Friday, May 3, we drove northwest from Egilsstaðir to Mývatn, a distance of about 100 miles. As you can see, there is more snow in the interior of the island than there is along the coast.

Although the day started out cloudy, the sun broke through and it turned out to be another beautiful day.

There was almost no traffic, so about 2/3 of the way to Mývatn, I stopped and got out to stand in the middle of the road to take the pictures above and below.

It got more mountainous as we approached Mývatn.

Shortly after taking the photo, above, we turned off onto a side road and headed north to the Dettifoss, one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland. The Dettifoss is to northern Iceland what the Gullfoss is to southern Iceland.

Surprisingly, because it is so remote, there were quite a few people here. The hike from the parking lot to the falls is about two miles, round trip.

The trail to the falls was buried deep under about three to four feet of packed snow. Microspikes would have been helpful, but we did okay in just our hiking boots. There’s a viewing platform at the end of the trail.

Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in Iceland and the second most powerful in Europe, with power being measured as the volume of water multiplied by the fall distance.

After Dettifoss, we drove to the geothermal area known as Hverir (it’s also called Námafjall, Námaskarð and Hverarönd, but don’t ask me why). It was reminiscent of Yellowstone.

Lots of bubbling mud pools, hissing fumaroles, steam vents, and sulphur smells.

This must be where Dante gotten his inspiration.

This thing, below, was hissing and spitting and seemed ready to blow, but it’s apparently not dangerous. You can walk right up and touch it if you want to, if you don’t mind burning your hand.

With all the waterfalls and geothermal areas in Iceland, it’s no surprise that all of the electrical power on the main island comes from these two “renewable energy resources,” 75% from hydro, 25% from geothermal.

You’d think there would be EV cars, like Teslas, everywhere, but I only counted six since leaving Reykjavík.