Filtered light, rising steam, echoing droplets, inky darkness, vibrant pools.
When writing my Steemit travel log detailing adventuring around the ring road in Iceland, I briefly touched on stopping at Grjótagjá cave.
I climb down into the cave and hang out as the rain begins pattering out of a clear sky again. I eat some Skyr while listening to Sólstafir, alternately sticking two or three toes at a time in the eerie, partially opaque, periwinkle water. I feel I have now reached peak Iceland. It's fucking hot, the steam has that delightfully gross sulfurous quality to it, and I crack my skull three or four times on the cave roof while setting up my gear for some long exposure shots.
Standing at the cave mouth, with snaking tendrils of steam winding around my feet, I wrinkle my nose at the pungent smell (geothermal heat and activity means sulfurous tendencies), and carefully lower myself backwards down into the recess.
The darkness that enfolds me as I wiggle down the rough rocks into in the cave is palpable. As I settle in, crouching on the flat rock and waiting for my eyes to adjust, my fingertips brush the surface of the warm mud. The blackness stretching into what arguably could be forever feels real and tangible and close, with the simmering moisture permeating the air and pressing into my lungs each time I breathe in. I passed a brave bather on the way in, but now the recesses echo my own noises and soft drips back at me, and nothing else.
After two false starts — smashing the side of my face and my chin into rough outcroppings — I slink along one wall, sinuous and low. I imagine that I might cut the figure of an intrepid prowler spelunking through a sacred crypt; I likely look more like a thoroughly disheveled, mud-smeared child, overburdened by her backpack and smelling of farts.
As my vision gets used to the dimness and the swirling steam, I begin to realize the main cave is not very large at all. Settling in on another small ledge and unpacking my gear and my lunch, I contemplate one of the dark openings where I can see a small pocket above the water. I briefly consider trying to wade to it, but between knowing that the water has a heat advisory and remembering the old internet classic creepypasta Ted the Caver, my wild imagination takes over. I terrify myself into staying put with visions of boiled, sloughing skin and demonic rock hauntings...
I unfocus my eyes on the azure surface of the spring instead.
As with anything, with a bit of mindful breathing and quiet reflection, I don't even really notice the smell fade away as my heart stops beating stacatto on my ribs; just that I have become accustomed to it quickly enough that I am completely comfortable eating a container of skyr. I listen to most of the Berdreyminn album by Sólstafir, disjointed and floating as if it rests just on the surface of the water, and I am transfixed by the colours emerging out of the darkness and the soothing steam and the incredible beauty of this flatulent crack in the ground hidden in the middle of nowhere. I can see how it would be easy to get lost underground forever, drawn in and disarmed by the strange comfort, sitting still so long I become one with these ageless rocks.
Rays of light begin to slant through the opening, and I start, realizing the weather is changing and the day is passing. As I climb back out to trace the crevice towards the volcano in the distance, I breathe deeply with my face pressed into my sleeve. The wind is lifting the stench away from my hair and clothes and out over the rocks to the horizon. It doesn't seem at all strange that I almost miss the smell.
These photos and words are my own work, inspired by travels all over this pretty blue marble of ours. I hope you like them. 🌶️
Incredible! :D
Thank you! ~ mostly we should thank the cave for showing up and looking good 😊
And the award for best redirection of well deserved praise goes to.... CRIMSONCLAD!!!
Indeed! :)
OMG Crimmi, you really do produce the classiest pictures babe.
Your words ain't bad either! 😉
I even refer to farts multiple times! pure class, baby~ <3
I heard you went skinny dipping! 😂😂😂
LMAO!!!!!!
p e r f e c t i o n
Lol!
beautiful cave but dangerous...
I really think you are my favorite photographer and writer. You meld the two skills like a trained musician. The photographs are phenomenal and as I read your writing, I'm there with you. My 100% upvote and resteem and as I have said before, I am looking for your book. Please DM me all of your posts because I'm waiting for the next!
you are so motivating and inspiring. No words. 🖤
You are inspiring to me!
Mind-blowing creation of nature. As if Death needs to breathe.
when you are standing at one of the mouths of the caves, and the steam comes creeping up, reeking of sulfur... that's intensely accurate
A brilliant and impressive post! Thanks a lot for sharing this dreamlike cave... What would one do to go there, wow! Breathtaking beauty.
Namaste :)
couldnt agree with you more @eric-boucher
nice comment on a charming cave.!
thank you for stopping and commenting! One simply needs to drive half the way around the country, onto a dirt road into an open rock field, then carefully lower oneself through one of the openings and hope not to end up in the (boiling) drink.
I did put my toes in, but there's just no way I could have handled bathing! Some people still do, but the government advises not to on account of the water getting hotter as the years go on. Sitting in the steam was damp enough for me, but I totally see how luxury spas treatments are born. It was, in a word, incredible.
