Iceland vs. Idaho: Comparisons from a Recent Hiking Trip

In September 1999, I took a two week hiking tour of Iceland with Arctic Experience, a very good British firm. I wanted to see recent volcanism, and got lots more. Here are a few comparative scenes from Iceland versus Idaho landscapes. Click on any photo to see enlarged images with more detailed commentary.

Idaho pahoehoe with Springtime vegetation; Iceland plates with encroaching moss.

 

 
Hiking into the snow and sleet at Craters of the Moon in April; Iceland snow in September.

 

 
The Lake Channel, an abandoned channel of the great Bonneville Flood; the Jokulsa River channel in Iceland, formed by volcano-caused floods.

 

 
Lush vegetation on Idaho kipuka; mixed moss and grass in Iceland lava.

 

 
North Idaho lake; Icelandic coastline on the North Atlantic.

 

 
Grassy parks between new lava flows in Idaho; dense mossy coating on older aa in Iceland.

 

 
Alpine glaciation in Idaho's Selway Crags; outflow from one of Iceland's massive icecaps.

 

 
Slowly-growing vegetation in Idaho's lava fields; diminutive birches in the Jokulsa canyon, jumbo size by Icelandic standards.

 

 
Idaho's Snake River flowing west towards the Pacific Ocean; the Jokulsa flowing north to the Arctic Ocean.

 

 
2050-year old lava meeting sagebrush steppe; recent Krafla lava flow advancing across Iceland.

 

 
The Twin Buttes rising above Idaho's Snake River Plain; large vents near Iceland's Lake Myvatn.

 

 
Cinder gardens at Craters of the Moon; cinder fields near Stykkisholmur in Iceland.

 

 
Shoshone Falls, "the Niagara of the West"; Iceland's Godfoss.

 

 
Classic vent at Craters of the Moon; eroded vent core in Iceland's Jokulsa Canyon.

 

 
Lava hiking friends in Idaho; lava hiking friends in Iceland.

 

 

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