We are pretty excited about today as our plan is to hike the Litle-Hrútur Volcanic Eruption and follow that with time at the Blue Lagoon.
In regards to the volcanic eruptions they ended in August 2023. Prior to that on the Reykjanes Peninsula there was an eruption at Fagrafjall in 2021, Meradalir 2022 and Litle-Hrútur in 2023. This is quite a volcanic region and during the hike you can see all three volcanoes! We absolutely loved the hike and being right in with the lava flows and seeing each volcano up close. We started the hike with the fact we could see these volcanoes, but later in the hike discovered that our real love were the lava flows.
We have fifty (50) pictures on our blog of the hike. Definitely, this sets a new record for pictures posted on our blog for one activity. Each picture is presented in the sequence it was taken. There may not be an explanation with each picture. When you get bored just flip through to our time at Blue Lagoon and/or look at photos of our delicious dinner.
We were cognizant before the hike of the need to be at the Blue Lagoon for our 17:00 appointment time so decided to arrive at the parking lot for a 09:30 start. Online information indicated an 18 km hike that takes between 6 and 8 hours round trip. Plus, we did not want to rush ourselves. The cost for parking was the equivalent of $10CAD. The weather to start was sun with clouds and a temperature around 8 degrees Celsius. Perfect weather for a long hike and taking lots of photos.
My favourite picture of one of the volcanos with the lava in the foreground. 
Information Map of the Litli-Hrütur hike. We took the longest hike which is the blue line on the right. The reason is we wanted to be able to see all three volcanos.
Check out this information board and the photo of the eruption!
Map showing the topography of the hike and the volcanos and hiking routes. 
This picture is from the internet and we were in this location during our hike. Of course, the lava is mostly cooled now. It would have been fantastic to have witnessed the eruptions live.
Online pic of the lava flowing down the mountain.
Another online pic of the lava flow and fires!
Online pic. We were at this location as well, but of course a couple of months too late! You will see the outline of this volcano now dormant in one of pics.
Back to our pics. No motorcycles or cars allowed on the trail. The trail is drivable by a 4WD for certain, but no cars allowed of course. The first part of the trail is a gravel road and then mostly handpicked dirt that was much appreciated for hiking. In fact, we saw four older fellows on electric mountain bikes heading up the trail as we were returning.
Lana did very well with the entire hike! She never stopped on any of the inclines and kept a good pace. My Garmin watch statistics for the long hike: 19.44 kms
with a total time of 5 hours and 8 minutes
and I only paused the watch when we stopped for lunch at the end of the hike up top. The total ascent = 328 metres
. It was not a difficult hike as the trail was fairly easy to navigate and the elevation gains were over a longer distance. Only a couple of hills that had some steepness. On the other hand, it was five hours + on the trail and a long distance on parts of trail that were large, chunky rock that is difficult to walk on. Plus, we had an incredible strong head wind hiking back down the trail.
Lava flow from a distance.
As you can see from the sign this is the end of the trail. My watch showed 8.70 kms distance to the end of the line and it took us about two hours. While we are at the end of the trail and eating our lunches the wind was howling and it got very cold. On a positive note NO RAIN.
More lava flows.
Some of these lava flows were so deep.
OK, lots of signs on what you are NOT allowed to do with the lava flows.
Close up of the black deposits seen along the trail in spots.
Yup, near the end of the line there are porta potties. Notice at both ends the concrete 'anchors' which are necessary to keep them upright as the winds are very strong.
Fascinating how rocks were impacted by the eruptions.
Close up of lava flow. This lava is very light, but super sharp, prickly edges.
Yes, I broke the rules by standing on the lava, but I could not resist!
Another close up of lava. It comes in all sorts of colours, shapes and sizes!
Great pic of the lava against the original landscape.
We were enamoured with the cool designs in various rocks.
Is this from the Alien movie?
Check out the shape of the giant rock on the left. Looks like the earth's crust literally being listed up.
We came across this flow on our second stop. Very glassy and not as jagged.
Yup, my favourite picture of the day.
So many different colours!
OK, so this is from the Alien movie?
Awesome designs in this rock we found in a lava flow.
How did this multi-coloured rock find its way into the lava flow?
