10 years Eyjafjallajökull eruption

Unbelievable it’s already 10 years since Eyjafjallajökull eruption startet – and again we are in a big crises and hardly any planes are flying. Time to remember what happened in 2010. It was very impressive when I drove a group of journalists to Thorvaldseyri and took pictures. The grass was still green but later the wind turned and on thick ash layer covered everything. The eruption lasted for more than a month and winds turned again and again in different directions, the ash was in the atmosphere and many airports were closed in Europe and America. For a while some flights could leave Iceland and we drove passengers sometimes to Akureyri or even Egilsstadir depending on the wind direction. Later in May 2010 the eruption stopped and a group of young farmers visited Iceland. Of course they had booked their tour before the eruption. The group was booked in the huts of Husadalur in Thorsmoerk valley for two nights. For some days we didn’t know if we can go there at all. But by then we were the first group to get the allowance. We were escorted by the police and the big truck of Husadalur to make sure everything goes well. The more we drove in the valley with the glacier rivers the gray and black the landscape. The most surprising was the missing lagoon at Gigjökull glacier. It got filled with mud of melting water during the eruption. The rivers had to be crossed very carefully. With the ash floating down the always changed their way. Finally we reached Husadalur, nothing as a grey black desert and a lot of ash on the houses. Should we really stay here for two nights? Yes, we did! The next day we went for a hike and walked over ash. Without wind it was somehow ok but when the wind started to blow the air was immediately filled with ash. From some viewpoints it was possible to overview this black valley which is normally green. It was experience we never forget but good to have some pictures from April and May 2010.