Leifur Eiriksson, the reason we made it to Iceland in the first place.

A picturesque lighthouse on the shores of Reykjavik

Fishing ships in the Harbor

Hallgrimskirkja Church: One of Reykjavik's main attractions (currently under renovation)

The Pearl: Holds all of the city's hot water that is pumped from the geothermal power plant

Our Final Gooddbye

This is our last night in Iceland, we have been here in Reykjavik for the last 2 days. It has been nice to be a regular tourist, relaxing, sightseeing, and buying souvenirs of course! We are even starting to heal; we aren't limping or walking hunched over any more. We will head out tomorrow for the airport which is about an hour away from the capitol, so we will be spending the rest of our time packing, hoping we are under the weight limit for out bags! We thought we would put up a few pictures from around town just to show you some of the sights. The real reason for this post however, is to thank you all for supporting us along the way. It was nice knowing everyone back home(s) was thinking of us and reading along so intently. Thanks again.

Thingvellir; Site of the World's first Parliament and the western most extent of continental rifting in Iceland.

Geysir; The original geysir, after which all others are named

Gullfoss; Iceland's most impressive waterfall

Ash flow engulfing a barn along the southern coast

Sea stacks along southern coast

Svartifoss; glacial run-off in Skaftafell National park cascading over columnar jointed basalt

Vatnajokull; largest glacier in Europe

Icebergs that didn't quite reach the ocean

Jokulsarlon; glacial lagoon where icebergs calve off the glacier and begin their journey to the sea. (scenes from James Bond and Tomb Raider have been filmed here)

Yes, we are still here!

We finished all we could in Akureyri and decided to take a scenic tour of Iceland along the Ring Road. The trip has allowed us to see some of the most amazing scenery Iceland has to offer along its southern coast. We hiked around everything from glaciers to active volcanoes, with a little Icelandic history mixed in. It was nice to take some relaxing time knowing that we didn't have to go right back up the ridges. For now we are in Rekjavik, sightseeing, before we leave on Tuesday for Boston. We thought we would share some of the hundreds of pictures we took in the past few days. Our poor cameras have been working overtime, but we have been trying to capture every little thing along the way. Hopefully you will enjoy seeing something other than the same old ridges around Akureyri, I know we did!

Mountain-top view

Reached the end of the rainbow, but no rhyolite to be found; just a pot filled with shiny metal...

Lambi Hut; our home for a night
Inside the Hut (sleeps 6) Jason forging the river to collect rhyolite; Now that's determination!

The End is In Sight

We have had 3 very productive days since returning from our mini vacation. We finally accomplished a major 2-day hike that we have been putting off since we first started. We have been putting off the hike only because we knew how much it would hurt to carry the rocks out when we finished it, and we were right! Overall, the hike went pretty well, though I was a little damp, but not from the rain (see photo). Not even the fog kept us from working, though when your already on the ridge when it rolls in, you don't have a choice.
We were also able to check off another ridge from our list, and are now only left with 2 more. If the weather cooperates, we should be able to get up both of these ridges and be able to check all of our goals off by the middle of the week. If this schedule works out, it will give us a little extra time to spend in other parts of the country. The return trip to Rekjavik is the key motivator these days as we are pretty worn out and, in my case, kind of beaten up (sometimes the mountains fight back when you hammer on them).
We are tired but excited to finally relax and look back on our accomplishments. We are close to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Myvatn Trip

We decided to get out of town for a few days, just to take a breather before finishing everything up this week. The trip was to a volcanic lake and a few lava fields that are just a few hundred kilometers to the East, and lie directly on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a large rift in the crust where the Earth's plates are being pulled apart. Normally this takes place on the ocean floor, but in Iceland it is all above sea level. In the Northern Volcanic Zone, where we were, the rift is represented by a wide region of active volcanoes and lava fields. These features create interesting surface features and great rock exposures for us volcanologists. We think the pictures seem to speak for themselves. If you have any questions, post comments and we will answer them for ya!

Europeans have no sense of personal space...

Ivan; poses nicely, but not too keen on pony rides

Some how our paths always seem to cross

In Iceland, they're all the road less traveled

One of those "How do I get down?" moments

The Final Countdown!

