“It rains quite a bit right here”, says Ingimar (Ingi, for brief), our driver and tour information, while commenting on how fortunate we’re with the climate. “When you ask the locals, although, it solely rains twice per week – first for 3 days, after which for 4 days.” This units the tone for our tour of Katla ice cave with Southcoast Journey – a enjoyable, small tour from Vik.
We spend about 35-40 minutes in his luxurious Tremendous Jeep, first on street, earlier than taking a detour off-road over miles of black sand. “Within the morning it’s good to hearken to some hardcore Icelandic steel”, he shouts, as he makes an adjustment to the tyre stress in preparation for the brand new terrain and a loud, vibrating noise emanates from beneath us.
The surroundings is nothing wanting dramatic – fairly lush at first, with some Alaskan lupins that assist stop sandstorms, however more and more black as we go away the street. The world we’re traversing is Mýrdalssandur, a floodplain made up of black glacial volcanic outwash from previous eruptions. It’s separated from Vik by a artifical wall to hopefully cease potential floods from reaching Vik.
Ingy factors out a mountain on our proper – Hjörleifshöfði, named after Hjörleifr Hróðmarsson, one of many first settlers in Iceland, alongside along with his half-brother, Ingólfr Arnarson, who based Reykjavik. It’s on this space that the 2 of them first got here to land in round 874 AD. We be taught extra concerning the historical past of Iceland’s founders earlier than the Mýrdalsjökull glacier comes into view. It covers round 800 sq. kilometres and is the fourth largest glacier in Iceland.
Beneath the glacier is a volcano known as Katla, one of many scariest volcanoes in Europe. It’s energetic (although not erupting proper now). It has erupted roughly twice each century because the seventeenth Century. The largest eruption ever in Iceland that we all know of got here from the magma system in Katla. This was the Eldgjá basaltic eruption in 934 AD and is assumed to have lasted for as much as 8 years, with a 67-kilometre fissure spewing out lava. One other massive eruption occurred in 1311, in 1755 (120 days lengthy)
Katla often rests for about 40 to 80 years, and the final eruption was in 1918, now greater than 100 years in the past, so an eruption could be very a lot overdue. It’s a subglacial volcano which suggests it’s positioned beneath the ice. There are a variety of those in Iceland – it’s possible you’ll recall Eyjafjallajökull which erupted in 2010 and triggered air site visitors chaos to a lot of Europe. Ingy helps us with the pronounciation by telling us you possibly can simply say “I-forgot-my-yoghurt” and that’s shut sufficient or you are able to do what the US information channels did and name it “E-15” as a result of it begins with a ‘E’ and is adopted by 15 extra letters.
Though the eruption in 2010 stopped air site visitors for 3 weeks, it was ongoing for 4 weeks… however that was only a small eruption – only a “publicity stunt” to let the world know the place Iceland is. It labored – customer numbers to Iceland elevated by 30% in 2010, making tourism essentially the most important business on the island and the one largest employer. In comparison with what can occur at Katla, let’s simply hope you aren’t at an airport when Katla begins to erupt.
Being a subglacial volcano, the lava comes out of the crater, it’s round 1100 levels Celsius, and is pushed into the ice and water, making an explosion. So the lava explodes and turns into ash. Katla is understood to shoot ash as much as 15 kilometres up into the air. Ash from Katla has been discovered in all places on the earth.
However the ash shouldn’t be the principle concern for folks residing within the space. What Icelanders are extra involved about is the floods that include the eruption. In the beginning of the eruption, a number of the glacier is melted in a short time, and all that water must go to the ocean rapidly too. They are saying that the biggest flood within the space was in all probability the 1918 eruption which they are saying about 300,000 cubic metres of water was produced per second. Examine that with the Amazon River which discharges water on the price of 219,000 cubic metres per second. So this can be a enormous, devastating flood.
It has occurred a number of occasions within the space. And though it’s been over 100 years because the final eruption of Katla, in 2011 Icelanders had been a bit nervous as a result of it’s quite common for Katla to erupt quickly after Eyjafjallajökull (which erupted in 2010). However Katla didn’t erupt – at the very least, no eruption was seen however there have been massive floods and it’s thought there could have been small eruptions beneath the glacier that triggered the floods. It didn’t break by the glacier, however the floods that got here down destroyed the street and a few bridges.
As we proceed to journey over the sands, Ingi tells us a number of Katla tales. For the reason that settlement of Iceland, regardless that Katla was creating eruptions and floods, there have been fairly a farms within the space. Folks all the time re-built them after the floods. Folks knew that, within the occasion of the eruption, they wanted to climb the mountain and discover refuge in a cave known as skjól (which suggests ‘shelter’). It has turn out to be useful for fairly a number of folks over time. Within the massive eruption in 1311, there was a farmer who was out working and the climate was unhealthy. He couldn’t see the glacier – he began to scent sulphur however didn’t fear an excessive amount of till he felt earthquakes and the scent bought worse. After which Katla was erupting and the flood was on its method – he was slightly too late to reply, however he rushed to his farm to get his toddler child after which began to run up the hill. Because the flood rose, he quickly realised he was too late and wouldn’t make it to the protected space. He noticed an opportunity and jumped on to a chunk of the glacier, like an iceberg, that was coming down with the flood. The flood took him and his toddler son out to the ocean. This was 1311 so the tales range – some say he was away for five days, others for five weeks. Both method, he didn’t have any meals for his toddler child or himself. All he had with him was his pocket knife. He got here up with a superb thought and took out his knife and lower off his left nipple with a purpose to feed the toddler his blood. In response to the tales, that is how he saved the child alive. And that is the story of why Icelanders solely have one nipple… Ingi tells us that he solely realised only in the near past that apparently you’re speculated to have two!
