Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [112]
Much better than slithering in normal shoes, you can strap on crampons and go for a proper walk up Sólheimajökull with the Icelandic Mountain Guides (Reykjavík office 587 9999, seasonal Skógar office Jun-Aug 894 2956; www.mountainguide.is). Their Blue Ice Adventure (adult/8-15yr Ikr5500/3900, 1½ hours, five trips per day between 9am and 4.30pm; minimum age eight) or longer Sólheimajökull Exploration (Ikr8200 per person, 3½ hours, 11.30am; minimum age 10) leave from the car park between June and August (less frequently late May and early September). It’s best to book ahead. The guides also do trips on Svínafellsjökull at Skaftafell – Click here.
Mýrdalsjökull
The gorgeous glacier Mýrdalsjökull is Iceland’s fourth-largest ice cap, covering 700 sq km and reaching a thickness of almost 750m in places. The volcano Katla snoozes beneath, periodically blasting up through the ice to drown the coastal plain in a deluge of meltwater, sand and tephra.
ACTIVITIES
With the right equipment, hikes are possible on the main ice cap and on the fingerlike projection Sólheimajökull, close to Skógar (see left). You can also walk to the ice cap from the lovely Þakgil campsite Click here.
For 4WD, snowmobile and dog-sled tours, turn off the Ring Road and head 10km up Rte 222 to the mountain hut Sólheimaskli. Here you’ll find Arcanum ( 487 1500; www.snow.is), which can take you bouncing over the glacier on one-hour snowmobiling trips (€170/230 with one person/two people aboard), or on a super-Jeep tour over the ice. If you don’t have a vehicle, it can pick you up from Vík (€200), Skógar (€110) or just off Rte 1 (€65).
Although they have similar frostproof ears and thick furry coats, the dogs that pull the sleds at Dogsledding.is ( 487 7747, 863 8864; www.dogsledding.is; adult/under 12yr Ikr14,900/7500) are Greenland dogs, not huskies! At times when the glacier isn’t safe, the one-hour dog-sled rides take place on the black-sand beach 9km east of Skógar. Bookings necessary.
TOURS
Various tour companies (Click here) offer trips from Reykjavík to Mýrdalsjökull.
Dyrhólaey
One of the south coast’s most recognisable natural formations is the rocky plateau and huge stone sea arch at Dyrhólaey (10km west of Vík), which rises dramatically from the surrounding plain. The promontory is a nature reserve and is particularly rich in bird life, including puffins; however, it’s closed to visitors during the nesting season. At other times you can visit its crashing black beaches and get the most awesome views from the top of the archway (best seen in its entirety from Reynisfjara – see opposite).
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KATLA ERUPTION
Of all the volcanoes in Iceland, it will probably be Katla that causes the most trouble to Icelanders over the next few years. This highly active 30km-long volcano, buried deep under the Mýrdalsjökull glacier, has erupted roughly twice per century in the past. Since the last eruption was in 1918, it’s now several decades overdue.
It’s expected that when Katla does blow, days of poisonous ashfall, tephra clouds and lightning strikes will follow the initial explosion, with flash floods due to the sudden melting of glacial ice. The geological record shows that past eruptions have created tidal waves, which have boomeranged off the Vestmannaeyjar and deluged the area where the town of Vík stands today.
Local residents receive regular evacuation training for the day when Katla erupts. After receiving mobile phone alerts, farmers must hang a notice on their front doors to show that they have evacuated, before unplugging their electric fences, opening cattle sheds so that their animals can flee to higher ground, and heading for one of the evacuation centres in Hella, Hvolsvöllur or Skógar.
The national TV station RÚV has a webcam close to Vík, set up to film the floods when Katla erupts (www.ruv.is/katla).