On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Christopher Mathews
Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula extends south and west of the capital city Reykjavík. It’s a barren land of broken lava floes and volcanic cones, formed by the gradual ripping of the mid-Atlantic Ridge as North America and Eurasia drift apart. The volcanoes of the Reykjanes slumber for centuries at a time, but when they wake they tend to stay that way, with fissures spewing lava for weeks or months at a time, on and off, year after year.
In 2021, the Reykjanes woke up for a while before drifting off to sleep after six months of fire. It woke again last year, for a shorter eruption. And it’s awake again right now.
While America was celebrating its independence, Iceland was prepping some fireworks of its own. The first tremors heralding the movement of magma started swarming the evening of 4 July 2023. Six days later, lava bubbled to the surface, scorching the landscape and building a scoria cone at Litli-Hrútur (little ram mountain). This shot was taken from about 500 meters above the newly-formed crater.
The initial eruption, in 2021, began atop Fagradalsfjall (beautiful valley mountain) in a place called Geldingadalir (valley of the geldings). The hills were steep and the hike quite challenging – but it was an instant tourist draw.
On Easter Sunday after the initial eruption, a second vent opened and began spewing lava. Another followed the next day, and another, and another, until eight distinct vents stretched along a 1.5 kilometer-long line were erupting at once.
The mushroom cloud above the eruption, seen from the south coast road. The lava flow contained the thermal energy of a medium sized nuclear bomb every hour for months on end.
By May, all the vents save one had gone quiet, as the magma conduit under the valley consolidated to a single exit point. The cone, unofficially dubbed “Ragnar” by volcano enthusiasts, began pulsing fountains of lava up to 300 meters high. Geldingadalir began filling with lava, and toxic gases made venturing into its remnants without protective gear a risky proposition.
Glassy tephra from the lava fountains: light enough to float in water, sharp enough to slice unprotected skin.
As the valley below filled with lava, spectators had to take up position on an unnamed ridge that took the name “Theatre Hill.” Two months later, the lava overran the approaches to the hill, making it inaccessible except to helicopters.
A post-midnight view of the Ragnar cone.
A few days after the initial eruption, Icelandic authorities staked out a simple trail to the western edge of Geldingadalir and labeled it “Trail A” (a later trail to the east was “Trail B”). Trail A was buried by lava a few weeks later. Undeterred, the authorities installed another western trail and again named it Trail A. It was overrun by lava a couple of weeks after that. After the third Trail A met its fiery demise, they built a new western trail on Langhryggur (long ridge) hill. To save this one from the lava, they named it “Trail C.”
The authorities built one more Trail A to the edge of the by-then filled-in Geldingadalir valley. In mid-September, the lava swallowed it like the other Trail As. Having eaten its fill, the Ragnar crater fell silent two days later. It slumbers still. But the Reykjanes is awake now, and the last time it woke it remained active on and off for 400 years.
Baud
Good stuff.
OzarkHillbilly
Heh.
JPL
Fascinating!
SiubhanDuinne
Glorious photos, fascinating commentary.
mrmoshpotato
Wow! What an awesome time to be there!
Thanks for taking – and sharing – your photos.
band gap
Great photos. When all this active activity was happening, several youtube video bloggers were recording it with daily hikes to the site. I was addicted, watching new developments every day. Some had drones with HD cameras that flew over lava lakes in the craters and following lava rivers down the valley, the scenes were amazing. I bet most of those videos are still up on youtube.
Chris T.
So in Iceland, as in Hawaii, they are making new real estate?
raven
Holy smokes!
Chris Johnson
The third Trail A burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp, but the fourth one stayed up!
sab
And we in Ohio were all excited we would maybe see the Northern Lights.
Wag
Great photos. I loved our visit to Iceland. What a beautiful country!
Christopher Mathews
@Chris Johnson:
Volcanoes are how we make our huuuuuge tracts of land.
stinger
What astonishing, gorgeous photos!
