I’m flying out of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, on the southwest coast where most of the 300,000 people live. The island lies just on the Arctic Circle, in between the U.S. and Europe. It’s about the size of Kentucky, but only has one main road that follows the coast all around the island. Most of the country is just a barren, frozen wasteland. This place has a strange beauty about it, but it’s also unforgiving down there. 

 

Iceland’s original settlers were the Vikings who came from Norway over a thousand years ago. They knew how to survive these harsh climates. People come here to experience the unique geology, this cool blend of fire and ice. Fire because it’s one of the most volcanic countries in the world; ice because over 2,000 square miles of it are glaciers. On average 3 people a day are rescued from the freezing glaciers and huge volcanic plains. The glacier’s directly under me and those places are one of the toughest places to survive.