Our reward for missing out on the treasures of north Iceland was a chance to explore the Snæfellsness Peninsula. This peninsula has the third of Iceland's national parks, Snæfellsjökull National Park. The major formation in the park is a snow-capped volcano called Snæfell. Jules Verne wrote about this volcano in Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
Eldborg looks like a lovely mesa, doesn't it? It's not. It's actually a spatter cone, and it's not flat on top at all. It's a crater. Classic Geology in Europe 3: Iceland has a picture of the aerial view, and it's not at all what you would expect from looking at it from the side.
All of the lava in this area is covered with this lovely green moss. It looks like a fine layer, but it's actually thicker than a very plush carpet.
Snæfell has a couple of features on top.
Lava caves are formed when lava at the surface cools and hardens while lava underneath is still running through hot. Eric and I have explored lava caves in Hawai'i, Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho. Yes, you can see awesome lava caves in California, but you have to drive about six hours from the Bay Area. Exploring the lava caves at Vatnshellir requires going with a park guide.
The guide explained that these stalagmites were formed in a completely different way from the way stalagmites in more familiar limestone caves. You probably know that stalagmites form in limestone caves by the buildup of drops of water over geologic time. These stalagmites, however, were formed instantaneously. The come about when gas under pressure in a volcano suddenly escapes through a fissure, and propels lava up with it. These small pieces of lava cool immediately and form these shapes. Quite an exciting thing to see!
At one point, the guide had everyone turn off all of the flashlights so that we could experience the complete darkness of the cave. In the dark and quiet, you could really hear the drops of water falling in the cave. The guide explained that those were drops from a rainstorm two weeks before, still falling through.
The guide explained that, since there are no bats in Iceland, there are hardly any living things in the cave. There are just some unusual bacteria that are found nowhere outside Iceland.
We went off looking for a cache, but decided it was going to be too far from the parking area, so we didn't find it. We did meet some Dutch cachers.
The trailhead for the 2.5 km (1.5 mi) trail to Arnarstapi was at the beach. We immediately found ourselves hiking through a large field of mossy lava.
We would be spending the night at the Hotel Hellnar. Lonely Planet's Iceland recommended splurging on the dinner at the hotel restaurant.
But the hotel's setting, on the hillside between the volcano and the sea, was superb.
The restaurant was indeed very good. Lonely Planet's Iceland had recommended the black cod, so we tried that along with another flatfish with an Icelandic name. The cod was very tender, but Eric liked the taste of the other fish better. Both pieces of fish were served over yummy potatoes. We also shared a langostine salad and a creamy mousse cake for dessert.
This day was not as positively thrilling as the previous two, but it was nice to take a slower pace and do some fun exploring. We certainly saw some beautiful and amazing things, and we glad we had been able to make the time for Snæfellsness.
On to Viking Sushi.