"In Sneffels Joculis craterem quem delibat Umbra Scartaris Julii intra calendas descende, Audax viator, et terrestre centrum attinges. Quod feci, Arne Saknussemm"
or, in plain english
"Descend, bold traveller, into the crater of the jokul of Sneffels, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July, and you will attain the centre of the earth; I have done this, Arne Saknussemm"
This is the beginning of Verne's famous book and a personal favorite of mine since I was like 6. Axel and professor Lidenbrock travel to Iceland to reach the Snaefell. They reach the volcano in late June only to find that is has not one but three craters. Rereading Saknussemm's message they conclude that the passage to the centre of the Earth is through the one crater the shadow of a nearby mountain peak touches at noon. However the text also states that this is only true for the last days of June and for the next days, with July rapidly approaching, the weather is too cloudy for any shadows.
Cloudy would be the word, as this is what I found at the summit of the crater in mid august:
No shadow and no crater (unless you were somehow careless while walking around). The best part was going all the way up with a snowbike, that turned out to be harder to control than expected, but fun, anyway, when you sped up.
The Snaefell is situated on the most western part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjavík over the bay of Faxaflói, at a distance of 120 km. People also think the volcano to be a culminating point of special powers. The area is also believed to be a frequent landing pad for visitors from outer space (which could not be seen in the mist either :P)
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