Today marks exactly 2 weeks until our time here is over. There are only a few things left on our list, one being take the weekend to relax at a naure bath, and most of the rest being to go back over a few questionable areas. Questionable areas seems a bit vague, since I have questions about everywhere we've been, including: How in the world did I get here? and How do I get down? Scientific questions are also yet to be answered, but we have budgeted for more than enough time to get our work done and see the rest of the country on our long trek back. The weather is still not what we are used to, but has been quite nice compared to the first weeks of work. We do however, have a new foe; the Iceland travel brochures seemed to have neglected these little guys called midges, which come out by the millions when its not raining and windy. Hmm... now which are we more equipped to work through? I would take the bugs over the cold and rainy, even if I do end up eating a few, but Brianna seems much more content with the previously rough weather than the new pest (me being the old one). Either way, rocks seem to keep making their way off of the mountains, and more and more color is getting onto our maps so we'll keep trekking along .

You thought the 4x4's were big in Texas...

Drangafjall; taken from Hraunsvatn

Mount Sulur with Kerling in the background; A ridge we have visited numerous times

The signs don't LIE!!

The red stop lights here are in the shape of a heart. We are not exactly sure why, but it seems to be a reoccurring theme.

Kerling; highest mountain in northern Iceland

Mafic dike cutting through rhyolite formation

Flow banded rhyolite boulder

Thor is backing down!

Thor is the Nordic God of Thunder so it made since to us to blame all of the conditions on him. Lately he has realized that we aren't leaving any time soon, and he is going to have to live with us being here. We have had two very productive days and the weather has been very nice, almost bordering on warm! We have made a list of goals and we have been knocking them off pretty efficiently. Things are starting to change a lot around here; its actually dark(ish) for a few hours every night now, the mountains don't seem as daunting every morning, we are getting used to living out of a tent, and we may even be picking up a few Icelandic phrases. We are really working hard so next weekend's trip to the rift zone is sounding better and better all the time. One of my professors from UMass is coming by on vacation with his wife this weekend, and we're looking forward to taking a quick breather to spend some time with them. Time seems to be running out fast but each time we check the list, it seems more and more manageable.

Beach at the Arctic Ocean

A view of the city of Akureyri from the previous contact.

Notice the color change, from brown to black. Thats what we try to find everday.

Here Comes the Sun!!!

We finally had a day of sunshine! The fog lifted and the rain stopped long enough for us to reach a ridge known to have key outcrops. The time was used wisely, we collected enough samples to make the trek back very painful. It was a nice change of pace to work in the sunshine, our spirits were noticeably higher, and the work was much easier. I'm glad we took advantage of it while we had it, today is back to the usual conditions. Once again the fog and rain kept us from reaching our goals. We decided to take the time to drive up to the Arctic Ocean, on a path we thought may also show us some nice rock exposures. The weather concealed the exposures but couldn't hide the frigid, crashing waves of the ocean. Of course we had to dip our toes in, just to say we did. Along the way we met the first Americans we have seen since arriving. Wouldn't you know it, they were geologists! After trading stories of our research so far, they invited us to their house, thats right House. We've been going about this all wrong. The weather would be much more bearable if we had nice, warm beds to came back to each night. Clearly this isn't their first field experience in Iceland. Otherwise, its been a somewhat lazy day. If the weather changes and allows us back up the ridge, that is where we will be for the next few days. I have a feeling we may need a backup plan.

One of the many waterfalls

Dragon's Lair?

Our safe haven

Working in a haze

We are still fighting everything the Icelandic climate has to throw at us. Unfortunately the latest is very thick fog, making visibility far too low to safely navigate the "trails" much less spot contacts. We are starting to get to the point where I can piece the big picture together, though without more samples and the chemistry to back it up, its all just educated guessing. So we are taking what the weather gives us and trying not to get too discouraged; I am failing miserably at the latter. We have been given a little time off lately, so we have made a few plans to do some of the touristy things. We also decided to take the long route home; this will allow us to see more of what Iceland has to offer, not just rainy valleys. Those trips are still a little ways off for now, but they give us motivation to work hard to earn them in the mean time. Apparently there is a large Icelandic festival starting which may be very interesting to be a part of. Some of the hikes lately have provided scenery that looks like it belongs in a Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter movie, I thought for sure Brianna was going to have to fight a dragon today; I'm sure she would have been fine as I waited patiently at a safe distance (the car). Even through the clouds on tops of the ridges the views are pretty spectacular, a little sun wouldn't hurt though.

Church in town

Fishing boat in the fjord (glacier carved inlet to the ocean)

A kaffi (cafe) in Akureyri

Hraunsvatn (vatn means lake/water)