Volcanologist and Vibrams fan James Says Good Bye to Iceland

Hi Justin,

Just thought you might like some more photos of what I think are one of the few pairs of VFFs in Iceland (actually I have 3 pairs now!).

Here are photos of my Palm/Grey KSOs at Gullfoss waterfall (upper and lower falls), Skogarfoss waterfall, the coastline of the Snaefellsnes peninsula, and in front of Snaefellsnes itself (this volcano is the setting for Jules Verne’s “The Journey Of The Center Of The Earth”, where the characters first fall down into the Earth’s interior).

I’ve also taken the KSOs on some fieldwork on lava flows recently. I think maybe the Treks would be better, but I don’t want to tear up the leather – the KSO’s mesh is easily repairable (which it needed!). I can attest to the fact that you are much more stable than in hiking boots, especially on the unstable lavas. On the other hand, your ankles are largely unprotected and ‘fresh’ lava is sharp, so VFFs plus shorts was perhaps not the greatest idea! But even the soles of the KSOs held up fine on terrain which will usually destroy footwear – perhaps because you are lighter on your feet when wearing these.

I’m working on an old lava flow up in the Icelandic highlands, near Mt. Hekla, and getting to it involves fording an icy cold river (and back) every day! Of course my KSOs are on my feet when I’m crossing! Here’s a photo of me post-crossing today (the water I’m covered in is rain – I didn’t fall in!) and taking some GPS readings on the flow yesterday, before switching back to my hiking boots.

I admit, I love my VFFs but they do not resist sharp lava well – hiking boots are still on my feet most of the time at the moment! 🙂 Vibrams: aiding people in doing stupid things in the name of science!

Anyway, there you go. Sadly I leave Iceland soon, but I will be in Japan in August and September so hopefully I can get many more photos of my well-traveled VFFs!