The aim of my second trip to Central Iceland in August 2018 was sample waters and fumarole gases at the Askja and Kverkfjöll volcanoes. When I saw Askja for the first time, she was covered in snow. But it wasn't cold enough to freeze the boiling-point fumaroles. At Kverkfjöll, we took the long drive to the Eastern side of the mountain massif to find Hveragil, a warm river in a deep and narrow canyon. It gets warmer and warmer as you wade upstream and you are filled with a desire to find the place where it gushes out of the mountain. But we were blocked by a waterfall. Returning the next day, another route led us to higher ground. Getting warmer, so warm that wading became impossible. But then, as another steaming waterfall stopped us, we accepted defeat. The mountain was not ready to share its secrets. Next morning, a highland storm was on arrival. It was no time to follow our plan to hike across the Kverkjökull glacier to the high altitude geothermal area that Kverkfjöll is famous for. This would have to wait for next summer.