On the next day Retreat at The Blue LagoonWe started off with a leisurely swim, then breakfast and determination to hike up to the amazing view of the newly erupting Meradalir volcano.
If you remember Here in this post We actually did this hike but ended up with a less than ideal view of the volcano.
We had then Tried to do this hike on the right track the next day And the change in weather meant that authorities had to close the volcano tourist route.
Well, from the online news today, it looked like the hiking trail was open and the weather looked pretty good for it.
So with that, we had an early lunch and headed down to the supermarket to stock up on supplies for the hike.
This time, we overdid it with breakfast, unlike the first time when I didn't even think to bring water with me because I assumed the hike was just short.
Thankfully Lloyd had brought water with him that time but none of us had packed breakfast.
So yes, all packed up we proceeded to the proper parking lot for the hike and began our ascent to the volcano.
Now this hike was tough but not in the way I expected.
It starts with a relatively quick climb but is nowhere near as steep as the other route.
After this you zig-zag until you reach the top of the mountain and this is the part that is actually quite tough even though it is flat.
See, this entire path is full of huge rocks that have been blown up here by previous volcanic eruptions and it's mentally exhausting trying to walk through these and not fall.
At first, everything looks fine, but then the structure gets more complicated and although the government was actively working to build a path here, it didn't really go that far.
The view is amazing though as you go along and thanks to the rain, you can see the earlier lava flows boiling in the distance as you pass. It's a bit surreal.
Eventually, this rocky area gives way to more level terrain and then a few more uphills and then several downhills and before you know it, the volcano is right in front of you but still in the distance.
This last part of the climb is a bit muddy and actually when you wish it had those rocks beforehand so you don't slide down the hill.
Once you've done this, it's easy to reach this viewpoint overlooking the volcano.
At this point, we are only thankful that we were stubborn with our decision to come back here because the view of the volcano from here is what we saw on the news and the reason we did the hike in the first place, to begin with.
It's surreal to watch, especially with all that lava that you know the earth is so hard to flow like water.
And then comes the sound.
It's a strange mix of loud humming and constant rumbling.
After taking a moment or two to take it all in, we decide to descend the canyon to the edge of the lava flow.
It's important to note that Icelandic government safety officials were monitoring things here, especially the gas levels from the volcano so there were people looking for safety on that front.
Randomly, and I don't know how advisable this is, some people showed up with fish that they then proceeded to bake using the heat from the lava flow.
As it started to get a little dark, and by the way, it got dark mostly because of the cloud cover, not because the sun had completely set, you started to see part of the lava field glowing and you could see very clearly how Molten lava flowed around the valley from the volcanic eruption.
It was incredible!
We spent much longer here than initially planned before deciding well past midnight that we should probably start heading back to the car.
Our flight back home was in a few hours and we hadn't even checked into the hotel where we would spend the night.
And so we started walking back but it was dark due to the cloud cover and fog had also come.
It was an 'adventure' to say the least, trying to get back in those conditions, but the incredible view of the volcano was more than enough to carry us through the entire hike.
And of course, once you get past those rocky bits in the mountains.
The rest is pretty easy!
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