Nature’s Best Classroom: Iceland
By Susan Farewell

I remember having to endure a geology course in college as part of a curriculum requirement. Oh how I agonized, at the time having zero interest in “Rocks for Jocks.” If only I had had the experience of climbing around the hardened lava, geothermal fields and glaciers of Iceland back then. I would have been soaking up everything I could possibly learn about the earth.

I’ve recently come back from my second trip to this phenomenal country and am already strategizing on when I can go again. Visiting Europe’s second biggest island awakened an interest I never knew I could have.

Iceland is a very young country, geologically, one that is still being formed. There are hundreds of volcanoes and lots of volcanic activity. In fact, as recently as 1963, a new island (Surtsey) was formed off the southern coast. Ten years later, Heimaey, one of the Westman Islands (also off the southern coast) experienced a major volcanic eruption and lava flow that caused it to actually grow from 11.2 to 13.44 kilometers.

There are all sorts of other high-temperature features throughout the country including steam vents, mud pools, spouting springs and geysers. The most famous one, Geysir, is actually where the international word geyser comes from. Located in the southern part of the country, this one—which shoots a 150-200 foot column of scalding hot water up into the air--is not as active as it once was but its next-door neighbor, Strokkur (which reaches a meagre 60-100 feet) in the same thermal field does erupt every couple of minutes.

Iceland is also home to glaciers, covering about 11% of the total area. I had the opportunity to poke around one—Solheimajokull (a finger of the Myrdalsjokull Glacier)--which is retreating up to 328 feet a year, melting faster than all the Icelandic glaciers. As my traveling partners and I looked around, we actually saw pebbles and small rocks tumbling off along with the dripping glacial water. Nothing like seeing the effects of global warming close up.

Hand-in-hand with glaciers come many waterfalls, too many to count. Some plunge straight down like sheer scarves draped over a woman’s shoulder; others churn and bubble and roar over massive cliffs in all different directions. Some are thin and elegant, others are wide and voluminous. All of them are mesmerizing.

And with waterfalls, come rainbows. When I spotted my first one this last trip, I was delighted, snapping pictures furiously, being sure to get the whole perfect arc framed. I felt so lucky that I was seeing the flawless color spectrum.

Many rainbows--and double rainbows--later, I found myself thinking how the rainbows symbolize the endless imaginations the Icelandic people seem to have. Many Icelanders are in the creative arts. Even those working in other professions (whether tour guides, lawyers, bankers or doctors), when asked what they do, will divulge that they are really poets or writers, artists, designers. Perhaps most revealing, however, is that many Icelandic people believe in elves. Just Google “elves in Iceland” and you will see that these little people figure quite prominently. Even construction projects have been delayed or revised to accommodate the elf habitats. While some people may deny that they themselves believe in elves, chances are they will relay a story or two about some peculiar mischief they witnessed or reveal that a relative of theirs had had experiences with the “hidden people”.

Looking around at the landscape—which can go from fresh and green to lunar-like in seconds—it’s easy to imagine these little people scurrying about. In fact, I think I may have seen one…