Looks so beautiful and serene but smells like a dumpster, haha
The way you put you travel log in a narrative form is quite different from any other travel log I have read. Not just giving us a description of the place, you take both our eyes, heart and head in the journey, making your reader not only see but also feels the way you do. That's creativity. And hey, beautiful photos too, they are breathtaking views.
So appreciated. This is always what I hope for, and I can't explain how motivated this thoughtful comment makes me feel.
It was about time I paused for a moment and dropped in. I'm sure you get asked this a lot, but do you end up selling these jaw-dropping images to magazines or other publications? (National Geographic comes to mind first)
You lead an extremely interesting life, although you must have to deal with those jackwagons in airport security/customs a whole lot ☻
Unless you have a private jet or submarine at your disposal, which would make you even more interesting...
I wish! I don't really make any money off my photography at all. I'm happy to share here and for free. I have begun starting to sell prints as well, but nothing established. I don't know that I do anything magazine quality!
I don't know that it's much more interesting than most versus you guys getting an intimate view into my head, and my posts select and present my most cherished travels to you. Security gets easier; I have it down to a science now, mostly. I'm a female traveler with a single regulation sized backpack, and minimal everything else, streamlined for airline rules. I carry most of what I need electronically, very few extra doodads, and buy anything I may need that is bulky or questionable when I get where I'm going and donate it on the way out.
if you know anyone giving out jets/subs/lambos, send them my way though, yes? 👀
Those might be some of my favorite photos yet. Also, I have a deathly fear of geothermal crystal water like that.
I would probably never have gone in there.
Thanks for letting me see it.
This is a pretty rational fear, I think. The water is a lot deeper than it appears, at least ten feet; it's much warmer than a hot tub, and I think for most, spending any length of time in it would probably give you heat exhaustion, at the very least. It's also odd how depending on where you're looking, the waters is clear or opaque... it's a strange phenomenon.
Getting into the cave was fussy, but not hard. I'm sure you would have ended up on that first rock just to check it out... for science <3
I once visited the old cruise ship in Florida that is kept as a museum (Queen Mary I think?) and they had an enclosed section around the screws. Big boxed in section and a catwalk hanging 30ft out over the water, which was clear enough to see down into for another 30-40 ft. I actually got vertigo. Clear water just messes with my head in those situations.
Holy moly @crimsonclad, you're that rare double threat: stupendous writer and downright incredible photographer! Blown away. Insta-freaking-follow. Hope that cave left your skull intact enough that you'll be able to continue posting! Keep 'em coming and thanks for sharing! (I can't quit staring at pic #5! Ok, now I'm leaving...wait, in a minute...)
I shall do my best to live up to this beautiful comment!
salutes
given how smoked I am with Steemit stuff on any given day, my posting schedule is a bit slow...but when I do get one out, I swing for the fences 🖤
And you nail it!!
Well then take as much time as needed! Posts of this quality are worth the wait! Thanks again!!
Great photos and a well-crafted story! I have an affinity for Grjótagjá that I can't explain, so it's neat to read your poetric prose account of this obscure cave. It's too hot to swim (but so tempting that you consider it with every visit), cramped with sharp rocks, and, as you say, smelly, but there's something about that blue water. I've often thought about it as a likely abode for Gollum.
You're not the only poster to say that! :3 I totally agree.
I saw in another comment, you were there in 2012? Apparently it's been warming increasingly over the years. Even just dipping my toes in was very uncomfortable, but oh... the temptation to just slide in! Did you see any bathers at the time?
Are you saying it's even HOTTER now? My sister really wanted to get in, and tried, but it was too much. I don't think we saw anyone in the smaller Grjótagjá cave, but if memory serves there was someone bathing in a similar cave nearby - and I think that one was pretty hot as well.
Shortly after 2012, the government actually said, "no more bathing, my dudes" and restricted it (not that they actually do.) I wanted to, and really couldn't get much past a few toes.
Haha, did the sign say "dudes bönnuð"? I think there was concern about unstable rocks on the "ceiling".
Inspiring in a way that nothing makes you want to get on your feet and start travelling as much as seeing places like these.
It is my great dream to do it for more than a month of each year. Thank you so much. I hope one day I'll be doing nothing but telling these stories and taking people to these incredible places digitally <3
Looking forward to that!
gorgeous! i'm surprised they don't have 1001 tourists and roped off sections you cannot enter. or did you get a special permit? I'm waiting for some digital editing where a nordic faerie or equivalent the Lady of the Lake appears in the mist...
