We woke up with the incredible view posted on the last blog. After packing, we headed over to breakfast, and as we finished there, were told that the van was having some sort of trouble. Jóhann had left with the balky van to visit a service station and see what could be done.
Matt talked to the managers of the guesthouse and they suggested a walk just down the street a bit.
We had to open and close a few gates in the fences. That puzzled us as all the sheeps we saw roaming around were free to go where they wanted. There must have, at some point, been a reason for the fences. Matt, our fearless leader, said we should do it as the owners had given us permission.
Matt works with GSA out of Denver, the Education and Outreach Department. He coordinates the GeoCorps America program which places students in short-term positions in locations such as US National Parks. He assists with the earthcache program and geology tours for teachers and geocachers.
Once through the gates, we climbed over to the small stream flowing there, and then up to an old pump house that obviously had been run by the water flow. It was in disrepair and obviously not used any more. Beyond that we discovered a wonderful, stepped waterfalls.
The reward for taking the walk
Matt pointed out the two distinctly different types of rock formation on the opposite side of the water. The one to the left (as well as under the falls) is basalt columns, varying in direction as if it is disjointed. To the left is breccia, rock that has angular fragments cemented together.
Comparison of two types of rock
Back on the road, our first stop was Dverghamrar which means dwarf rocks. Not because the rocks were small, but because of tales of dwarves and elves in that area. The base was straight upright basalt columns, and on top of that was found what I can only call jumbled basalt columns. This was due to the bottom cooling gradually when contacting water, and the jumbled part was when a river was blocked, pooling on top, causing curves and different directions of the columns. Jóhann showed us how the slow cooling process causes lines "like tree rings" in his words.
Liz and I learning about column "rings"
Our next stop was seeing the results of a jökulhlaup (glacial outburst) at a location of plain of black lava sand and ash, now called Skeiðarársandur. The jökulhlaup occurred in 1996 and was large enough that blocks of ice the size of houses floated on top of the water and destroyed the bridge.
The earthcache here had a math problem about how many bathtubs would be filled a second at the rate the water was flowing, related to tons and volume. We started chatting together about it, and a man passing by said "Four tubs to a ton," and continued on his way. In truth, he wasn't far off. Once we did the math, we agreed that the answer was the volume at the peak flow would have filled 250,000 tubs per second. That's a lot of water.
Tangled wreckage of the bridge
Due to our delay in the morning, Jóhann had rearranged the time of our next visit - a ride on a duck boat amongst the icebergs that Liz and I had seen a few days earlier. The rain was torrential at that point, so rain pants were on, and hood up on the rain jacket. We added thick life vests to that once we were on board. Chalk up another first for me - a ride in a duck boat.
The guide explained the safety precautions and then talked about the icebergs. There was a small inflatable that kept up with us in case someone fell overboard, not that it would have been easy to do that. They also cut off a piece of a glacier and handed it up to us so that the guide could explain things with greater ease. Some of us choose to hold that piece "just because." It was about 1000 years old. The next thing he did was to chisel off small pieces and give them to anyone who wanted to try 1000 year old ice. Yes, of course I did. It is said that it is great for beverages because the ice is so dense that it melts more slowly. After "eating" a piece, I believe that is true.
Eating something older than I am
Back at the van, Jóhann had an array of rocks laid out to show us many different types. When finished, he said that we should take any of them with us. I have the one I found interesting home with me. It's like a miniature example of breccia, but since the pieces are rounded, that makes it a miniature conglomerate. Truth is, I can't remember what Jóhann called it, so I'm at a loss until someone who knows more can help me.
The van was still not running well, and we knew we would be late to our guesthouse that night. Jóhann called ahead and asked if it would be possible to hold our dinner until we arrived. They could.
We arrived here and were welcomed into the home like very special guests. We were asked to leave shoes at the door, and were then given keys to our rooms. Everything was neat, clean and quite lovely to look at. We settled into the room and about that time dinner was ready. I regret not taking a photo of the food. All local, fresh, and organic. Fish cooked with a light coating of wonderful herbs, small carrots and potatoes steamed to perfection, fresh green salad with things like cucumbers and tomatoes to add. The desert was a piece of the best brownie I have ever eaten with ice cream and fresh strawberries. All of us were wishing we didn't have to leave there the next day.
After dinner I settled into the most comfortable chair you could imagine. I could curl up any way I liked in complete comfort. Soon, though, it was time to settle in for the night, although I was tempted to sleep out there in that chair. I need to find me a chair like that back home.
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