“Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ll look to your left as we descend into Reykjavik, you will see the erupting Fagradalsfjall,” announced our pilot as we approached the isolated rocky outcropping in the North Atlantic known as Iceland.

Naturally, because of the airport’s close proximity to the rapidly-developing volcanic eruption, there was little choice other than to book a rental car and head straight to the trailhead… except, there wasn’t one. In fact, what awaited us on the westernmost coast of the island was an unmarked pull-out on the side of the road that looked to be the start of the trail. Our suspicions were confirmed by other seemingly confused hikers meandering up a gravel path.

Before embarking on our journey — about which we knew nothing — a park ranger interrogated us to make sure we had enough water to make it: at least two liters per person. “Yes,” we assured her. “We have more than plenty.” In reality, we had half of a singular water bottle to split between three people. But there was no time for specifics, and soon we were off.

The trek began innocently enough, with a steady trot along a relatively flat gravel path. As we walked, the otherworldly views of a bleak Martian landscape of enormous rocks and vast vistas were stunning. Slowly, the hike transformed into a green, mossy incline with (once again) no marked trail but the promising view of a steady pillar of smoke pouring into the brisk summer air. At this point, an Apple Watch estimate that we had put about five miles behind us already began to convey the impending doom of having to walk back to the car. Still, not having reached the volcano we had our sights set on continuing.

This part of the hike proved challenging to my knees, as I found myself slowing down to avoid stepping wrong and ending my evening in a helicopter. Finally, the smoke cleared (figuratively) and the smoke thickened (literally). Mere feet from a billowing volcano, we were able to watch the mesmerizing, oozing lava and listen to the sounds of earth-moving seismic activity. Iceland is located between two seismic plates, and thus this sort of natural phenomenon is relatively quite common — the island’s landscape just makes it all the more magical.

To cap off our adventure under the midnight sun — it was during the early hours of the morning that we finished the hike — we winded through the curves and bends of Iceland’s mountain roads under streaks of orange and yellow hues.