The Red Bulletin August 2020 (US)

wrinkling, and begin grabbing
the snow like claws.
Ingolfsson has been glacier
driving since he was a boy
and can feel the consistency
of the snow through the
chassis of the jeep. We swing
back to the northeast ridge
of Hekla and the tires start
to spin out. The angle is
so severe it feels like the
superjeep is about to flip
over backward.
“I don’t think we can
make it,” I say.
He winks. “Drop the
pressure to 2 psi for all tires.”
I do so, but the tires
continue to spin out.
Ingolfsson opens his driver’sside
door, stands up and gets
his substantial body weight
forward of the cab, steering
with one leg.
“You need to get out on
the front bumper,” he yells.
I jump out, climb my way
up the snow and pull myself
onto a square aluminum
platform that juts out from
the front bumper. He had
this perch specifically
designed for redistributing
weight and balance. My body
weight gives the front tires
just enough traction and we
slowly begin to bounce our
way up the icy snow.
Improbably, we drive
right to the summit of a
mountain that is a steep
tramp for hikers in the
summer. We park, get out
and walk around.
Heat from the belly of
Hekla has melted the snow
off the top of the volcano.
The black rocks are rimed
with icicles and steam rises
from holes between the rocks.
It does feel as if this volcano
could blow at any moment.
One key objective
of researchers who
study Icelandic
volcanoes is to
determine in
advance when
they’ll erupt.
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