Inside the Volcano
Wasn't that an amazing adventure down there! Wow, so beautiful! Well, once we returned to the hut, they even had hot soup for us! (Guess who the two Icelanders are?)
Ok, that was a bad joke... Here we are inside the volcano, and the guide is pointing out many features and details, most of which I couldn't hear...
So, I'll make up my own "facts"! The platform went back up to bring the next group down. We stayed down there until the 3rd group arrived.
My only complaint (only?) is that the lighting wasn't bright, and these pictures were taking 1/3 second, which is no fun hand-held. I needed a tripod...
However, I tried leaning against some of the bigger rocks, and it helped a bit. These are the best dozen from the 320 that I took...
The cave continued down along the edges in a few places, and we were discouraged from exploring these extensions.
That thick layer of black rock is the old lava still stuck to the sides. The reddish brown under it is the "burned", or oxidized older rock and lava.
The surface lava combined with the oxygen in the air to literally burn the rock into cinders. The yellowish rock is the older gound rock that the lava forced its way through.
The small side channel doesn't go very far, apparently. That's John at the bottom of the picture.
Here comes the next group down!
Once the volcano ceased its activity, the lava coating the inside quickly cooled, shrank, and split off the inside of the chamber. We were standing on that rubble.
This all happened shortly after the volcano went quiet, so no more rockfalls were expected. The volcano itself could still come back to life, though...
We could walk around the lower perimeter of the rubble pile, and take a look at the various nooks and crannies. That's John in the blue jacket.
I was going slow, taking a picture or two. It was almost freezing temperature, and shivering is not good for 1/3 sec pics! John is in the center of the picture.
The 3rd group was coming down soon, so I had to hustle a bit, and get to the pick-up spot.
Someone sure spent a lot of time painting these walls!
oops, time to go, and I had to move quick! John suggested they offer the descent for free, then charge for the ride back up!
...next page.