Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.09.2016, Page 52

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It becomes dark almost as soon
as we begin our descent into Víð-
gelmir. It’s the kind of darkness to
which your eyes will never adjust,
and although above ground it’s
a summery twelve degrees Cel-
sius, the temperature has quickly
dropped to near freezing and the
air begins to taste stale. We’re
marching deep into the largest
lava tube in Iceland, a long and
wide cave that stretches for nearly
1.6 kilometres beneath the Hall-
mundarhraun lava field.
More then
just a cave
Since May of this year, the family
who owns the land around Víð-
gelmir has been operating guided
tours into the lava tube under the
name “The Cave.” They’ve built a
warm and brightly lit building that
rises from the uneven grey rock
near Langjökull glacier and acts
as a starting point for the tours.
From there it’s a 200-metre walk
through the lava field to the gap-
ing mouth of Víðgelmir, which was
formed after a section of the lava
tube collapsed.
“Let’s hope the cave doesn’t col-
lapse today,” jokes our guide, Egill
Örn Sigurpálsson, as we crouch
through the narrowest part of the
tube. Inside lies a cavern that has
been fitted with lights to illumi-
nate the green, reds and yellows
that dress its walls. “This room is
called ‘the cafeteria,’” Egill says,
because it was where they kept the
coffee whilst building the wooden
ramps and stairs that guide visi-
tors through the cave.
Egill explains how cold winter
air is trapped in the cave year-
round, keeping the patches of ice
around us from melting. Icy water
drips from the ceiling, forming tall
stalagmites of ice that rise from
the cave floor. Glittering in front
of fitted lights, these crystalline
formations shine like diamonds in
the darkness. The rock walls them-
selves are coloured by rust, sul-
phur, iron and cobalt, as if painted
by frenzied brushstrokes.
Reading history
in the rock
A couple hundred metres deeper
into the cave, Egill stops the group
and jumps off the wooden plat-
form. “This is my favourite part
of the cave, because it reminds me
of chocolate,” he says, resting his
hand against the reddish-brown
rock that appears to be melting off
the walls. These unique geological
formations were formed by lava
from the eruption of a volcano be-
neath Langjökull glacier. As they
cooled down, thin crusts formed
on top of the lava, allowing differ-
ent temperatures of lava to flow
on top of each
other and cre-
ate visible lay-
ers on the cave
walls.
Our journey
ends in a cav-
ern about 600
metres into the lava tube and 39
metres below ground level. At this
depth, Egill’s earlier joke about the
cave collapsing takes on a certain
gravity. Boulders that dwarf the
members of the tour are strewn
around the cave floor—the rem-
nants of other collapses that
probably occurred during the lava
tube’s formation. It’s only a matter
of time before the whole structure
collapses, through Egill assures us
that won’t be for at least another
5,000 years.
Back above ground level, the air
feels refreshing and warm. The
Langjökull gla-
cier, which had
been shrouded
by clouds when
we began our de-
scent, now peeks
out from behind
the neighbour-
ing mountains. As we march back
across the lava field towards the
base camp I’m struck by what other
worlds might lie just out of sight,
only a few metres below our feet.
SHARE & MORE PICTURES:
gpv.is/tube
Caving
A World
Beneath
Our Feet
A journey
into Iceland’s
largest lava
tube
Words ISAAC WÜRMANN Photos ART BICNICK
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 15 — 2016
52
“Let’s hope the
cave doesn’t
collapse today”