Then there’s additionally the story of what occurred in 1755, when there have been 4 males on the mountain strolling within the forest (there have been bushes again then), gathering firewood for the winter, and Katla began to erupt. They needed to run to the cave for shelter however had been nervous as a result of they didn’t have any meals. They had been in luck, although, as a result of there have been two fishermen travelling throughout the sand to Vik to promote their fish. So now there have been six males and so they needed to keep within the shelter for seven days whereas the flood was coming down from Katla; by some means, they managed to outlive. Think about staying within the cave… frequent earthquakes, floods throughout you with enormous icebergs, and all the pieces can be black exterior – you wouldn’t know whether or not it was day or night time. What’s extra, it was 1755, so no cellphone sign and no Netflix! It should have been horrible, Ingi tells us! After the flood, they went down the mountain and crossed the flood space over to a farm, which should have been a troublesome journey. As soon as they reached the farm, no person believed them because the flood had been so massive and it was unthinkable to think about that they’d survived. They satisfied the folks to come back with them to the cave – they confirmed them the cave partitions the place they’d carved their names, and a giant cross that they’d carved on the entrance. The cave had since stuffed with sand however, in 2006, some native folks went there with shovels and began to dig the sand out and recovered a number of the markings which might be nonetheless seen right now.
Having heard concerning the 1918 eruption, we discovered that Icelanders have been ready for an eruption from Katla because the Nineteen Sixties, earlier than getting our first view of Kötlujökull (Katla glacier). Kötlujökull is an outlet glacier from Mýrdalsjökull – a tongue of ice poking out from the canyon that goes into the crater. The crater, by the best way, at the moment stuffed with ice, is about twice the scale of Manhattan island, simply to present you some sense of scale. While there’s nothing stopping folks making journeys independently, I’d strongly suggest that you just go to with one of many three recognised tour firms providing Katla ice cave excursions. On arrival, a joint signal from the three firms
The ice collapse Kötlujökull might be harmful. If you’re not cautious, there’s chance of harm. It is strongly recommended you solely go into the cave below supervision of an skilled information who is aware of this cave effectively. Situations within the cave can and do change every day. To help entry to the cave, and make sure the security of travellers we stock out a considerable amount of work each week with a purpose to preserve the cave open. With out this work, only some would have the ability to attain the cave, and it will be nearly inconceivable to point out the cave to inexperienced travellers.
We get out of the truck, placed on helmets and crampons and stroll the quick distance in the direction of the glacier.
Be aware additionally the pink minibus to present you a way of the enormity of the panorama.
The stroll to the glacier might be solely half a mile.
We cross a make-shift bridge over a meltwater stream..
…and shortly attain the ice.
One factor that always surprises folks about glaciers is that they’re typically not gleaming white, however might be fairly soiled due to the particles they transport and, in volcanic areas equivalent to this, the ash that falls upon them.
A brief archway beneath a number of the ice that’s steady sufficient for us to stroll proper by and emerge the opposite facet.
Because the ice melts throughout the Summer time months, the margin of the glacier modifications regularly. On the time of our go to there was work occurring to make a brand new cave, which had opened up solely 4 days earlier, extra accessible.
For now, entry is through some picket steps after which up a steep stretch of dust with a roped bannister assist.
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Climbing up this route is definitely a lot simpler thean it seems to be.
As soon as on the high, we had been in a position to enterprise into an unlimited cave throughout the ice.
Lovely layers of various colored ice create great stripes on the wall of the ice cave.
The less the bubbles, the bluer the ice.
Air bubbles intrude with the passage of sunshine so the place the ice seems whiter, it typically comprises a number of air bubbles, cracks or suspended particles.
There are even some areas the place thick bands of volcanic ash might be seen.
Having explored the ice cave and admired its magnificence, we head again out the identical method we got here in.
The descent is slightly trickier however nonetheless not problematic for anybody in a median bodily situation.
We head again to the automobile, admiring a view we hadn’t actually absolutely appreciated after we had been strolling in the direction of the glacier.
This had been a memorable journey, not only for the expertise of coming into the ice cave, however made all of the extra particular for Ingi’s fascinating tales and skilled commentary, while nonetheless giving us time to mirror on the spectacle earlier than us.
Planning a visit to Iceland your self? You possibly can watch a video from our journey to Iceland right here. You possibly can see our expertise visiting the Kalta ice cave between 3m 49s and 4m 23s:
Disclosure: This submit is sponsored by Southcoast Journey. Our journey to Iceland was additionally sponsored by Helly Hansen.