If there's one thing I've learned, it's that outside of most of North America, they don't really bother trying to stop you from doing things that will kill you. There's usually a sign that says, "Hey, we don't recommend you do this, here are the bad things that can happen, okay, don't die." and that about covers it all off. It was the same in New Zealand when I did some caving: outside of most of the big tourist caves, the entrances are all hidden cracks out in the fields, and no one is around to hear you scream/find your body.
I would imagine that during higher times in the year there are way more people, but since bathing is technically "not allowed", and this cave is near to a hugely popular volcanic crater, I do think it gets overlooked sometimes. This is why I travel in off-peak season and make sure to visit big attractions middle of the day on weekdays. I make my own luck <3
yeah a more rational way to let people live. let them make their own decision, but then i worry about the cost to the ecology. US no longer educates its populace in common sense, so it can point to the "need" for over-regulation. an attitude im done with. I always favored going off track rather than following the beaten path. it's the idea of risk, of doing and seeing something not many others will. risk is good. as long as you are willing to pay the price.
Good lord your posts are always stunning. Tremendous shots and the write up was all that too! Easy resteem action on this one 👍😎
I always appreciate your support and your comments, GA; you make Canada a better place :3
but yeah, as I said somewhere else here... the caves just had to show up and look good, basically~
Awesome pictures! I can see you sitting there, being one with the cave...
I was covered in enough stinky mud to be Arnold in predator~ namaste, you sonova bitch! :D
Wow. I don't know how you keep banging out exceptional post, after exceptional post.
I love your comments and encouragement! though one a week is probably not all that close to "banging out"... I'm trying to move up to two but we'll see how that goes, LOL
I Like the 4th picture -- it's so MYSTERIOUS looking ♦♦ I cringed a bit, when you described your entry into Darkness !
And when u said, "but now the recesses echo my own noises and soft drips back at me, and nothing else", omigoodness that is effective #writing.
The images are quite luminescent, and Wonderful ! Like that 'side by side' you did (2nd image). ♥
Your whole piece today is outstanding, & transports me RIGHT to the place - almost the way a 'Time machine' transports a person to their chosen destination.
GRACIAS.
thank YOU. This is the sort of response I can only hope for, so I really appreciate you taking the time to share your feelings with me.
Stunning photos! Wow. I've never heard of this place but I'd like to visit in the future.
You've been resteemed + followed as part of the #LadiesofSteemit initiative. Looking forward to keeping up with your posts!
thanks so very much for this~ I'm excited and am just hearing about this new initiative now. Well done!
Incredible images....thanks ever so much for sharing
thanks for getting out and about and commenting <3
This is so amazing! I visited Iceland 2 months ago and I am totally in love! I need this awesome country every season!
This is absolutely beautiful, amazing caves and tones on the photos! :)
thanks! nature kinda nailed this one~
iss that for real i mean if it is i have raven saw anything like that before ... serious thats wander full
totally real, I swear! you can actually look at the cave closer on Google Maps:
Check it out!
^^ This is a photosphere taken by someone with a selfie stick. It's really bad quality, but it shows the water! This is exactly where I was sitting.
wall thanks
#Epicness! Shared
thank you, my friend! Iceland in general is the home of fucking awesome: vikings and nature. I was so sold.
I like your style. I still have to do it. I better get decent lenses before going
Whenever I see epic nature settings I wonder how the fuck is it possible the universe made this?!
oh man. Ain't that the truth? These incredible ancient bizarre collisions and explosions and fluctuations and then all of a sudden, m a j e s t y
Uhhh Places like Blue Lagoon cave exists... damn I always thought they were using SFX in the movies... simply INCREDIBLE! :)
they really do. This is actually the colour of the water. It ranges from a milky light blue to a stunning vibrant teal. I believe it has something to do with minerals in the water, often from glacial runoff. Glacier Bay in Alaska is similar- I took this when I was there:
hey @crimsonclad thank you soo much for your upvote on my #introduceyourself post!
those photos you took are amazing, I love the color scheme and the long exposure effect that makes everything so soft and calm - perfect capture of the moment I imagine! <3
Wow Crimmi!!! This is amazing :) You're photos are fantastic! Going to Iceland is one of my dreams!
I really look forward to reading more of your content!
The cave looks very moody, almost eerie in fact. You've captured an amazing series here. I would like to go to Iceland someday and have an adventure you were having :)
You should definitely go! It seems to get busier every year, but I would highly recommend traveling in should season, just off of the peak times. It was magical <3
so peaceful and still... the water almost looks frozen.
I kept hearing a drip, but I couldn't find it through ripples...the only thing moving, imperceptibly, was the steam...
Simply beautiful. I need to get to Iceland. How hot was the water?
