Page 13 - 2000 ICELAND

years ago from all the volcanic eruptions, it is a very unusual looking place
and difficult to describe because it’s hard to find analogies for it.

There is very little topsoil as new ash and lava are constantly being added on

top of the land by the active volcanoes; therefore Iceland does not support
much in the way of trees. Even when the Irish monks came, over l000 years

ago, closely followed by the Vikings, there was not much tree cover in the
country, less than 10 percent, and the early settlers quickly logged the

forest out. The only trees you see are the few being planted as part of a

fairly recent reforestation project.

The spruce and fir trees are necessarily small and stunted due to the poor
soil, very brief growing season, and harsh winters. However, the lovely

wildflowers seem to have no trouble getting a foothold in this hard terrain.
Our rock-strewn path was surrounded by fields of yellow, blue, lavender,

dark purple and white blossoms. Rocks are the most common sight in
Iceland—of all sizes—more of the volcanic bequest. So as it turned out, all

our paths, no matter where in the country, were rock-strewn or even

boulder-strewn. Because the flowers and the plants that supported them
were so small, it appeared that we were walking in the tundra even though

this part of Iceland is not very high at all, only a couple of hundred feet
above sea level.

As soon as we were out of the bus and on the trail, a new and totally

unexpected sensation assailed us—the air was so pure that we could
literally smell all these flowers. Nowhere in the world have I ever smelled

the fragrance of so many tiny flowers so clearly. It was dizzying to be

surrounded with such aromas and have your eyes so full of color. The walk
itself was not difficult at all other than picking a way among the rocks in

order to stay balanced. Contrasting with the tenderness of these plants
were the sharp edges of the lava flows, the acute angles of the surrounding

mountains and volcanoes, the stoniness of the ground. Not much in this
scenery to tempt you to lie down on the ground. Nor did you want to trip

and fall—it looked as though you would be cut to ribbons.