Colorful volcanos in Iceland

Hello to all!

Today I will show you the colors of a Brennisteinsalda and Bláhnúkur volcanos, over Landmannalaugar plains, in south Iceland. Landmannalaugar means 'the place of lonely man'.

The name Brennisteinsalda means 'sulfur wave', due to the presence of many 'solfatare' aroud it. A 'solfatara' is a volcanic vent emitting sulphurous gases and water vapor).

This trekking starts at Landmannalaugar camping:

Here a relative recent eruption (few century ago). The black stone is rhyolite, or solidified lava, covered with moss.

A face in the stone!

The solidified sea of lava, like a frozen river, covered by moss:

Faraway, a silhouette that looks like hooded monk:

Some rain during walking:

From here, I can watch many colors in landscape: green is mosses, black/blue is lava/ashes, red is iron.

Some sheeps in the meadows:

We approached first solfatara:

Inside and around the sulfur and water vapour emissions:

Vision from another planet:

Towards the summit:

Zig-zag towards the summit:

The 'hooded monk'...

... and finally the summit, with its wonderful landscape!

The funny descent, running by joke:

Another view of Brennisteinsalda volcano:

We came back passing through another volcano called Bláhnúkur (it means blue peak), along a river and, in last part, along a steep ridge. This second volcano is famous for its characteristic dark blue / black stones. It was formed during the last ice age.
Blue and black colors derived from solidified lava and ashes. Sometimes you see also green stones, so you know they contain copper.

This spot of snow seemed an endangered fish:

Back to Landammanalaugar plain:

Here exact location on Google Maps:

(Image by Google maps)

Pictures taken with Nikon D800, 24-120 F4.
18.08.2015