It is hot enough that the government has proclaimed that you are not allowed to bathe anymore — the temperature has been increasing over the last few years. That being said, there was a woman (local for sure) bathing just before I got there who came out in her underthings and headed for her car like it was NBD, but I have no idea how long she was in for. I put my toes in a few times, but I was unable to keep them in the water comfortably for much longer than twenty seconds.
interesting! Iceland women have geothermal genetics I guess
Epic. I wish I had more time to explore Iceland but my trip was pretty short. I would have loved to see this.
thank you! I would say at least five days to get around the ring road, and you won't see much of everything. I took 8 days, and spent two in Ísafjörður (the ring road skips the westfjords entirely) and still didn't get to all my wants. I have to say, what you can see easily from a Reykjavik home base is obviously stunning, but all of my favourite things were scattered from a few hours out to across the island.
charming and captivating post. this cave is magical and looks so unreal as its stunning. narrative is poetic. thanks for sharing dear. keep it coming
I shall absolutely do my best... thank you! so appreciated.
Wow crimmi, these shots are otherworldy, just amazing.
Kind of reminds me of Gollum's cave in the first hobbit movie :)
all of iceland had that feel, to me; just a strange moonscape, lonely cliff edge, snowy wasteland, verdant valley, sun drenched, rain soaked mystery.
Great little story @crimson-clad! I must say the environment is so beautiful it almost looks like it could be in some tropical adventure game!
Lovely read thanks for the intimate details :)
one hundred percent felt like I should have been crawling along with a knife in my teeth 💯
All like Dum-Dum- Du-Dum-Dum - - Dum-Dum- Du-Dum-Da BWOWNEEEOOOW! (Horn Section)
You also inspired some soul to write a poem based on your travels, don't know if you saw that!
I did... I'm still blushing!
What an awesome journey! I felt as if I was there, side by side with you. Great post. Upvoted and following! Resteemed too!
oh my gosh, so appreciated when you say you can feel it 🖤that's all I can ever hope for as it's all I ever aim for~
What a wonderful place, really reading the post and watching to pictures you shared made fell in there ;)
Thanks for the cool contenet :)
thank you! that's all I can hope for~
Wow, amazing light and color (as well as an amazing cave). I love that shade of blue.
it's so beautiful; almost like depression era glass... sometimes, clear, sometimes milky. It's all over the country, right down to in the ice~ not only in the caves. Mineral rich, I think? I was obsessed with photographing puddles~
Seriously stunning. I really have to get to iceland.
I vote you absolutely do it, unless you're going to take better photos than me :| :3
Those picture are WoW!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
thank you so much~ you should definitely put Iceland on your list! <3
It's on my bucket list for sure!!! Probably after my next contract 😉
highly, highly recommend traveling in the shoulder season. Made an incredible difference in the amount of tourists I ran into. Everyone goes for the 24 hours of daylight, or 24 hours of night~ I'm very happy to share tips with you if you want them. Hit me up here or on discord. I'm a crazy cheap, do it all for less and live more backpacker type and there's lots of things I could suggest for Iceland in particular. :3
We'll definitely keep in touch!
I'm impressed that you got such good photos in the cave. I've never taken a good photo in a cave before. Great work!
long exposures work wonders! I'm bad at the "now don't touch it" part, myself, lol :3
I'm bad at the "get out the tripod and spend time working on the photo" part :P It takes discipline, and the results speak for themselves. Very impressive work indeed.
This is soooo magical 😭 gives me that “other worldly” feeling, in a really positive way. Keep taking great photos! ❤️
Thank you so much, Monica~ I shall do my best. It's kind of crazy to think that little places like this are hidden all over the world, just below our feet...
This is all an absolute pleasure to behold and read about! Wow...
Berry Nice. The psychedelic blue patterns on the cave walls are mesmerizing :)
Wow! What else can I say? Beautiful words to accompany the magnificent photography. Thank you. 🐓🐓
thank you so much! it's a pretty inspiring place, to be honest~
Your photographs are breathtaking, @crimsonclad! Iceland is just such an amazing place, but yeah, the sulphur, right? LOL.
steps outside of Reykjavik airport
wrinkles nose
spends the next eight days getting farted on by mother nature
Even in the shower!
Very very cool @crimsonclad.
The shots are just magnificent, and the descriptions fit perfectly to set out a setting....very cool!!
thank you karin! <3
Cracking your skull a few times while getting ready to take some photos - hilarious :)). I like the photos a lot actually. They look freaking surreal. Have a nice daaaaay :D
hahah, you think you know where the ceiling is and then w h a m so you rub your head and change some settings and then stand up to stretch because you got it all done and w h a m
Hahaha, that sounds painful
These photos are wonderful.
Spelunking has always conjured a strange sense of suffocation to me, especially now with the titanium ribcage, but I sure do want to get in there now!