Hel on Earth

July 6, 2013 5:16 AM

Icelandic Lava Tubes [via]. A video of a tour.
posted by Joe in Australia (12 comments total)

The fifth photo is really scary.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:16 AM on July 6, 2013

I'm leaving for Iceland next Wednesday... I'll have to plan a day trip. These look cooler than the lava tubes in Hawaii. Thanks!
posted by Huck500 at 5:23 AM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Lave tubes are *awesome*.
My wife and I happened upon Craters of the Moon National Monument during a road trip in 2009. They had a lava tube you could just walk up to and a staircase down into it. Just raw and weird.
posted by notsnot at 5:24 AM on July 6, 2013

Hel on Earth? Here's the door.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 5:27 AM on July 6, 2013

I've been in an Icelandic lava tube. It was creepy in that it felt younger and less alive than the eroded limestone caves I'm familiar with from my youth, even though that has to be entirely psychological. These are some cool pics, I'll have to try to see Buri next time.
posted by dogwalker at 6:52 AM on July 6, 2013

I've never been in a lava tube. From the looks of these pictures, I need to rectify that posthaste & forthwith.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:57 AM on July 6, 2013

Seconding the lava tubes at Craters of the Moon. They're in Idaho, so you don't have to go all the way to Iceland.
posted by sneebler at 8:06 AM on July 6, 2013

There are two types of people in this world, people who have been in lava tubes, and people that haven't. I would hope you know which camp this guy stands with.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 8:57 AM on July 6, 2013

Au contaire, There are two types of people in this world, people who have been in lava tubes, and people that haven't yet!

Though it is suggested you wait until the lava cools.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:59 AM on July 6, 2013

If you look at these long enough, you can see little figures in them. Please someone else say you see them too?
posted by SuperSquirrel at 10:30 AM on July 6, 2013

A friend and I stumbled our way through the Ape Caves at Mount St. Helens many, many years ago. We were young and very stupid. Surely a couple garden-variety flashlights are sufficient? Nope. I've never experienced such oppressive and total darkness. The flashlights worked about as well when they were off as when they were on. It wasn't as dramatic a scene as depicted here, but of course we were only in a small portion of the tourist-accessible area.
posted by Brocktoon at 1:00 PM on July 6, 2013

I've been in Raufarhólshellir. It's quite easy to get to and you can get quite far without any kind of equipment beyond a simple flashlight. It's so easy to visit you could probably make the trip during a few hours' layover at Keflavík airport, if you rented a car. Búri, the other cave from the first link, is a more serious concern, from what I understand. It's somewhere I quite want to go though.
posted by Kattullus at 7:39 PM on July 6, 2013 [1 favorite]