Iceland's Strokkur Geyser

As we approached Haukadalur on the Golden Circle of Iceland

we could see steam clouds in the distance and the smell of sulfur was getting stronger.

We parked the car at the welcome center and crossed the road.

There are walkways marked off through a field of water and steam. Such a fantastical place!

Geothermal activity of this sort is a pretty rare phenomenon and only seen in a few places in the world.

It's usually associated with a nearby volcano and activated by earthquakes, a pretty volatile combination.

They say a watched pot never boils, but this one certainly does!

This is home to the mother of all geysers.  It's where the word originated from, however, the Great Geysir

now sits dormant and hasn't erupted since since 2000. Of course, she could awaken at any time. 

The nearby Strokkur is very active with eruptions every 5-8 minutes.

It's incredible to watch.  

The first clue is this large dome of water that rises from the opening.

It's the water below the surface being heated by the hot magma below and

the pressurized bubbles rising to the top.

Then it explodes into the air, water and steam.

Everyone oohs and aah's and the cameras all start clicking.  It's incredible to see.

The water goes rushing back into the hole in the earth and the wait starts all over.

There are massive pools of water throughout the field.

You wouldn't think that life would survive in such extreme conditions,

but the vibrant colors that you see are from bacteria and other forms of microbes.

There are signs everywhere warning you that the water is HOT!  Obviously.

But, not one of us could resist dipping a finger into the run off to see for ourselves.

Next came the exclamation in a shocked voice... "It's hot!"

It was as if we were being controlled by some other force.

Following along after two others, Matt and I both did it.  "It's really hot!"

Then we had to get out of the way for the people behind us to do the exact same thing.  

After walking around a bit and exploring the fields, it was time to turn around and capture

Strokkur do her thing once again.  It would be easy to spend hours just watching her erupt.

Didn't I tell you?  Iceland is such a drama queen.

What do you think about all this hot water?

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