EYJAFJALLAJOKULL- FIRST SHOT OF THE ICELAND ERUPTION?

This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first photograph taken of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull when it erupted last year. It was taken about 10 minutes after the volcano first erupted, and the power of the released energy reflected in the clouds above the crater is clear.

I had been photographing the Aurora at the hotel Ranga for most of the evening, and the cold had finally forced me to retreat to the warmth of my room. As I turned to go indoors, I became aware of a red glow on the horizon. The eruption had been in the offing for some time- I had been watching the seismographs for the area with interest- but I hadn't expected it to blow on my last evening in Iceland. 'In the offing' geologically speaking can mean many, many years.

I went to the hotel reception, and told them what I was seeing, and they got very excited and phoned the news through to the authorities. Within minutes, we heard police sirens (I'm guessing that they knew about the situation already, probably warned by the villagers) and the road towards the volcano was swiftly closed down. Soon afterwards, we heard the reports coming through on the national radio.

Though it's not technically a great photograph, it does capture the feeling of the moment, and it's certainly the earliest shot that I've seen published of the eruption.

I can't help looking at it with a sense of relief, as long suffering Dilly and I had been walking on the adjacent glacier that very afternoon, joking about what would happen if the volcano blew while we were practically stomping around on top of it!

As we all know, the volcano went on to create havoc with air traffic in the northern hemisphere for weeks afterwards. But having finished our all too brief stay in Iceland, long suffering Dilly and I escaped the following morning on the last plane before the airport was shut down.

Just lucky, I suppose. But spookily, our walk up the glacier had been to drop a rose for Dilly's late and much missed mother, Wendy, and Dilly had asked her for a sign that all was well. That night, the volcano erupted for the first time in 2 centuries.

I'll let you make up your own mind about that one. But if that was Wendy being reassuring, I'd hate to see her pissed off.

MAMMOTH SPRINGS

Yellowstone Park, USA. Some of the most gorgeous scenery I've ever seen. And some of the weirdest, as befits a national park sitting smack on top of a supervolcano. A supervolcano, for the benefit of the Brits, is one that's very big and not, as the name implies, one that's really rather smashing.

Volcanoes are measured by the amount of stuff they blast out (ejecta). And like the Richter scale, this is measured on a single-figure scale, known as the VEI (volcanic explosivity index).

Yellowstone's last eruption, 640,000 years ago, had a VEI of 8, which means it spewed about 1000 cubic kilometers of ejecta. By comparison, Krakatoa in 1883 was VEI 6, or about 25 cubic kilometers. A supervolcano eruption is a world changing event, which could trigger a mini ice age and possible species extinction. The species in question being, well, us. Or at the very least the good folks of the United States.

Since that would leave us without cheeseburgers and Bruce Springsteen, this puts a Yellowstone eruption firmly inside my definition of a cataclysmic event. And the worrying thing is that in volcanic terms, it's overdue. It could happen at literally any moment within the next 150,000 years or so. Scary stuff, eh?

So, Mammoth Springs is one of the many places in Yellowstone where the earth leaks hot minerals and suchlike. These cool and crystalise, forming extraordinary shapes and patterns. The colours are due to the minerals and the algae and bacteria that live happily in the rich deposits.

I was there in midwinter, and the steam and sulphur dioxide rising off the cooling mineral salts produced an eerie steam and a heinous smell. At least, I think it was the mineral salts.

Yellowstone is great, but Mammoth Springs is like visiting another planet. It has to be seen to be believed.

Oh, and eat cheeseburgers while you can. Lots of them. Because you never know what the next 150,000 years might bring.

NORTHERN LIGHTS

The Northern Lights are one of my favourite subjects, but their appearing from night to night is unpredictable. These were taken in Iceland at the Hotel Ranga, an excellent spot for viewing them thanks to a microclimate that tends to keep some of the notorious Icelandic cloud at bay. But not all. If you're going to give it a try, the best time is October to March (when it's dark most of the time). They can appear at any time, but between 10pm and 3am seems to be favourite. The night needs to be cold and clear. I've found that you get a sighting about 1 night out of every 4, so you're best to stay for longer than a weekend to stand a good chance of seeing them. However, that's not exactly a proven statistic. You might find that they appear for 3 nights in a row, and then do nothing for a fortnight. It's a bit of a lottery. But worth it. They are profoundly jaw dropping. The Aurora peaks and troughs in a roughly 11 year cycle. So it should become more impressive over the next year, and reach its peak in 2012.

The Hotel Ranga is a homely sort of place managed by Bjorn, an Iceland Aurora expert, who goes by the alter ego of Borealis Bob. I love staying there. You can sit in an outdoor hot tub with snow all round you and watch the lights. And it's only a few kilometres from the volcano. When it's erupting, the hotel runs helicopter flights over the crater. Nice.

ARENAL- LIKE A REAL VOLCANO SHOULD BE...

Arenal volcano in Costa Rica is the most user friendly in the world. For starters it erupts every 15 minutes or so, and has done for years. So you know it's going to perform for you. It erupts rather well- not particularly threatening, but satisfyingly pyrotechnic. Like a Kiss concert. 

But the best thing about Arenal is that it looks like a proper volcano. The kind that a child would draw. Big triangular mountain with the top sliced off? Check. Fiery bright orange glow emanating from within? Absolutely. Belching long plume of smoke? Yes indeed. River of bright red superheated lava trickling improbably down the side? No problemo.. 

It's absolutely, utterly, exactly what you expected. Which is just what you want from a devastating force of nature.