After breakfast, Barbara and I decided to walk to the mountain. As soon as we stepped out the hotel door, we were greeted by the sight of the sun through the steam rising. Gives a new dimension to Land of Fire?
We found snow lightly on the ground, so walked slowly over some slippery lava.
The path wound over hills of lava and by empty pools of silica, which made us aware of why keeping our feet in the lagoon was sometimes tricky.
I have been constantly amazed by plant life that grows so expansively on the lava.
As we came to the end of the path (1.5 miles), we discovered a sign stating this area is the Svartsengi Resource Park. The park recycles the geothermically heated silica water of the Svartsengi and Reykjanes lava fields through their power plants to feed the fish farms and algae farms of the Blue Lagoon. The path ended at the base of the mountain called Sylingarfell, which we didn’t climb as its 197 meters was a bit much for me.
A bit further on we passed a very unusual lava site. I want to find out what caused the whorls in the lava.
We joked about walking a stile over the steam pipe from the power plant. Another new experience!
We arrived back at hotel, put our names in again for the Northern Lights tour (very hopeful as the sky’s clear and cold). Then we spent the next 90 minutes in the lagoon, wondering what the rest of the world was doing as we floated and swam. We went all the way to the end of the lagoon and discovered a mini-spillway and a river of silica heading off into the lava field. We wished some one made a silics-proof camera case!
The clouds swept in denying us the Lights tour. Our wonderful concierge, Wendy, brought us a treat to ease our pain.
We are spending a quiet evening sorting clothes and packing for flight home. It’s been a great trip.
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