lava
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Lava and waterfalls of North-East
1. In the Lake Mývatn area, a pond along the trail leading to some lava tunnel.
2. Isabelle exceeds her fear and descends into the tunnel entrance.
3. Here, the lava textures are pretty incredible.
4. Flanks of Hverfjall crater.
5. Lake Mývatn and its lava concretions in the rain.
6. …
7. Rainwear, with smile. 😉
8. Rainwear again.
9. Wild camp in some grassland South of the lake.
10. Light beam…
11. Sunset sky.
12. …
13. The next day, we seek to reach Aldeyjarfoss waterfall by a little used trail and, after about 35 miles and some pretty wet swamps, VivaLaVida arrives in front of this powerful river. The abandoned ford doesn’t inspire me much and I give up attempting its crossing, especially as even with binoculars, I cannot distinguish the trail on the other side…
14. Lunch time.
15. Moor to infinity…
16. Here is the spectacular Aldeyjarfoss !
17. The river dives into a deep canyon with basalt organs.
18. I go down in the canyon for a less classic composition.
19. Not far upstream, we discover another waterfall: Hrafnabjargafoss. What a pronunciation! 😉
20. Secondary falls at sunset…
21. Skjálfandafljót River downstream from Aldeyjarfossen.
22. Further downstream, the famous Godafoss, the falls of God, such touristic because located along the road nb1, the paved road that goes around Iceland.
23. A few miles eastward, we visit another waterfall: Detifoss. It is said to be the most powerful waterfall in Europe.
24. Selfoss, a few hundred yards upstream.
We finish the day at the very neat Ásbyrgi campground where the shower is welcomed! The next article will be in a more maritime atmosphere… 🙂
Highlands I – F26 / F910
1. After refueling VivaLaVida (with about 10$ a gallon of diesel, it’s more than 400$.- to fill VLV!), we begin the crossing of the Highlands to the Northeast via the F26 road then the F910 which passes north of Vatnajökull.
2. We took two days to reach the site of Askja through beautiful and immense landscapes.
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7. Giboulée…
8. Notre piste…
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11. After about 150 miles exclusively mineral, we found some vegetal colors again…
12. At 2400 feet elevation, snow is close.
13. Moss grows along furrows carved by surface water, forming geometric shapes.
14. The sky ends up opening to the north.
15. The opportunity for Emile to stretch his legs! 😉
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18. As we borrow the Southern variant of F910, as we gain altitude, the weather decays and the snow quickly covers the lava.
19. While snowing, VLV is the only color note of this landscape.
20. Naturally monochrome landscape.
21. …
We spend a cold night not far from the Kistufell refuge, near the Northern end of the VatnaJökull.
Continuation of VivaLaVida’s journey soon! Thank you for your loyalty.
Lakagigar – F206 / F207
Here we are to discover the Lakagigar region, driving our first “F Roads”, trails reserved for 4×4 because of deep fords and “in principles”
prohibited to rental vehicles. In principle because we saw many “unauthorized” rental SUV on these tracks.
1. F206
2. As in the Faroe Islands, sheep live in freedom everywhere.
3. VivaLaVida crosses completely mineral landscapes.
4. Here is the Lakagigar range, volcanoes that appeared only a few decades ago.
5. Small lake stuck between mountain and lava flow.
6. The F206 was created in the lava.
7. Only mosses and lichens manage to develop on volcanic slags.
8. The summits, more exposed, are often virgin of vegetation.
9. Enjoying the panorama in late afternoon.
10. And what a panorama!
11. F207
12. We boondocked on the shore of a small lake.
13. Sweetness of the evening light.
14. The next day, despite the light of a gray sky, the contrasts are amazing. The moss looks almost fluorescent.
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17. Laki volcano.
18. … and one of the new craters around.
19. The F207 winds between the hills.
20. Raw lava.
21. Ground is very dark.
22. The trail is sometimes not very marked.
23. Looking to North West towards Landmannalaugar.
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25. Crossing a river with water temperated by some hot springs, the vegetation changes.
I posted a short video of a F207 ford here for those interested. 😉
26. The Fragifoss waterfall along the F206.
27. Last sight of these pretty volcanic hills.
To be followred on the side of the famous Landmannalaugar, probably the most visited interior site in Iceland.
Crossing and first steps in Iceland
1. Here arrives the ferry that connects Denmark to Iceland, serving the Faroes.
2. Barely moored as the rear port opens to let out the arrivals before VivaLaVida embarks…
3. Honeymoon on the boarding park! 😉 I will meet the owners of this beautiful Land Cruiser, Kambiz and Filiz, aboard and meet them several times in Iceland.
