We got a fairly clear day today at Mývatn. Today would have been the day to do all the fun things we did yesterday since it wasn't so foggy. But oh well. With vacations like these (especially in Iceland), you have to go with the flow because you can't control the weather. Here is a shot of all the steam coming up from the hot springs at the geothermal plant and at the Mývatn Nature Baths.

We stopped at the Mývatn Tourist Center since it was open. It had a lot of really awesome information on the Mývatn area. The extreme volcanic activity and resulting minerals from the hot springs have created quite a fertile oasis in Mývatn. The plant, animal, and insect life in the area is quite prolific. Mývatn is the only place on earth where so many different duck species come to breed in the spring. Animals have adapted to living in an active volcanic zone. The amphipod, one of two ancient species to survive the Ice Age, still lives in the groundwater channels that feed the lake. The hot springs keep the lake at a reasonable enough temperature that it doesn't completely freeze over. About 35 cubic m (9,246 gallons) of water flows out of hot and cold springs into the lake.

Höfði
Our first stop was Höfði. Höfði is a beautiful forestry area on the southeast portion of the lake. It has picturesque walking paths through trees and great shoreline views of the Mývatn area. They're short hikes, around 30-60 minutes. We walked out to an area along the short path and got some nice photos.

Skútustaðagígar
Skútustaðagígar are pseudocraters south of the lake that surround the pond Stakhólstjörn. These craters were formed by steam explosions when boiling lava flowed over the wetlands. Most of the pseudocraters found on Earth are in Iceland, as they are very rare elsewhere. Scientists have recently discovered pseudocraters on Mars, where they were formed by steam explosions from boiling lava flowing over frozen ground. On Earth, they form when lava flows over wet sediment or into the sea. Since the Mars discovery, scientists have began studying the Mývatn pseudocraters, which are the biggest and most beautifully-formed on Earth, more closely. The wetlands still exist and are a great place for birdwatching. There are two routes through the craters, one 30 minute and one 60 minute. We just took a short jaunt up two of them to get some great pictures before we had to move on to our next scheduled stop.

Vindbelgjarfjall
Vindbelgjarfjall is a mountain along the west of the lake. It's 529 m (1,736 ft) above sea level. It's supposed to take about an hour up and back. We didn't hike it because of our schedule, but we did get some good photos. I'm sure the view from the top is phenomenal!

Dettifoss
Justin has developed an addiction. This addiction has been caused by Iceland. He is obsessed with waterfalls. So I drove us up to Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. I usually drive because I love to, and he is not a fan. So he usually navigates, which I can't do because I get motion sickness. Anyway, we originally took 864 north to come up the east side of the waterfall, but it's been blocked off this time of year. After stopping at a random house, the very nice lady told us to take 862 instead (24 km-15 m drive 1 way), which comes up the west side of the waterfall and was built specifically for Dettifoss. The roads website had marked 862 "slippery with spots of ice", but I persevered since Justin was so excited. The road wasn't too bad, but we did start slipping on the road during the last 5 km or so close to the waterfall. Once we got there, we had to walk 800 m (0.5 m) through a beautiful field of huge boulders and snow. It was peaceful and surreal all at once. The waterfall wasn't quite so loud until you were on top of it, and I think that's because it's basically in a canyon. And holy smokes, it did not disappoint! It was awe-inspiring and terrifying all at once. I can't fathom how that much water is moving that quickly. Justin enjoyed every second of it. If there's one thing Iceland has taught me, though, is that I'm seriously terrified of deep, moving water, especially when viewing it from an icy cliff or hillside. The spray from the falls made it feel like a sleet storm, and thick layers of ice covered everything. It was beautiful. And scary while walking on it. Justin was disappointed we could go down to the rock cliff right next to it (AGH!) because of the ice, but we've already made the decision to do this trip again in the summer to get to experience both sides of it. It was tough to get some good photos because of the spray and the overcast skies, but it will certainly stay in our memories.

Hrossaborg
Hrossaborg is a 10,000 year old crater that formed when magma heated groundwater and caused a huge explosion of steam and rock. Hrossaborg was nearly circular, originally about 500 m (1,640 ft) in diameter, but flooding of the Jökulsán River eroded it on the east and west. There is now a gateway through the eastern wall, and it is about 40 m (131 ft) tall. It was once used as a pen for rounding up horses, which is how it got its name "horse castle". We couldn't go down to it because the road was closed, but we got a shot of it from the road. It was also used in the Tom Cruise movie Oblivion.

Egilsstaðir
This was the leg of the journey that I was most worried about. We had met several different American tourists that said the mountain passes on the Ring Road between Mývatn and Egilsstaðir were horrendous - snowy, icy, no visibility, huge trucks, road not clear, mountain side/cliff driving. So let's just say I've been a little anxious about today. Luckily, the snowstorm from last week has been cleared away, and the drive wasn't bad at all. Iceland has a roads website that Icelanders and tourists live by. It's updated every 15 minutes and rates the roads by color (green-good, yellow-wet, light blue-patches of ice, dark blue- slippery, white-wet snow, etc...we will be doing a "Driving in Iceland" post later). Luckily we had light blue and yellow roads the whole way! It was low visibility, some wind, and sleet...but with what we've encountered in Iceland already, that's nothing. Here's a shot of a suspension bridge on the Ring Road.

Tomorrow, we're off to explore some stuff around here (waterfalls included to make the waterfall addict happy), and then we will be making our way to Höfn, the town we marked down on our itinerary specifically because its known for lobster. The gas from the volcano will be encroaching on this part of the country tomorrow, but it isn't at levels that are dangerous. We have an inhaler with us anyway...thank goodness we got another one specifically for this trip! The weather will be clear and beautiful tomorrow, so we'll hopefully get to see the Northern Lights again!