Site of the first ever parliament at Þingvellir (Thingvellir)
Strokkur http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strokkur
Gullfoss (gold waterfall) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullfoss
Gullfoss (gold waterfall).
Strokkur about to spout - It's really a very striking blue.
Strokkur spouting its incredibly blue water.
Þingvellir (Thingvellir) Where the Atlantic and Eurasian plates move apart at around two centimetres per year. This is one edge of the plate. The other is across the other side of the lake.
Horse rush-hour. They move the horses down to warmer pastures for the winter around the end of August and early September.
The rock in the foreground is over four metres high.
The base of Bláhnúkur (Blue Peak)
The main hot pool at Landmannalaugar.
Some Icelandic horses trekking from Landmannalaugar.
He's plotting something...
Sulphurous fumaroles.
The vent that heats the Höskuldsskáli Hut.
Snow outside the Höskuldsskáli Hut.
The Höskuldsskáli Hut in the snow.
Ice Caves near the Höskuldsskáli Hut.
That's boiling water in the middle of the picture.
One of the many snow filled gullies with the snow undercut by a stream, that is usually slightly warmed by volcanic action.
View from below the Álftavatn Hut.
Our first river crossing.
A mountain-fed river. Not quite as freezing cold or as dirty as the glacier fed variety. But as far as crossings are concerned, there's little between them otherwise! (That's a waterproof camera bag attached to my belt, I'm not carrying anything).
Very glad of a bridge on this one. No way this could be crossed here on foot.
Another river to cross. This was above our knees.
Rob in the centre giving a nice sense of scale.
The whole mountain smelled of wild Thyme. Which made a change from the sulphur.
Six images, Rob lower right corner. A truly awesome sight and this glacier is not even the biggest in Iceland. Stitched using Autostitch ( http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html ).
Tents centre, lower left (small orange dot).
One of the most spectacular views we've had from the tent.
Another side trip to see the gorge just before the Botnar Hut (we didn't stay in Botnar).
The moss had dead sections in round patterns. Probably similar to what causes fairy rings in lawns (a fungal infection that grows outwards and dies as it expands). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_ring
We only saw a few examples of this. I don't know what it is or even if it's native or introduced.
Panorama generated from five originals. Stitched using Autostitch ( http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html ).
A Golden Plover http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Golden_Plover
Somewhere above the right-most bend in the river, there are four pixels representing a Fjäll Räv http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_fox
Looks nice - but this was amazingly windy.
A small glacier crossing between Þórsmörk and Skógar. (Update: The site of the 2010 erruption in fact!)
A small glacier crossing between Þórsmörk and Skógar. Note the direction marker pole on a moveable tripod to the right of us. (Update: The site of the 2010 erruption in fact!)
Looking down from the top of Skógarfoss (foss=waterfall).
Skógarfoss.
We had some time to kill after the walk so we took the bus away from Reykjavik to Vik. They make a lot of woollen clothing at Vik. And sell beer and burgers to people waiting for the coach. And there's also an amazing view of some sea stacks.
An amazing waterfall that the coach stops at on the way back to Reykjavik.
The Blue Lagoon. The water is natural although piped for heating and electricity generation (natural pools like this do occur in Iceland. Though not that we saw on the trail).
Dolphins!
Whale!
There's still a working boat yard in Reykjavik.
Reykjavik.