4. From Tornhavn to Iceland, the ferry passes between the islands of the archipelago.
5. So I went in front of Gjógv again, off the coast this time.
6. Last look before the high seas.
7. The next morning, arrival at Seydisfjordúr, a fjord all teh way East of Iceland. The weather is rainy.
8. En route to pick up my family at the airport in Reykjavik, at the other end of the island or more than 500 miles away, VivaLaVida is quickly in the Highlands that fall colors have already yellowed.
9. These highlands are covered by a few roads or tracks.
10. Ambiance.
11. Canyon.
12. Rain showers.
13. Volcanic geology is omnipresent.
14. Here, water has no choice but to run on soils that are mostly free of all humus.
15. Perspectives are immense.
16. I find by chance Kambiz and Filiz on the track, in front of their first serious river ford, waiting for a vehicle to pass and show them the way. VivalaVida passes and I make some souvenir pictures.
17. Powerfull river carving its way in the basalt.
18. VLV crossing a lava field.
19. Natural pool shortly before night stop…
Well, that’s what I though. By switching on the freshly revised VLV heater, the dashboard displays an error code: defective hot air fan which has just been replaced pre-emptively in Switzerland. It is Thursday night, Isabelle and Emile arrive on Saturday and the only place I can repair is Reykjavik, 500 miles away. I decided to drive at night to be in Reykjavik on Friday. 400 miles until around 3am where I take a 4 hour nap. Arrived Friday morning in Reykjavik, I bring the heating to the Webasto dealer after 2:30 of work to get it out since it is well hidden under the rear cabinet of VLV. The technician discovers that during the work in Switzerland, a wiring harness has not been well attached and is hindering the movement of the fan. After a bill of more than 1’600.- Swiss francs, I was not very happy. But at least, the heating works for the arrival of my passengers tomorrow!
Soon to be followed.
Petrogryphs of Arizona and Nevada
Vivalavida went discover another access to the Grand Canyon, also on the North Rim but further west.
1. Cactus in snow…
2. After going down Whitmore Canyon, I reached the end of the trail, approx. 700 feet above the Colorado River.
3. Grand Canyon is also gorgious here.
4. The site is interesting because it presents a large lava flow clearly visible on this panoramic (3 images stiched). There have been several successive lava flows, the first about 170,000 years ago that created a temporary 250 feet deep lake obstructing the Grand Canyon. This lake has remained approx. 20,000 years before the lava broke, creating a gigantic tidal wave downstream. Since then, there have been seven succesive lava flowa, the last one approx. 20,000 years ago. Do you find VivaLaVida that gives the scale in the image? 😀
5. To the left of the promontory from which I took the previous image, there is a wide collapse that reveals beautiful basalt organ walls. It’s approx. half a mile in diameter and almost 600 feet deep.
6. Details of the cliff with a waterfall that has carved its way.
7. Just to the testimony, picture is not great, a “beep beep” surprised in the warmer micro-climate of the canyon.
8. Going back up the trail, I pass a small country air strip. Some guys don’t lack humor with this “Whitmore International Airport” sign and the two small escalators… 😉
9. VLV near the Mount Trumbull old school. Built in 1922, it was burned by vandals in 2000 and rebuilt in an identical in 2001. It was the only school in the area where the first collons arrived in 1916, growing grains and beans until 1934 where the climate became much drier. Therefore, some og them turned to breeding cattle and sheep while many others left the premises. The school was in operation until 1968 when it was closed for lack of students. the last man living year round in this region died in 1984. Since few ranch remain scattered and inhabited during sommer only.
10. Short detour to Little Black Mountain, an interesting petroglyphs site.
11. the almost horizontal line is oriented exactly in the axis of the winter solstice; December 21st, the sun rises just above its eastern end.
12. One of the big boulders of the site.
13. Details…
After this escapade in Arizona, I made another into Nevada to spend the evening with my friend Christian who was a few days in Las Vegas for the CES. Heading back to Utah where I should pick up a new compressor for VLV (the actual one being at its 4th beakdown…), I stopped at the Valley of Fire, a small Nevada State Park not far from Lake Mead.
14. Arch Rock.
15. They are also many petroglyphs, those ar at Altalt Rock.
16. Still Altalt Rock.
17. Those are in Mouse’s Tank Canyon.
18. The road heading to White Domes.
19. Sandstone is veined with various mineral colors.
20. Like a petrified wave…
21. Veining…
22. Windstone Arch, rather unusual in an alcove of the rock.
23. Late afternoon in Valley of Fire.
That’s it for today. Next step of VivaLaVida’s journey in the coming days… 😀
Still in Oregon…
Here are some other spots I discovered in Oregon.
