Thingvellir and the trip North

Blonduos, Iceland-

[Guest blogger: Travis Louvain]

So as we completed the research on the Reykjanes Penninsula, we traveled up north to the Skagi Peninsula to a town called Blonduos.

Car pictures are always a necessity.

On the way we stopped at a place called Thingvellir. This site is home of the first Icelandic Parliament and a beautiful national park.

The place was chosen by the early Icelanders because it was relatively easy to access and because it is a amazingly flat valley. Why is this? Well that’s where the geology comes in. This national park is not only home to the first parliament but also it is a site of active rifting.

Path through the middle of a large fissure leading to the site of the original parliament. When it met they used to make speeches from the taller side of the fissure to a crowd listening on the other side.

So the flat valley is actually the result of the two plates rifting away from one another. This can clearly be seen in the large fissures which are a highlight of this site.

Large fissures run through the ground all over the place. Some are only a foot deep, but some drop for tens of feet.

The rift valley from atop the large fissure.

After this we continued driving north mostly along the coast. At one point we went under a large fjord by way of tunnel and under the following mountain before coming out on the other side where we stopped for lunch. As we drove we saw many sheep and horse farms. We also drove up into the mountains where the mountain tops were still covered with snow.

Snowy mountaintop. We continued seeing sheep roaming even at these high altitudes.

As we drove to Blonduos we passed my field site and decided to ask permission to go up the mountain side. As I sat in the car wondering whether or not I was going to have an I.S. or not, I couldn’t help but laugh at Dr. Pollock making gestures with her arms while talking to the lady who owned the land. It turns out that the lady spoke English fairly well and Dr. Pollock was just using large hand gestures cause she liked to, but the good news was that she gave us permission to go up the mountain.

After this, we continued to Blonduos which happened to be very close. We checked in to our cabin which was complete with a kitchen, bathroom, fridge, propane grill, and a hot tub. Yes, a hot tub!

Well to wrap up today I finished a video that I’ve been working on from our fourth day where we explored the southern portion of the Reykjanes Peninsula. I hope you enjoy it.