Iceland, the Land of Fire and Ice

I am back from my latest adventure, which was an 8 day hiking trip in Iceland.  All I have to say is a big WOW!!!  As many of you know, I am a big fan of taking a break from the ordinary, and giving yourself a chance to reset and retool your life.  This trip did not disappoint. 

Iceland is probably the most geologically interesting place that I have ever visited.  It is the only place where the mid-Atlantic ridge is above the ocean’s surface, and so its soil and rock is 100% created by eons of volcanic eruptions, much like the Big Island of Hawaii.  It is still subject to periodic volcanic eruptions, lava flows and earthquakes.  Iceland also has ice caps, glaciers, ice bergs, black sand beaches, volcanic fissures, geysers, sulfuric steam coming out of cracks in the ground, bubbling mud pots, hexagonal basaltic columns, hot streams that one can soak in, naturally pure cold drinking water that does not need to be treated, some very big lakes, and way too many waterfalls to count.  All very picturesque.  Not to mention those very cute Icelandic ponies. 

On a personal note, while on this trip, I had a chance to connect with the nature kingdoms of the plants and the minerals.  The volcanic energy had a very masculine feel, not like the feminine energy that one finds in Hawaii.  The energy of everything also felt quite new and fresh, not ancient, and a bit sterile.  The only mammals that live there, besides the domesticated cattle, sheep and horses, were the arctic fox and some rodent species, and we saw neither.   So no critters, except for a few birds, were ever seen while we were out hiking.  That made our outings very quiet, and somehow a bit disconcerting.  As a contrast, I went with a botany group up into the alpine zone yesterday, and at one stop alone, we saw a marmot, several pikas and a weasel.  I also flushed out a little snake from my flower bed while I was watering this morning, so not seeing these kinds of things was a bit unusual. 

I now find that I have internalized the “quiet”.  It feels good just to sit with it while I am getting my body and energies back to “normal”.  It took me 24 hours to get back here, door to door, last Wednesday because of some airport delays, not to mention the 7 hour time difference between SW Colorado and Iceland.   So as I sort through my photos, I will post some of them here.  More later!