You are here because it is a very popular place to visit on your tour around Iceland. On the shores of lake Myvatn where the lava overflowed the lake, many different lava formations have been left behind for us to admire. The trail is well-marked so that we do not get lost.
This is what happens to the lava when it flows over a lake. The steam under the hardening lava finds a way to escape in a weaker part of the cover. As it spews up and out, the lava is carried up and hardens into these curious shapes.
Legend has it that trolls that were exposed to the sun were turned into stone.
Imagine standing with one leg on the North American Plate and the other on the Eurasian Plate. The Mid-Atlantic ridge runs through Iceland from north to south. There will be another post about this later.
There is one of these on each side of the bridge.
Sometimes the steam created bubbles in the lava. That hardened into the cave we see here.
Sometimes the bubble goes all the way through.
Some of these formations are up to 65 feet high.
There is a legend that in December the Ÿule Lads come out to play tricks on children and their parents. They are believed to live in this region. Be on the lookout for these tricksters.
The plants with red leaves are blueberry plants. The birds have stripped them and their leaves are probably green in spring and summer.
Beautiful pictures. I love all of those rock formations! They’re incredible! And standing with one foot on the North American plate and the other on the Eurasian plate had to be really something.
And the blueberries! They don’t grow here unless you do quite a bit to amend the soil. The soil here is mostly clay, which is very alkaline, but blueberries prefer a more acidic soil. Clay doesn’t make them happy; they need a solid layer of sphagnum peat to give them happiness. I’ve never tried growing blueberries here. But yum, I love to eat them, and it would be very delightful to go outside and pick a handful of blueberries on a warm summer’s day.
Blog on, Doug!
“Imagine standing with one leg on the North American Plate and the other on the Eurasian Plate“. I had to read that twice. How cool AND absolutely horrifying that could be.
Thanks for sharing these amazing photos.
At one point it is possible to walk between them.
So very cool! those formations, the myths behind them, and the meeting point of two tectonic plates!! Some of those formations are like the Arches I recently saw in the Valley of Fire state park (just a different material and color!)