OK, so we were going to title the blog "who thought moss could be so soft?". We watch the documentary series "Alone" based on real life persons who survive in remote locations. Pretty much every contestant uses moss under their sleeping bags and for protection on their makeshift roofs. When we stepped on the moss it was incredibly soft and spongy! It would be very comfortable to sleep on for sure. Who knew?
This is the viewpoint for the second volcano that erupted.
Check out the smoke rising from the lava flow. After all these weeks and maybe this case months there is still heat within parts of the lava flow. This lava looked totally different than the first flow we saw.
This picture is to show the scale of the lava flow as this is kilometres wide...
More smoke rising from the lava flow.
Panoramic close-up of a lava flow.
Yup, close-up of lava flow.
Another panoramic picture of the lava flow for width and depth.
Some of my notes:
- while the hike down was beset by strong head winds it was better than rain
- we hear and see jet planes overhead as we are reasonably close to the international airport
- constant presence of helicopters given that is one way of seeing everything from the air although it must be super costly
- we came across a group of hikers with a guide explaining everything about the volcanos
- we took three deviations from the trail on the way downhill in order to get up close and personal with the lava flows
- no animals except for one bird the entire five hours plus
- we encountered about 20-25 persons the entire time we were on the trail
- the car park was much busier on our return as we believe the vast majority of visitors take the shorter hikes
- this was one of the most memorable hikes for either of us
We get back to our car at 14:50 and change out of our footwear and shirts. We have some more eats and some water. Lana contacts the
Blue Lagoon to see if we can arrive earlier than our appointment? They are good with our arrival at 15:30 so off we go on a 20 minute drive to make our revised appointment time. We have friends who have raved about the Blue Lagoon so we need to experience it ourselves. It is very expensive for the cheapest option. The cheapest option (Comfort) provides entrance to the pool, a free drink, a face mask application, access to the wet sauna and steam room, and a towel. We did not bring our cellphones into the pool which was a rarity as pretty much everyone else had their phones.
This will be the perfect segue from our long hike. For certain this place is equal to the hype. We spent a full two hours. Soothing showers at the end. You wear a wrist band to access anything inclusive of the lockers. Plus, if you are trying to buy another drink they can charge your account.
Online pic of Blue Lagoon facility.
Online pic of the actual pool. This is the actual colour of the water being a milky blue. The heat comes from 2000 metres below the surface and piped into the pool to keep it so warm and in place hot.
Online pic. During our time it was cool weather which further enhances the experience of being in the pool. We got our free drinks being one apple cider and a strawberry sparkling wine.
Online pic of the pool which is gigantic! Visitors from all over the world.
This is the substance you receive to apply to your face. After ten (10) minutes you wash it off in the pool. Lana says no wonder the water has a milky white colour--it's from everyone washing their masks off!!!
We both spend some time in the hot sauna and afterwards, spray ourselves with cold water for the shock value. Lana says it's good for your parasympathetic nervous system.
About a thirty minute drive home and we find parking close to our apartment building. That is fortunate as Lana is beginning to seize up. We decide to head upstairs and then quickly back out to walk across the street to
Potturinn Og Pannan Restaurant. Great reviews and it could not be closer. We wanted an Icelandic cuisine restaurant and this was the place. Normally, if you don't have a reservation you won't find a table. We lucked out as they had a small table available. Prices again are staggering, but we ordered two main dishes, but no appetizer or drinks. We will stick with the flat water. We loved our meals!
Lana's Seafood Tagliatelle. They say to enjoy the fresh seafood while you're here and this dish did not disappoint. Large shrimp, small shrimp, scallops and arctic char fish in a savoury tomato cream sauce. We've never seen a seafood pasta with with that much seafood on it! Perfectly cooked.
Randy's Crispy Rack of Lamb with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Very yummy. Tender meat done exactly as I wanted it. The vegetables and mashed potatoes were perfect.
For each of us we recorded more than 31,000 steps so that is quite a day of walking/hiking! Plus 73 floors up make it a day of exercise and lots of fresh air. It is already 22:10 and Lana is still awake although that could be from watching her Korean Netflix series "The Glory". A fantastic day in Iceland that we will remember for a long time.
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