Black glacier

Arriving in ICELAND, I put the question to my friends lam, Ingibjor (Inga) and Arni G. Eliasdorttir Sigurdsson, around the Eyjafjallajokull volcano is more active on the east side.

"Will Katla erupts?"

I do not want to know the origin. Katla is great. When he broke out, the ice melted, the size of the Amazon River flood vent-called bad jokulhlaup or explosion glacier-pass land to the sea coast. Ready to eliminate anything in this area, including some of Ring Road around Iceland.

Inga shrugged. "As far as I've nearly erupted Katla." We sat together at the last supper at the cottage owned by Inga and Arni in Grimsnes, about an hour from Reykjavik In 2008, they never saw the earthquake triggered landslides.

Katla non active every 70 years, at least 50 years. Three times Eyjafjalljokull first erupted, Katla followed about a year or two years later.

We met Inga, inspector general cleanliness, and Arni, retired airline captain, 16 years ago while vacationing in the Caribbean. Since then, we exchange visits with these couples. For them, living near a volcano that erupts every few years has become a part of life. "The pilots are trained to fly in the mountains." Arni said. "Usually it is best to fly under the cloud of ash, because of the volcano spewed ash so high."

In 2010, the eruption resulted in the crater summit Eyjafjalljokull eastern chap, and create two new mountain. Inga climbing photo exhibit at the end of May two years ago after the eruption. "This is a new mountain," he said with pride: We are "Creating the" mountains in Iceland. In the northern slopes of the volcano, the lava flowed down the shallow layers of the glacier, breaking down the ice, creating ice cliffs that make Omar insisted invited me to fly around it.

We drove to east Eyjafjalljokull use 4WD pick-up truck belonging Arni glowing red. Tip of the iceberg crowned morning fog - black, not white. "As there is nothing wrong in the sky," said Sally. Ash 60 to 90 centimeters thick glacier covering the volcano.

We stopped at a shopping center and rushed encounter Thorey, wife of pilot friend Arni. Ash from eruptions and floods, he said, stopping way back to Reykjavik as she and her husband for a weekend in South Beach. To get home, they have to drive direction along the road for two days. He pointed to a dog in his car, which was named after the volcano. "His name Eyjafjallaskotthildur."

"You call him by that name?" I asked.

"See the tail? White at the tip and the rest black - same as ash-covered glacier white, "said Thorey. He looked at the dog lovingly saying, "We call him Skotta supa shorter."

Whew.

Now, near Hvolsvollur, Arni drove us to meet Omar, who was waiting in the lobby of a hotel, wearing a jacket and tie. I could not resist the invitation to fly, and we also headed airfield where there are battered his Cessna. Sally gave a kiss that made ​​me not sure I can "back safe." Omar and I was wearing a seatbelt and take off. Within minutes we were flying over the river and through the valley of land shaded by trees immediately to the top of Eyjafjalljokul’s glacier . Looks like a fallen soufflé and burned the top.

"That cliff," exclaimed Omar against the roar of the engine. Looks ice tower black white and gray. The pilot flew low across the mist-exciting-but-not comforting. "I think I can fly down there," Omar cried. Oh, my goodness.

In turn and drift back to the top, then fall sharply. We flew zig-zag under a layer of mist, cliffs, walls of ice barely clinging wing. He reduced speed, flying a plane with one hand while photographing them. Either the pilot or pilots fail reliable. Flight time is bad.

The cliff was "something that might not be seen again by man, especially if global warming melt the glaciers," Omar said at all after we landed (while I was still out of breath). For him, the change was remarkable geological Iceland. Miscellaneous faults, cracks, depression, volcanic vents, as tectonic plates separating mainland Europe and North America. Two major fissure zone in southern Iceland drain the hot water and forms a new volcanic mountains.

Zone of the western part of the sea swell, making Rekyjanes Peninsula, then turned to Reykjavik, where there Thingvellir. In this valley MPs in the heyday of Viking outdoor meeting space, precisely at the edge of a fracture; Geysir, the shower's hot.