Dagur sex

 Day Six:

I would describe day six as flexible. Almost of the things Dr. Barineau had planned for us to see were either too cloudy to see, had roads that were too icy to drive on, or were now private property. So we had to get creative with the things we did see today, of course, Iceland doesn’t disappoint and we were still able to see some cool things.

The day started when I opened the curtains at the hotel and I noticed a puppy playing with what I thought to be either another dog or a cat. But we saw the mystery animal again right in front of the door to our hotel as we were leaving. It was an arctic fox the only mammal native to Iceland! The best part was, we got to watch him go over and play with the puppy from earlier and two other dogs, they are friends!

Our first stop was to visit some mud pots at Námafjall. Let me tell you, it was a FOUL-smelling environment! The ground underneath our feet was approximately 200 degrees Celsius. That heat mixed with the groundwater and clays results in pretty large mud pots where you can see thick mud boiling at the surface. With the steam comes the fumarole gasses and at this particular location a mix of sulfur dioxide, which when mixed I find these smells to make me quite nauseous. The wind didn’t help at all, the smell seemed like it followed us for miles!

Next, the weather started picking up and the visibility was extremely poor. We had driven up to see a massive tuff ring, but we couldn’t see very far in front of us. It was okay though because Dr. Barineau had another stop in mind! When we were about halfway there, we noticed a massive sign telling us that the road was closed. Dr. Barineau decided to go the long way around, spoiler alert the other road was closed as well.

You might have heard of the scablands in the northwestern part of the United States, but Iceland has its own scablands in the eastern part of the island. We got to see all of the channels caused by many Jökulhlaups over time.

Today was filled with fault zones and fault characteristics. We got to stand on a hanging wall looking into a footwall of what is interpreted as a massive Horst and graben. In the graben, you could see lava tubes and basalt columns that follow the opening of the lava tubes. Closer to the hotel in Husavik, we got to see the topographic breaks that indicate fault scarps. Meaning we were driving over the Husavik Fault Zone, which is loosely associated with the zone of extension from the Northern Volcanic Zone.

Along the way, we stopped at a gas station where Jacob and I got to have a mini snowball fight. I’d like to say, Jacob is a cheater since he was throwing snow boulders. At another gas station we stopped at, the owners had a dog walking around the store who was so sweet. He was a much older dog than all the other ones we’ve seen, but he was just as sweet. Jacob and I got little handmade keychains and Dr. Barineau got some handmade hats. For dinner, we stopped at a really nice restaurant right on the coast in Husavik. I ordered the lamb tacos, but they didn’t have any so I got chicken instead. Jacob and Dr. Barineau got goose burgers. Jacob rated it a 3/10 while Dr. Barineau says it was 6.5/10, so I don’t know who to trust!

Finally, we made it back to our hotel, and wow is this place nice. It’s the only hotel we’ve stayed in so far where you could see really strong American influence. I mean, Jacob’s room has American outlets! I will say Jacob and I learned a valuable lesson in hotel bars though! I just wanted a Shirley Temple and an order of onion rings and the next thing I know Jacob and I are being sat at a table that is preset with cloth napkins, bread plates, water glasses, and wine glasses. As soon as I sat down I just knew that we had to order a meal. Jacob and I got Shirley Temples and decided to share an order of fish and chips. The drinks weren’t great, I’m definitely used to much more sugar in mine, but the fish and chips were amazing! The only downside though is the meal was $23 and the drink was $8!

Day six was filled with lots of laughs, I’m super sad tomorrow is our last full day.