July 30

Egilsstadir-Hrossaborg-Dettifoss-Asbyrgi-Hljodaklettar-Dettifoss-Selfoss-Namaskard-Myvatn

tracklog: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1222550
pictures: http://www.panoramio.com/user/4350353/tags/day5
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLYiv09z_Sc
After leaving Egilsstadir and driving for a further 140 or so kilometers and seeing the impressive Herdubreid mountain from the road we arrived to Hrossaborg, this is where F88 road starts towards Askja. Just seeing the road sign and another one saying that the next gas station is 268km away made my heart beat faster. Then in the evening I checked the weather and it said that in Askja it is 2C and raining/snowing…

How far till Askja?

On this day we basically drove along Jokulsa a Fjollum river, up north on the east side and south on the west side. Dettifoss is said to be the most powerful waterfall in Europe and indeed it makes a lot of noise as huge amounts of water drop down almost 50m. You can walk down straight to the side of the waterfall, really nice.

Dettifoss

Next we drove into Asbyrgi canyon which has a U shape with rocks of 100m height around. The climate and the lake at the end of the “U” is really unique and so is the flora and fauna. Going south on F862 the weather changed unfortunately to 12C and rain, the beautiful rock formations of Hljodaklettar would have been even more amazing in sunny conditions nonetheless we were making a short hike. It stopped raining just as we got back to the car. Based on what I read I thought this place would be a bit different, less people, no signs showing towards the sights, worse hiking paths.

At Hljodaklettar

Hljodaklettar basalt stones

We once again made a stop at Dettifoss, this time on the west side, with a different view and made a short walk to Selfoss as well. It was 6pm when we got close to Myvatn lake when once again the sun came out, lighting Namaskard geothermal area, making it look really amazing with the colorful hills and smoking ground with dark clouds all around. The smell was however not so nice. Our accommodation was right at Lake Myvatn in a very basic 4 person woodhouse. We “went out” eating, this was the first proper meal for us since a long time.

Namaskard

High tourist season :)

video:

July 31

Myvatn-Leirhnjukur-Viti-Grotagja-Hverfjall-Dimmuborgir-Höfdi-Godafoss

tracklog: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1222555
pictures: http://www.panoramio.com/user/4350353/tags/day6
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx2t20ntuBM

This morning we didn’t have to pack our stuff as we spent the day around Myvatn. First there was Leirhnjukur with its very recent lava fields dating from a 1984 eruption of Krafla volcano. We were walking among colorful mountains, smoking black lava stones and bubbling earth. Viti crater lake was not as impressive as I hoped it would be, because of the grey weather I suppose.



Leirhnjukur

Grotagja is a warm water cave lake with a rift next to it, pure geology. Just like Viti, Hverfjall was not “at its best” in the cloudy weather, black on grey is not too spectacular nonetheless we climbed to the edge of the crater for a nice look. Again, Dimmuborgir with its black lava stones from 2000 years ago would have been better to visit in sunnier conditions.

Hverfjall

We drove around Myvatn counter clockwise, stopped at Höfdi overview the whole lake. It was only 3pm so we decided to drive to Godafoss as well for a final small disappointment because of the grey weather. The waterfall itself is of course majestic but smaller than I imagined.

Godafoss

video:

August 1

Myvatn-Akureyri-Hvitserkur-Hraunfossar-Fitjar

tracklog: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1222566
pictures: http://www.panoramio.com/user/4350353/tags/day7
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx2t20ntuBM

Today was all about driving as we had to get from Myvatn in the northeast all the way to just before Reykjavik. We were travelling along bleak mountains in relatively good weather. We passed by Akureyri, the second largest city in Iceland but all I remember is seeing the first traffic lamp in six days. It was already past noon when we reached Hvitserkur, an interesting rock formation by the sea. We climbed down to the sea for a better view.

Hvitserkur

After a couple more hours of driving, for some kilometers on a really rough road we arrived at Hraunfossar, a waterfall completely different than all the others we have seen before as the water flows down from a lava field in several streams around 100m wide and not in a single large one. The water had an unusual light blue color. Now we only had 150km left and a tunnel aunder the sea to cross to get to our final accommodation.

Hraunfossar

video: