journey to middle earth: Wednesday in iceland

Open to the public for its third season, Thrihnukagigur (Three Peak Crater) is the only place on earth where you can enter a magma chamber. It's like repelling from the top of the Statue of Liberty while she's on her tip toes, wearing heels. Yes, this is a thing.

A one hour bus ride through lava fields takes you to Reykjavik's closest ski resort where the tour suits up in neon adventure wear (giant water-proof parkas). A brisk, single-file hike is then led by a guide towards the crater along a marked path. There's a couple quick stops by the tour guide to point out lava formations and breath-catching for the hikers. Once everyone crosses the man-made, slinky metal ladders over the tectonic plates it's not far to base camp, which serves as the makeshift structure to the guides, operators and hikers. It's also the final bathroom stop along the trip before any awkward moments occur.

After some coffee and application of protective gear, groups are taken (four at a time, plus operator) and are lowered 400 feet inside the volcano. The open cable lift takes about seven minutes to descend into the 44 degree chamber of rainbow colored rocks. Wheels are placed along the outside of the giant window washing machine to adjust the cable lift as it maneuvers through the tight bottle neck opening. Groups spend about thirty minutes exploring amongst the brightly lit backgrounds of rubble with much of that time spent taking awesome selfies, der. Operation of this tour is from mid May - end of September. 

I'd describe the trip as earthy, submarine adventure porn. It has once in a lifetime trade marketing written all over it: Biggest well on earth! Mostly-inactive right now! Rolling deep! All Icelandic visitors wanting a thrill should shell out for this ride. It's bananas!

***Last erupted over 4,000 years ago. Cause it could. #InsideTheVolcano

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