dr_wu002
Well-known member
Day 4 in Iceland was a driving day -- and we covered a lot of ground, from the South fjörds all the way North (Northeast Iceland is the only place we didn't (regretably) go) to a town called Reykjahlið.
As you approach by car, the landscape starts to get barren, unfriendly and even ill-looking. Lava fields begin dominate in almost every direction and there are craters and steam vents right on the side of the road which is mostly a black dirt and rock road that blends right into the surrounding moonscape. Even the fauna looks sickly and there is a thick sulfury smell to the air which folks, ain't a synonym to flowery.
It is however, a beautiful and remarkable place. A large and very shallow lake filled with craters is called Mývatn and is the main feature in this area. We camped right on the lake and took a walk around the next morning before scooting out of the area as we didn't want to disturb the mating birds. There are several volcanoes in the area, the most famous is called Krafla and it is still active, I believe. There are numerous craters and the largest is called Hverfjall.
Hverfjall
At about 400m, Hverfjall is an easy little hike. You drive in on a nasty, broken up black, dusty, rocky dirt road to a large parking area. Along the way you pass stunted, gnarled little trees that look like something you'd expect to find in some mythological "witch country. The climb to the top of Hverfjall from there is an easy 20 or 30 minute steep almost-scramble to the top. You can walk partly around the rim of the crater and the views are spectacular -- looking out to Lake Mývatn, numerous small craters and the rest of the barren landscape. Inside the crater is a curious feature -- a large hill with the most unusual graffiti on it. People actually wrote their names and whatnot using scree!
Graffiti:
View to Small Crater (look at steam vents too):
View to Hlíðarfjall which we would climb the next day
Lava Fields
I've already talked in some detail about these. Day 5 began with a short hike through one of these lava fields to the shores of Lake Mývatn:
Hlíðarfjall
The small but prominent (771m) almost Carrigan looking peak we saw from Hverfjall is called Hlíðarfjall (the ð is pronounced "th") and we would hike this on Day 5. It's about a 4km walk through sheep farms (well, there's sheep everywhere but I can't see the farms) on a well marked and fairly eroded tractor road to the base of the mountain. Then, the hike to the top is a steep scramble up loose scree which never feels quite safe but we didn't have a trouble with it. The views are amazing but I would more describe it as a morbid beauty... The surrounding landscape looks sickly and depressing, almost like it's in a constant state of dying. It's easy to marvel immensely at its intensity and wonder but after a while you start to feel like you've been staring at someone on their deathbed for hours and it starts to wear you down. Here's a picture of Hlíðarfjall as we were approaching:
The rest of the pictures are here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/380191000Mvijsh
I hope you click on them and enjoy!
-Dr. Wu
As you approach by car, the landscape starts to get barren, unfriendly and even ill-looking. Lava fields begin dominate in almost every direction and there are craters and steam vents right on the side of the road which is mostly a black dirt and rock road that blends right into the surrounding moonscape. Even the fauna looks sickly and there is a thick sulfury smell to the air which folks, ain't a synonym to flowery.
It is however, a beautiful and remarkable place. A large and very shallow lake filled with craters is called Mývatn and is the main feature in this area. We camped right on the lake and took a walk around the next morning before scooting out of the area as we didn't want to disturb the mating birds. There are several volcanoes in the area, the most famous is called Krafla and it is still active, I believe. There are numerous craters and the largest is called Hverfjall.
Hverfjall
At about 400m, Hverfjall is an easy little hike. You drive in on a nasty, broken up black, dusty, rocky dirt road to a large parking area. Along the way you pass stunted, gnarled little trees that look like something you'd expect to find in some mythological "witch country. The climb to the top of Hverfjall from there is an easy 20 or 30 minute steep almost-scramble to the top. You can walk partly around the rim of the crater and the views are spectacular -- looking out to Lake Mývatn, numerous small craters and the rest of the barren landscape. Inside the crater is a curious feature -- a large hill with the most unusual graffiti on it. People actually wrote their names and whatnot using scree!
Graffiti:
View to Small Crater (look at steam vents too):
View to Hlíðarfjall which we would climb the next day
Lava Fields
I've already talked in some detail about these. Day 5 began with a short hike through one of these lava fields to the shores of Lake Mývatn:
Hlíðarfjall
The small but prominent (771m) almost Carrigan looking peak we saw from Hverfjall is called Hlíðarfjall (the ð is pronounced "th") and we would hike this on Day 5. It's about a 4km walk through sheep farms (well, there's sheep everywhere but I can't see the farms) on a well marked and fairly eroded tractor road to the base of the mountain. Then, the hike to the top is a steep scramble up loose scree which never feels quite safe but we didn't have a trouble with it. The views are amazing but I would more describe it as a morbid beauty... The surrounding landscape looks sickly and depressing, almost like it's in a constant state of dying. It's easy to marvel immensely at its intensity and wonder but after a while you start to feel like you've been staring at someone on their deathbed for hours and it starts to wear you down. Here's a picture of Hlíðarfjall as we were approaching:
The rest of the pictures are here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/380191000Mvijsh
I hope you click on them and enjoy!
-Dr. Wu
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