<waves a sad farewell to Eurasia>
@Chris Johnson: I see what you did there.
Elma
I was supposed to have been in Iceland this month, but the trip got cancelled. Long sad story. Now I am really depressed. I have booked another trip for next June. Hope the volcanoes will still be awake by then.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Great photos, great explanation of what we’re seeing. Just wow.
I really like the little bit of glass. I’ve never seen that before. Volcanic glass is sacred in my most recent book, called, not coincidentally, Glass Girl. They call it dragon glass.
HinTN
@Christopher Mathews: Such a compelling invitation to visit! The line of eruptions must have been magnificent in person. This fire sign loves the gorgeous pictures of fire.
twbrandt
I’m leaving for Iceland on July 31 for 8 days. This is my second visit to the country and I can’t wait!
twbrandt
@Christopher Mathews: the URL in your nym is wrong – it has a an extra “t” in it.
MelissaM
Ooh! Cool and lovely! Thanks.
arrieve
Wonderful photos. I’m too chicken to have ever wanted to see volcanos in action, but now I’m rethinking that. A little.
Christopher Mathews
@twbrandt:
Dammit! Thanks.
WaterGirl
@sab: Since the volcano is active and these were especially timely, we traded this post for today, and Chiristopher’s northern lights post will go up in two week.
WaterGirl
@Christopher Mathews: Now I don’t feel so bad about having inadvertently added an extra T when I typed your name in Monday’s OTR.
Such a wonderful set of photos. And suchfascinating explanations!
feloniousferb
Really enjoyed the photos and descriptions! Thank you.
cope
Excellent photos, you have a great eye. As someone with a background in geology, erupting volcanoes, vents and fissures like these have always fascinated me. When I was teaching, videos of Heimaey, Kilauea, the NatGeo story of Maurice and Katia Krafft and several others always kept my student’s interest.
Thanks.
pieceofpeace
@raven: Clever!
pieceofpeace
Stunning photographs, thanks for sharing….
Ken
@sab: I’ll bet a picture of the Northern Lights over the active volcano would be stunning. I’ll let the photography buffs talk about the difficulties involved.
UncleEbeneezer
Incredible pix!
Dagaetch
Fantastic photos! And note to self, don’t go down trail A!
StringOnAStick
@cope: Fellow geologist, now living in the basalt flows and volcanic peaks of the Cascades and loving it. So different from my prior 60 years.
These are fabulous photos and commentary!
BigJimSlade
How exciting – new land! This song came to mind, lol:
youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ1XwGDcA4
cope
@StringOnAStick: And we’re back in Western Colorado where, after 33 years in FL, we are also loving it. Rocks, mountains, valleys, the desert, fast rivers…did I say rocks?
sab
@WaterGirl: I send his northern lights notecards as winter holiday cards.
jame
I truly enjoyed both your photos and your writing. Thank you!
youtu.be/y8OtzJtp-EM
Christopher Mathews
@Ken:
It was a nice birthday present, yes: chrismathewsphotography.com/featured/fire-and-light-2-christopher-mathews.html
Christopher Mathews
@sab: Wow! Thanks!
Christopher Mathews
Thanks to everyone for the kind comments. If you haven’t yet been, you should think about a trip to Iceland. It’s a gorgeous place to visit (and a fantastic place to live)!
Dan B
@StringOnAStick: Say hi to my neice in Bend. Her husband studies the aftermath of forest fires and recommends actions to stabilize and restore the land.
sab
Those “t” s are important. Two “tt” is a retired political pundit on MSNBC. One “t” is an active geologist in Iceland. Those things are not the same, as we used to say and play in my children’s games.
sab
@Christopher Mathews: They are perfect. Not Christmas but gorgeous and very northern.
sab
@sab: I have a couple of your northern lights facemasks. Not effective in crowds, but useful for protection from my new allergy issues. New to me, but when I go out I often serial sneeze for several hours. Weird, but this is now my life.
Tehanu
Wow, just wow.