I joined an excellent tour to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano and Þórsmörk, and rode in a super jeep for the first time in my life. This was the first guided tour I joined when I was starting to write for Guide to Iceland.
What attracted me to writing for Guide to Iceland was the opportunity to join guided tours in Iceland and write a travel blog about my experiences. Since then, I have written 320 travel blogs about Iceland :)
We started early in the morning, and our first stop was at the beautiful waterfall Seljalandsfoss.
Top photo: in a super jeep on the Þórsmörk tour
Seljalandsfoss waterfall 
Horses by Seljalandsfoss waterfall
Seljalandsfoss is one of the best-known waterfalls in Iceland, around 60 meters high.
One can walk behind Seljalandfoss, which is a fun experience; standing so close to and behind this majestic waterfall is just fantastic.
Seljalandsfoss waterfall on a sunny summer day
Bring a raincoat as you will get wet from the drizzle. A new path has been added, so it is much easier to visit Seljalandsfoss than before, when we had to climb on rocks.
Eyjafjallajökull volcano
Eyjafjallajökull volcano
From Seljalandsfoss, we drove up to Eyjafjallajökull glacier and volcano.
Remember the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which erupted in 2010 and spewed so much ash into the air that air traffic was affected, along with thousands of travellers being stranded at airports around the world?
Eyjafjallajökull peaks at 1,651 metres above sea level, but we didn't drive all the way to the top. The name of the glacier, which foreigners found difficult to pronounce, means Island Mountain Glacier.
The driver deflated the tires so the super-jeep could float on the snow
We drove up on a gravel road, which then turned into a mere path. Before we drove up onto the glacier, the truck driver deflated the tires so the journey would go smoothly.
That is a well-known method here in Iceland: before driving on glaciers, it makes the tires float on the snow.
It was so much fun driving in such a big truck, and ploughing through such rough terrain. The trip was worth it, if only to drive through this terrain so smoothly.
But there was so much more in store for us on this trip.
Eyjafjallajökull glacier
We were let out of the truck and hiked up on the glacier. We hiked in some snow, but soon we reached a snowless terrain. And what a fantastic view we had from there!
We had encountered some fog on the way and were afraid it would ruin the trip, but once up on the glacier, there was sunshine, and it was warm!
Well, at least we Icelanders in the group felt warm ;)
Hiking on Eyjafjallajökull glacier
We spent some time on the glacier, enjoying the view and the fact that we were actually standing on the notorious Eyjafjallajökull volcano, and then returned to the truck.
There is some hiking required, but it is easy and well worth it. But wear good hiking shoes for this trip.
It was now time to visit the beautiful oasis Þórsmörk - the Valley of Thor.
Hiking on Eyjafjallajökull
You can also go snowmobiling on Eyjafjallajökull and join a guided tour to the top of the glacier:
Snowmobiling Tour on Eyjafjallajokull Glacier from Hvolfsvollur in South Iceland
Excellent 5-Hour Super Jeep Glacier Tour to Eyjafjallajokull
Þórsmörk Valley
Þórsmörk valley
Þórsmörk is a beautiful nature reserve named after the Norse god, Þór, the God of Thunder.
The valley is a popular camping area, but it is also well known for its hiking, both short and long. From Þórsmörk, it is possible to trek to Landmannalaugar, the Pearl of the Central Highland, and to Fimmvörðuháls pass, where the Eyjafjallajökull eruption began in 2010.
There are many popular hiking tours on Fimmvörðuháls:
Scenic 6 Day Hiking Tour in Iceland from Landmannalaugar to Þórsmörk with Fimmvörðuháls day hike
6-Day Laugavegur & Fimmvorduhals Highlands Trek with Sleeping Huts
Crossing the dangerous Krossá river
To reach Þórsmörk, we had to cross several small rivers and one of the most notorious rivers in Iceland, the Krossá River.
Krossá River is a roaring, ice-cold glacial river that frequently changes course, making crossing it very difficult.
These glacial rivers are never to be crossed in a 2WD. Only full-size 4x4 jeeps can cross these rivers.
Crossing the Krossá river
I must say that I crossed the river with trepidation. I have listened to news about accidents on the Krossá river all my life, some of them fatal, so I was a bit scared crossing it for the first time.
I am still scared every time I cross it, I must admit. But the guides are experienced and know what they are doing.
We had lunch in Þórsmörk and wandered around this beautiful valley surrounded by rugged mountains. Þórsmörk is for sure one of the gems of Iceland.
Þórsmörk valley
After the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, Þórsmörk was covered in thick ash, but it is now as beautiful as ever.
I revisited Þórsmörk a couple of years later and wrote a much more detailed travel blog with a lot more photos from Þórsmörk:
A wonderful Tour to Þórsmörk Valley in South Iceland with Midgard Adventure
Gígjökull glacier
Gígjökull glacier back in 2013 - it has shrunk a lot, as you can see in my other travel blog about Þórsmörk, which I wrote 5 years later.
On the way back from Þórsmörk, we revisited Eyjafjallajökull, this time Gígjökull, one of its glacial tongues. The volcanic eruption at Eyjafjallajökull occurred very close to Gígjökull.
Water that flows from Gígjökull runs into the Markarfljót river, and before the eruption, a glacial lagoon lay in front of the glacier.
By the Gígjökull glacier
The sheer force of the eruption triggered a massive glacier burst, with incredible, forceful flooding that tore down the lagoon wall and filled it with eruption material, leaving the landscape very different from what it was before the eruption.
This is a very rugged area. Being there is just out of this world, and one feels very small in the face of such extreme forces of nature, thinking about what happened here during the Eyjafjallajökull eruption.
I almost felt insecure about being in this area.
We crossed a small, ice-cold river and had to jump onto some rocks to get across.
My friend zoomed in on me from across the river (the resolution is not good, though)
Two people in the group opted out (one of whom would later become my husband).
This way, we were able to walk straight up to the glacier and visit an ice cave at its foot.
Even though it was not secure enough to enter the ice cave, just standing in front of it, peeking in, was so worth the trip up there.
If you want to enter an ice cave, then we have plenty of ice cave tours: a selection of the best ice cave tours in Iceland.
By the ice cave
It was now time to head back home. This had been a fantastic 5-hour tour, and I left uplifted, albeit a bit tired after a day in Iceland's beautiful, rugged nature.
This was the first guided tour I joined back in 2013, and it is no longer operating. But there are several other similar guided tours, e.g.:
Þórsmörk Valley - Super Jeep Day Tour, about which I wrote another travel blog when I joined their fab tour:
A wonderful Tour to Þórsmörk Valley in South Iceland with Midgard Adventure
Then we have:
Eyjafjallajökull Super Jeep Tour
Eyjafjallajökull & South Coast Tour
