The Brevard group on the 2007 trip at Skaftafellsjökull, a large valley glacier descending from the Vatnajökull ice cap.

Overview: Iceland is a sparsely populated volcanic island that sits astride the mid-Atlantic Ridge, just south of the Arctic Circle. It is the only place where the ridge can be seen at the surface. Several enormous icecaps cover the large highland regions. Evidence of volcanism and past glaciation abounds at every turn. Although Iceland's geology is the focus of this trip, participants do not need to be geology students. They don't even need to be students; all are welcome to join us.

Temperatures in July are generally in the 45º-65º F range. The sun is up 20-22 hours/day in July; it never really gets dark. Our night at Askja will probably be the coldest since it is the highest elevation.

Since Iceland is a large geothermal area, almost all campgrounds provide hot showers. Some of the campgrounds are located at or near excellent hot springs. Hikes are easy to moderate with strenuous options available. The bus is comfortable and comes with an expert Icelandic driver. Although Icelandic is the native language, most Icelanders speak some English--some speak very well. In the past, most participants have enjoyed learning how to pronounce the names of the sites we will visit.

We camp every night on these trips and prepare our own meals in a well-equipped field kitchen/dining tent, complete with tables and chairs. Our camp manager will make sure that everyone gets enough to eat. Participants will be divided into kitchen teams so that everyone gets a chance to dazzle the rest with their culinary prowess.

I have led four other groups to Iceland and know the island very well. In the past, Iceland has been very expensive. Their recent economic collapse lowered prices considerably. This year's 19-day trip will cost about the same as the 2007 2-week trip. It will probably never be cheaper than this summer.

The ongoing volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (I'll teach you how to pronounce it!) promises to make this summer's trip a memorable event. Flying into Iceland should not be a problem because the Keflavík airport is at the western tip of the island and the winds are usually from the west. IcelandAir and our Icelandic travel agent, Þorleifur Friđricksson, have graciously allowed us to add more participants beyond the original April 1st deadline without additional cost. Our new deadline is May 31st. They are anticipating dramatically increased tourism because of the eruption so we are extremely fortunate to already have a plan in place. 

If the volcano is still erupting, and I predict it will be, we will modify the itinerary below so that we get some quality eruption observing time from a safe distance. It is possible that the eruption will make it difficult to get to Skaftafell and/or Landmannalaugar and Lakagígar but there are plenty of other places that we can investigate instead.

Photos From Previous Trips

2007 Iceland Blog with Photos