ICELAND, THE GOLDEN CIRCLE PART II: HAUKADALUR GEOTHERMAL FIELD

June 12, 2019

One of the main attractions on the Golden Circle drive is an area of geothermal activity known as the Haukadalur Geothermal Field. (Think Yellowstone.) 

Just outside the visitor's center is this statue of two men engaged in Iceland's national sport, "Glima," which is a form of wrestling. It almost looks like the goal might be to pull the shorts off your opponent:

Warning signs are always fun. My favorite check mark is the final one: "The nearest hospital is 62 km away." 

In Fahrenheit, this is 176° - 212°. That's hot.

Steaming vents . . .

. . . pools that bubble like witches' cauldrons:

. . . and sulfur-scented rivers:

The original Geysir is located here, the spout that gave our Yellowstone geysers the name. (Geysir comes from the old Icelandic work geysa, which means "to gush.")  Like Old Faithful, Geysir has been rather unreliable of late, but in 2000 it blew over 400 feet into the air, the highest geothermal explosion in recorded history. These days it erupts just two or three times a day and is not as spectacular as it has been in the past.

Luckily, The Old Geysir has a young understudy named Strokkur who is a bit less dramatic but a whole lot more reliable:

Strokkur erupts every 6-10 minutes. Unfortunately, I think we spent most of our time watching for Geysir, thinking it was the one that everyone had come to see. Meanwhile, Strokkur probably erupted a few times before we figured out we should be standing among its paparazzi. Its normal spout is 50-65 feet, although it has been known to double that:

The aftermath:

Thankfully, the sulfur smell is not as strong here as it is in Yellowstone, and the ambience is much less other-worldly:

Except here. What aliens have been bathing in THIS pool?

And crystal-clear water is great--in a porcelain bathtub. Here it reminds me of the TV series Stranger Things:

Well, it's not Yellowstone, but then again, it's a lot less crowded and less commercialized than Yellowstone. Not a bad trade-off, actually.