field trip 1: the highlands

last weekend i tagged along on a field trip to the highlands (the interior) of iceland with some people from work. they are working on an environmental impact assessment of the area and we were out there to figure out what the visual impacts of a huge powerline along the road would be. this area is pretty remote, the roads are gravel (or tire tracks) and you have to have 4WD. there are no trees or bushes. only rocks and sand. and a few, very small, plants between the rocks. there are lumpy hills and in the distance there are mountains all around and glaciers. it was beautiful. the weather was perfect. there's been snow up there already and getting a clear day in mid-sept. can be rare so we really lucked out. the power lines are to connect the hydropower dams in the north with the hydropower dams in the south that light up reykjavik and invite industry. all the power lines in the city are underground but it’s too expensive to do that out in the countryside so they would build gigantic towers.
this is along the main road and what the power lines look like.getting closer to the highlands, powerlines along the road.
main road in the highlands the view. now imagine what it would look like with huge powerlines.
plant and rocks
we took a couple of detours off the main road on to side roads to see a marshy tundra area at the foot of the glacier hofsjokull. one of the people we were with has spent a lot of time exploring the highlands so he knows all the really interesting places to go. this road is why you have to have 4WD.
all of a sudden there is green moss instead of just rocks.
this tundra area this is the only area where the pink-footed goose nests and the power company has plans to build a dam that would flood this entire area. it's still uncertain if they will be allowed to build the dam. they have plans to dam just about every river in iceland, many already have dams but they want to build more. the electricity would be used by industries, such as aluminum smelters, that are currently in other countries using electricity from coal.
the moss is at least 6 inches deep and so springy!
it was windy and sunny
we also stopped at the old homesite of iceland's most famous outlaw, he built a house out here to avoid the law. it was a beautiful spot.
rocks and hills
an emergency hut that you can stay in if you are caught out in the weather
getting ready to cross a little river
more rocks and hills
group photo