The Lake Myvatn area, located in northeast Iceland, has an amazing, and truly beautiful, volcanic landscape. This area lies within Iceland’s North Volcanic Zone, which is a part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge – the spreading rift between the Eurasian and North American plates that slices through Iceland. Lake Myvatn is the fourth largest lake in Iceland, and is quite shallow, with the deepest part being only about 4 meters. This area is also renown for its wetlands and birdlife, with the lake’s numerous bays and its outlet to the north-flowing river Laxa being host to a multitude of birds.

Lake Myvatn, viewed from the lake’s eastern side.

Basaltic landscape in the Hofdi area, on the southeast side of Lake Myvatn. Hofdi is a rocky promontory into Lake Myvatn that affords excellent bird watching.

Lava pillars in the Kálfastrandavogar area, southeastern Lake Myvatn.

My favorite experience at Lake Myvatn was riding an Icelandic horse around the pseudocraters in the Skútustaðagígar area of Lake Myvatn (southwestern part of the lake). Pseudocraters are unusual in that they are rootless volcanic cones that formed in this area about 2300 years ago when basaltic lava flowed over the water-logged lake sediment, resulting in the cones being built from steam exploding through the lava. So -not only did I want to see pseudocraters, but I also wanted to lean how to tolt because this is a natural gait exclusive to Icelandic horses. According to Riding-Iceland.com,

“the Tölt is a natural, fluid gait of the Icelandic Horse, during which at least one foot always touches the ground. Foals often tölt in pastures at an early age. The tölt is an extraordinarily smooth four-beat gait, which allows the rider an almost bounce-free ride, even at 32 kmh (20 mph). “

I contacted Safari Horse Rental (located just off the main road in the Skútustaðagígar area) and set up a two hour ride. Gilli was my guide, and he took me through mostly private land to both look at pseudocraters and to teach me how to tolt. It did take me awhile to understand how to let my horse know it was time to break into the tolting gait, but when we both got it figured out, wow! what a way to see pseudocraters! I’d urge anyone who loves to ride horses to try this!

The start of the pseudocrater exploration ride at Safari Horse Rentals!

A pseudocrater looms ahead of us. The pseudocraters are typically composed of tephra, scoria, and splatter that resulted from basaltic lava flowing over water-logged lake sediments forming steam eruptions that blast through the lava.

The remnants of a pseudocrater becomes a watering hole for the area sheep herds.

Basalt block fences are common on Icelandic farm lands.

This photo shows midges covering a part of a pseudocrater. The midges weren’t numerous when I was at Lake Myvatn, but they periodically emerge by the billions to cover the Lake Myvatn area. In fact, Lake Myvatn means “midge lake” in Icelandic. The midge populations are very closely tied to the Lake Myvatn fishery. Unfortunately, dredging in the lake during the 1960’s for a silicon mining operation has probably caused enough fluctuation in the midge populations to result in the collapse of the fishery. See the following publication for more information on this – High-amplitude fluctuations and alternative dynamical states of midges in Lake Myvatn.

Again – I’ll highly recommend that the best way to view Lake Myvatn’s pseudocraters is by tolting on an Icelandic horse!