Rauðibotn crater as a drone shot. This was the only way I could capture the colorful splendor of the red crater rim together with the moss-green ground. I had the sun behind the drone and a correspondingly bright red on the crater rim.
This is the picture I came here for. My favorite shot of Rauðibotn!
If you leave the ascent to the crater rim of Rauðibotn to the right and take the path to the left, you will come to Lake Hólmsárlón. The Hólmsá flows out of the lake in a small cascade. The turquoise color of the lake really comes into its own from a drone perspective. When we took a break at the bottom of the lake, I couldn’t really notice it, but it also has a lot to do with the angle to the sky.
In the background you can see the mountains around Hrafntinnusker, some of which are covered in snow.
This beautiful crater near the Hólmsá ford on the F210 can be reached on a short hike. However, you have to climb quite steeply to get this view of the crater, the upper stream of Hólmsá and the Mýrdalsjökull glacier in the background. But it is always worth it. The crater is hidden in the mountains above Hólmsá. If you are on the east side of the ford, a track goes a little way north and from the parking lot at the end you can hike up to the crater and the lake Hólmsárlón.
I had even taken my tripod with me here so that I could work with the polarizing filter in peace. The surface of the lake in particular was very reflective and I really wanted to have the bottom of the moss-lined lake in the picture. I hadn’t used a polarizing filter for the first shot as it didn’t work due to the position of the sun. But in the second picture, I’m looking at the red cinder rim of Rauðibotn, which gives it its typical red/green contrast: read more or write a comment …
The view of the mossy river valley from the ground perspective in contrast to the previous drone perspective. I really wanted to have the erosion gullies on the sides of the black desert in the picture and thus give the moss a strong contrast. That’s why I opted for a panoramic shot. Otherwise I would not have been able to capture the river bend at all.
In the original, this panorama shot is over 9000 pixels wide and 4000 pixels high. It would therefore also print well as a panorama.
I had already seen lava and moss two years earlier. Since then I wanted to go here with the drone to get an overview of the mossy river course.
The mountains here are the only green area in the landscape of black lava / ash from a distance. For long stretches, you drive through a black landscape. A river course then provides the moss with welcome moisture in this otherwise desert-like landscape. I like the way the river meanders around the mountain here and the many erosion gullies lead into it.
As before with the view of Ófærufoss, I was lucky that the light came out again on the way back through the Eldgjá gorge. What a beautiful backdrop, the edges of the Eldgjá streaked with moss, red and black volcanic rock. The ground was strewn with rocks that had broken off the crater rim. All of this brightly lit by the sun!
At the turning point of the Eldgjá hike. Shortly before, you walk over black tuff, which stands in stark contrast to the otherwise predominant moss up here. On the path across the tuff field, you can only guess at the edge of the fault, but looking back here you can see it very clearly. Where the track meets the edge diagonally, the hiking trail descends. Over a loose tuff slope, you slide down into the valley rather than taking a controlled step.
However, if you want a perfect view of the Eldgjá, you can hike another 1–2 km and see the whole valley in front of you. Unfortunately, we had a fine drizzle and wind from the west, so we didn’t enjoy it and started our way down here.