4am Sunday morning the 21st of March we head off from Reykjavik to see the volcanic eruption that had just started close to The Blue Lagoon, about 30 minutes from Reykjavík. I got a ride with two photographers from Fréttablaðið Sigtryggur Ari and Anton Brink.
We could see a faint glow behind the mountains. Some kind of a Mordor vibe in the distance. We parked the Landrover, put on our headlights and climed the hills in the darkness, like moths heading for the light.
The fog was thick so it was harder to find the way than we expected. I used my phone to navigate towards the area on the horizon that had the brightest glow.
And as we came closer. The lava glowing like a city. And rivers of liquid rock flowing and filling the little valley, once a green oasis in this rocky landscape.
Like landing on a hostile alien planet. The craters up in the fog could be seen from where the lava was flowing.
I was kind of startstruck, coming so close to flowing lava. I had seen it once before, in the 2010 eruption but this time I was much closer and I could feel the heat. Photographer Ari Magg took this photo of me.
Slowly the fog cleared and you remember you are witnessing how our earth is constantly recreating itself. We got extremely close to the lava, the heat burning, worried that the phone might melt. Wind was good, volcanic gasses can kill so low lying areas should be avoided.
We headed up to see the main crater. People seemed to be super close. The volcano is strangely seducing. The sounds are soft, come closer…
No it is not the lens. This is just shot on my iphone. We felt safe but a volcano is unpredictable. New craters can open up anywhere.
The pictures and videos above are taken by myself on my daughters iphone. This one here below is taken by Ari Magg:
And Sigtryggur Ari took this one:
