Iceland Day 6 - Full Day Myvatn (June 30, 2017)

February 21, 2021

Iceland Day 6 - Full Day Myvatn (June 30, 2017)

After a good night of rest, we will set off to explore Myvatn and its surrounding area today. We'll sleep again at our Vogar Farm guesthouse tonight so our driving today we will be limited to just around the Myvatn area.

Taking in the fresh air in the morning

Making our way to the cafe

coffee and bread to start the day

Great cereal bar

cold cuts and bread

MM keeping it simple

Thorska, the drinkable cod liver oil, a local must

Nothing better than taking a shot of cod liver oil in the morning

After enjoying our breakfast as usual at our guesthouse, we were ready to make our first stop - the geothermal "Krafla" area. The Krafla area is about 30 miles north of Myvatn. It is a large volcanic and geothermal area. It had erupted a number of times over the centuries and today the Icelanders are harnessing its geothermal energy to generate power to supply its populations (total population tallied at mere 338,349 in 2017) and various industries.

We'll first drive to the Dettifoss area to admire the powerful waterfalls northeast of Lake Myvatn. Then we'll drive to the Krafla area and explore the geothermal power plant, marvel at its mars-like landscape, and hike the edge of the caldera of the Viti Crater or "Hell's Crater".

At the trail head to Dettifoss

The surreal trail to Dettifoss

lava rocks lined the trail

Reached the fall's edge

getting uncomfortably close

This walk isn't so bad

The powerful Dettifoss with a vertical drop of 45 meters and width of 100m with a flow rate of 193 meter cubed per second. We could hear its rumbling from far away.

After visiting the Dettifoss, we continued up the stream to another large waterfall - the Selfoss. Both the Selfoss and Dettifoss flow through the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon and is a part of the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river. Selfoss does not have the dramatic drop off like Dettifoss, but its horse-shoe shaped structure is impressive to view.

After visiting the Dettifoss area, we headed back to our car and started our drive towards the Krafla area. On the way out of the Dettifoss area, we (or I) could not help but to stop by to take a few more photos of the mars-like landscape around the Dettifoss area.

Making our way up the stream to Selfoss

On the edge of Jökulsá á Fjöllum river with Selfoss in sight

I'm still enjoying the walk

Selfoss, part of the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon

Stopped at the mars-like landscape

Mars or Earth?

Admiring the desolate and mars-like landscape

Entering the Krafla area after a bit of a drive

Entering the Krafla area where evidence of geothermal energy is abundant

Our first stop in the Krafla area - The Krafla Power Plant

The cooling tower of the station

The visitor center is located in this red building

Entering the Visitor Center

Krafla Visiting Center

The small but efficient lobby area

A tutorial video is shown at the visitor center lobby to help us understand the station

The schematic of the station - there will be a quiz later

We were shown the turbine room where the actions happen. This is where the dual 30 Megawatt turbines are located.

The impressive cooling tower viewed from the visitor center

We felt somewhat more educated after visiting the power station. It was certainly impressive to tour. After the station, we were off to our next stop - the Viti Crater or "Hell's Crater".

The Viti Crater is a crater lake in the Krafla geothermal area. We followed the road passed the power station and pulled into a parking lot. The parking lot is the trail head. We'll make a counter clock wise hike along this caldera.

Starting the hike around the crater

The edge of the caldera looks dramatic from a distance

Walking on the edge

Volcanic desert

Looking back at the power station from the crater

Gaining elevation

Passing by the large pipe that sends steam back to the station

Hot steam being pumped from the ground at a satellite area

Looking into the distance

A mini crater near the 12 o'clock position

Red person (me) in swamp with sheep staring

A swamp by the caldera

We are buddies!

Reached the 12 o'clock position of the emerald crater lake

The sun is in my eyes again

Glacier mountain can be seen in distance

The view changes as we walk around the crater

Let's celebrate

Standing on the rock

volcanic rock formation

Went behind the rock formation

A smaller crater nearby waiting for some action

Raincloud in distance

Completed the windy hike at Viti Crater - checked!

After completing the crater hike, it was early in the afternoon. It felt like we had a whole day worth of activities already but we were merely half way done. We headed back to "town" or near the Lake Myvatn area to grab a typical Icelandic lunch at a rest stop before we began to explore the Lake Myvatn area.

Typical Icelandic lunch - pylsur time!

Cannot be completed without fries in a plastic bag

and Appelsin of course, the orange drink

Skyr and cold cuts - what the "adults" ate

After taking a bit of a break at the rest stop, we continued our exploration. Our first stop in the afternoon was Dimmuborgir, a lava field that has been curated to general visitors. It is heard that the Yule Lads live there.

Dimmuborgir

Reading about the Yule Lads

We have discovered the Yule Lads' cave

Continue with our stroll

Made it to the arch

Remnant of a small fissure

Lava field becomes visible as we go up

The nearby large dry crater of Hverfjall can be seen along the stroll

Dramatic cloud formation through the arch

Regional fauna

Reaching the plateau portion of the stroll

After visiting Dimmuborgir, we continued our drive in a clockwise fashion around Lake Myvatn. Dimmuborgir is located roughly at the 3 o'clock position of the lake. We'll be heading to the 6 o'clock position of the lake named the "Pseudo-crater". The Pseudo-cratior is essentially another crater when the lake was heated by the hot magma and caused the ground to bulge up like a crater. Today is a nice stroll from a parking area to this crater.

Stopping at a view point to take in the countless little islands in the lake

Hverfjall crater can be seen in the distance

Map of the Lake Myvatn area at the Pseudo-crater trail head

Starting our stroll to the Pseudo-crater, we have lost our jackets at this point in the afternoon sun

There is a real country feel to this hiking path

Cloud formation reflecting in the stillness of the lake

By the pseudo-crater

A farm guesthouse in the distance

Wild flowers along the path

Making back to our guesthouse from driving around the entire lake

After getting back to our guesthouse from a long day of exploration, we'll relax in a true Icelandic fashion - dipping in the hot naturebath. We brought our swim wear and headed back our to the "Myvatn Naturebath" which is short drive from our guesthouse. Joanne stayed out that day but me and the kids dipped in. After relaxing at the hot naturebath we headed back to the guesthouse cafe to repeat the dinner feast like we did the night before.