I told you, we’re right on the “Ring of Fire” and there are many sites of volcanic geology. One of them is the Newberry National Monument, a Hawaiian type volcano whose last erupted 6,000 years ago.
1. I first discovered the end of the lava field, about 6 miles away from the crater…
2. Here is the crater. Not more than 600 feet high, formed of falling slag from its explosions and expulsions of lava.
3. Nearby, virtually nothing was able to grow from 6,000 years, the particular combination of austere basalt and dry climate minimizing the creation of humus.
4. And I had the amazing and unexpected opportunity to finally solve the mystery of the Loch Ness monster. In fact, Sherlock Holmes and all the others could look far; they couldn’t know that Nessie had moved and was now living in the lava fields of Newberry! 😀
5. The basalt of Newberry diverted the Deschutes River, forcing it to dig its canyon in the more friable rock than basalt.
6. VivaLaVida then continued its way south-west across the highlands, vast horizons penetrated by only some few popular backroads.
7. I drove later than usual to sleep close to the next site…
… which is a lava tunnel called Derrick Cave.
8. Arrival in the morning.
9. This tunnel is impressive, about 30 feet wide and 15 in height to its input.
10. The roof collapsed in places, letting the light entering in the first 300 feet.
11. A photo with the penguin to give you the scale. 😉
12. After 200 meters, the tunnel plunges underground, without any light. This photo was taken with the only light of small torch light. The tunnel is here more than fourty feet high, impressive. But without a second light, I didn’t go much further, didn’t want to find myself in there without light…
Still another site to discover another geological phenomenon or rather sysmic: “Crack in the Ground,” a crack in the rock created by an earthquake a few thousand years ago.
13. His visble part is almost one mile long…
14. … portions of which are accessible by walk.
15. Some blocks are really in precarious balance!
16. I cannot show you but you can really see that this layer wass opened, the shapes of the rocks are similar in positive/negative on opposite sides.
17. After these discoveries related to volcanoes of this region, I went to sleep in sand dunes close to “Lost Forest”.
18. The sunset was beautiful.
Stay tuned for more to come soon… 😀
Cassiar & Stewart Highways
Vivalavida will now wipe six days of almost continuous rain. Indeed, it is the rain season near the Pacific coast, I didn’t really realize it until now…
1. A pond in the myst…
Despite the weather, I went for a detour to Stewart to try to spot some of the many glaciers in the region.
2. The “Bear Glacier”, along the Stewart HWY.
3. The mining road VivaLaVida borrowed in the rain to climb to other glaciers. Funny, we were in Alaska again for a few tens of miles without any customs as it is a dead end! 😀
4. Oups, the road ends here for VLV! I continue riding the mountain bike…
5. I’m lucky, a brief lull allows me to see the Bereton Glacier in the fog, it’s around 16:30.
6. A little later, I even have some sunlight that makes wet rock shining.
7. The road ends at this abandoned mine…
Back to VLV, I turned back to hope to see the Salmon Glacier, a huge glacier in T before night falls.
8. VLV seems very small in front of the giant!
9. Panoramic to attempt to show you the northern branch. The thrust is so strong that ice is pushed several hundred yards over the mountain (bottom right).
10. A second panoramic to show the immensity of the ice flow; more than 40 miles long and about 6 miles wide for its main part!
I slept on site, hoping for a better light in the morning but I woke up in a dense fog. I then went back down to Stewart…
11. … here in the middle distance, behind the harbor.
12. Seb, if there’s too much snow this winter in Arzier, I found what you need !! With that, you won’t never remain blocked! 😉 This is a Russian car which I have not been able to understand the brand.
Still in the rain, I continued South with a new detour to the Nisga’a lava fields, theater of the last volcanic eruption in Canada, about 300 years ago. 2,000 Indians were killed, several villages have been swallowed up. The melt is more than 20 miles long and deflected a big river from several miles.
13. The only bright spot of the day on VivaLaVida’s way and still in the rain.
14. Rainy inlet the next day…
15. Marsesh where lichen took possession of the dead trees. Nice atmosphere, isn’t it? We could see one or two trolls showing up? 😉
16. Arrival at the lava beds, sometimes smooth as in the background, sometimes chaotic. They reach more than 45 feet thick in places.
17. Crack…
18. Few trees were able to grow in this young and barren rock.
19. A small cascade which drains a lake, also created by the lava flow.
20. Small rainbow as VLV continues heading South.
Continuation of the descent of British Columbia in the next update.
D5 Creation