Pixmin

Again, lots of Northern Lights alerts, but the difficulty is to decide when to go, as the sky also needs to be clear to be able to see them. And it has to be cold too. And it’s better (more enjoyable) if there is no wind. I guess I was quite inspired that evening as I got all of that: a cold clear night, no wind, lots of Northern Lights (many of which I will not take any photos of and enjoy from the warmth of my sleeping bag instead).

Many more photos over here »

Alerts are coming from everywhere about imminent Northern Lights. Even the TV mentioned it. So I started packing as soon as we came back from the movies (”Black’s Game”, “Svartur á leik” in icelandic, great acting). 1am, -2°C, direction Hvalfjörður. My progress will be greatly slowed down by the low visibility in the snow storms, often forcing me to literally stop the car until I can see the road again, but encouraged by the sight of the Northern Lights every time the sky clears up. The track I originally intended to use is impassable due to the river digging a large hole in all its width. So I turn around and decide to go for the little “forest” I passed by an hour earlier. More photos »

Clear cold night, intense solar activity, the perfect mix for Northern Lights

We left Road 1 to take Road 36 direction East and turned left on Road 48 and left again on Road 461. We stopped to picnic and pick up blueberries but too many people have come before us.

We managed to find a good spot full of blueberries but although they are great for the jam they would still need a bit more sun. There wasn’t any real summer this year so many of them are still green. And in the night the tent was covered with frost so I’m not sure if they will have much more time to ripen…

Hvalfjörður – There were a few other cars filled with berry picker (I’m referring to both the people picking berries and their horrible tool that ruins the plants) – anyways – so we walked by the river until we find a nice spot to set up camp. The sky cleared a little for a great sunset (which we enjoyed with the sheeps from the other side of the river)

Maybe it will inspire some of those who, when told about raw food, ask “But what do you eat then?!”

So simple yet so delicious:

• spinach
• sun-dried tomatoes
• a tomato
• chickpeas and various beans’ sprouts
• goji berries
• parsley
• olive oil
• salt / pepper
• paprika and curry for taste and colors
• walnuts and chestnuts for crunchiness

More photos on my flickr page http://www.flickr.com/pixmin

The eruption started two weeks ago, while I was at a Tango Marathon, but last WE I made it to Skogar from where a long hike awaits. I arrived in the evening, around 8pm, so everybody was going down, not up. As I was hiking up, people’s reaction was either of the four:

• Ignore me (some people really looked as if they were in real pain)
• Looked at me as if I was mad (but took the opportunity to ask me how long I had been walking to find out how long they still had to reach the bottom)
• Smiled and said hello, judging by the huge rucksack I was carrying and the trip hanging outside they knew I wasn’t some crazy tourist
• Warned me and gave me advice

No doubt they added up to hundreds. I knew there would be a lot of people during the day but I didn’t expect to find so many in the evening.

4am - the red smoke coming from the volcano guiding me

I took a break after 2 hours and slept (or tried to sleep) for a few hours and started to hike again around 3am. “Sleeping” under the stars, with the almost full moon, the red smoke of the Volcano and the Northen Lights was a treat, even though the cold wind made it a little demanding.

I left the path and headed East to avoid the smoke and reached the the Volcano just after witnessing a sublime sunrise.

Getting to the Volcano just after sunrise

A few photos from our trip to watch the sunrise on Langjökull last week-end.