We are all looking to get the full use out of our hiking equipment and at the same time find something new to experience. Well how about this journey that takes you into the underworld, by entering the magma crater of a volcano in Iceland by lift. For the third year running this May you have the opportunity, if you are brave enough to venture inside the Three Peaks Crater, or Thrjhnukagigur as it is known to the locals. Iceland is home to more than 130 active volcanoes and is one of the most volcanic regions in the world.

Located to the south of the country’s capital Reykjavik this particular volcano sits right at the heart of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and what makes it unusual is the fact that volcanic chambers are normally sealed shut, but this one isn’t and scientists are still working it all out. The chamber was discovered in 1974 by a local cave explorer, and it is down to his continuous campaigning that sustainable visits could be done properly, in both the local press and numerous academic papers that back in 2012 the authorities relented and people were allowed in.

The cabin where the tour properly begins is erected each year at the beginning of the season and is taken away again at the end. However you have to walk for an hour from the foot of the Blafjoil mountain range to it as the roads simply end and the basalt terrain will take its toil on all but the toughest walking boots.

A short walk from the cabin takes you up to the top of the cinder cone, and looking out from here it appears that all civilization has never existed. No wonder J R Tolkien is thought to been influenced by this landscape in the formation of the look of Murder. In Icelandic folklore the rocks and small underground caves are associated with the “huldufolk” or hidden people.

The journey down into the earth is by open cable lift, a metal cage which lowers people down into the neck of the chamber which is taller than the Statue of Liberty. After dropping over 120m the cage finally stops on the floor. There is no sound except dripping water and the only sky is the distant hole above.

The feeling once here is that of Jules Verne’s story “The Journey to the Centre of The Earth”, which also started by entering a volcano in Iceland. The walls and floor show a mixture of colours all as a result of the high temperatures and chemical reactions that once took place. Puffs of steam can be seen rising from the far corners of the cavern, but this is just the local elves smoking, making sure you leave everything as you found it. In reality it’s not signs of more volcanic activity but the evaporation of moisture droplets as they hit hidden electric lamps.

So if this is something you want to experience and you can definitely add me to the list, get you hiking equipment sorted and fix a flight soon. Check out the latest boots that have arrived on the website, and save a few pennies that can be put toward your trip.