pouring down the east slope of the volcano in many directions.
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