LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk Winter 2015

LOCALadk Magazine

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38 Winter 2015 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk The nation of Iceland has enchanted me since my first United States Air Force assignment in 1967. This island of roughly 40,000 square miles is located in the North Atlantic, a stones throw from the Arctic Circle. Iceland is characterized by minimal pollution, rugged natural beauty, and encompassing views. It is home to numerous glaciers and even more volcanoes. Compared to our Adirondacks it is geological- ly a mere child, still actively growing. Earthquakes and eruptions are common. I have made many visits but the most moving took place in September 2014. My wife Jane and I were visiting my daughter who lives in Iceland's capi- tal city of Reykjavik. We were all going to be together for my 71st birth- day. How to celebrate my birthday has often been a challenge but on this occasion my daughter, Maria, and her husband, Brynjar Fridriksson surprised me with the perfect gift. Brynjar had been in touch with the Icelandic authorities monitoring and controlling access to the area of a volcanic eruption that had begun in August. He succeeded in obtaining a permit for a "foreign photographer" (me) to enter the highly restricted area surrounding the erupting volcano Holuhraun. The volcano is located in an extremely remote area 187 miles northeast of Reykjavik and north of Iceland's largest glacier, Vatnajokull. The permit allowed us to travel into the restricted area via 4x4 vehicle. Due to the unpredictable nature of the eruption, we were permitted to stay a maximum of 36 hours. Brynjar and I travelled with another photographer named Kjartan Blon- dal. The plan was to reach an area in close proximity of the eruption site to capture the "sweet light" of pre-dawn, sunrise and early morning. Given the position of the September sun Kjartan figured we could shoot until about 10am. The three of us would drive 15 miles away to set up camp, resting for a few hours and then head back toward the eruption site arriving mid-afternoon. We would resume photographing until about 9pm and then make our way back to Reykjavik. At 7:00pm Wednesday, September 10th we left Reykjavik for what turned out to be a 10-hour journey to the Holuhraun eruption. Our equipment included camping and photography gear as well as gas masks. Kjartan proved to be an expert "4-wheeler" and guide. Getting to the eruption site required traversing terrain composed of ancient lava fields, fording rivers and making our way across unmarked stretches of sub-arctic volca- nic sand desert. The off road nighttime driving was dangerous and clear- ly not to be attempted without a properly equipped vehicle and expert driver like Kjartan. When we left Reykjavik, the weather was overcast and drizzling. Driving northeast the winds picked up, the skies cleared and the temperature dropped below 32 degrees fahrenheit. With little light pollution, we ob- served the Milky Way and a ribbon of northern lights. There was a reddish glow on the horizon. It was the Holuhraun eruption still an estimated 3-4 hours away. We stopped and turned off our lights to take in nature's gifts. The hardy Icelanders and I were deeply moved by the display of seemingly magical lights piercing the darkness. Our bone jarring drive ended with us stopping just a few yards away from the edge of the lava flow. None of us were prepared for what lay before us. About a kilometer from our position we saw vivid fountains of lava issuing from a fissure that extended for kilometers and a volcanic crater spewing huge chunks of magma every 20 seconds or so. There was also a massive plume composed of ash, steam, sulfur dioxide and carbon mon- oxide gas reaching upwards of 30 thousand feet. The timing of our arrival could not have been better. The predawn light enhanced the enormous gaseous plume, creating yellows and oranges spread across clear blue sky. The effect of morning, afternoon and eve- ning light was equally dramatic. The sunlight revealed a tornado-like vortex of steam rising from the confluence of lava and the glacial river Jokulsa a Fjollum. The light enhanced plumes created an eerie almost otherworldly scene. There was a lingering smell of sulfur dioxide gas (rot- ten eggs). Viewing the brilliant red-orange showers of lava with glaciers in the background, hearing the crackling, crunching sounds of the cooled crust slowly being pushed by the subsurface lava, feeling the cold wind, nearly overwhelmed our senses. When the crust cracked we felt blasts of heat from the exposed molten lava. The distant rumble of explosions and the occasional tremor underfoot added more drama to the experi- ence. Nature's closing act took place after nightfall as the lava fountains and eruptions lit up the darkness. The night revealed the formation of a lava lake behind a dam created by the cooling crust. Over short wave radio authorities voiced considerable concern about this development, strongly suggesting we leave the area sooner than planned. The journey in the dark back to Reykjavik proved to be equally bone jar- ring and challenging. We received numerous radio calls from the author- ities wanting to know our position and if we had left the restricted area. We also learned that an unauthorized group of French tourists had to be rescued from their disabled vehicle while crossing a river. Days later we found out the area where we had been photographing had been covered by lava when the dam that had created the lake burst. When I look at my photos I reflect on how those hours in the presence of Nature's raw power was mesmerizing and most humbling. It was a grand adventure.

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