Day 26-Grábrók

   January 30-We were all surprised at how early 7 am came today!  Nonetheless, we all got up, the kids went to their respective schools, Sally lectured, and Shan did the laundry.  Since the girls got off an hour early, as is normally the case on Mondays and Fridays,  they got home in time to videoconference with Anna and their cousins, all of whom were just getting ready to start school in Colorado!

Grábrók as seen from our apartment.

   Shan was the only member of the family who joined the gönguklúbbur today for the weekly hike.  We hiked around the east side of Mt. Grábrók, which is the cinder cone that sits just to the north of Bifröst.  We then followed a well-maintained trail, complete with wooden stairs, up the northeastern side of the mountain.  Snow covered about half of the trail, but the blizzard last week had packed it in so tightly that we could mostly walk over the snow and not fall through.  After making the loop around the crater, we hiked down the north face and then returned to Bifröst by circling around the west flank. 

Grábrókarfell, a cinder cone that lies to the west of Grábrók.

   Iceland straddles the mid-Atlantic ridge, which is the boundary of the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate.  Because the plates are moving away from one another, magma rises at the boundary and breaks to the surface, resulting in the volcanoes that comprise the ridge.  Consequently, all of the mountains in Iceland are volcanoes, including Grábrók and Grábrókarfell.  Since these two cinder cones last erupted 3400 years ago, people assure us that they are safe now.  Another member of gönguklúbbur cautioned, however, that this assumption may be incorrect.  He lived on Heimaey Island off the southern coast of Iceland when one of its volcanoes erupted in 1973.  The volcano, Eldfell, had lain dormant for 5000 years and had been presumed safe also.  He and the island's 5000 other residents only survived the eruption because the fishing fleet was fortuitously in port and could transport them to safety in Iceland.  His family's house, however, was buried in ash.  I suppose that every place has its dangers.  It's just a case of knowing the dangers and being properly prepared for them! 

Bifröst as seen from the top of Grábrók.  Our apartment is in the building on the opposite side of campus with the checkerboard pattern of lights.