Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [235]
Day 3: Álftavatn to Emstrur (16km, six to seven hours)
Hvanngil Take a well-earned rest in this pleasant green oasis.
Markarfljótsgljúfor (side trip) About 2km southwest of the Emstrur huts, this gaping green canyon will take your breath away.
Fording ice-cold streams Well, maybe not so much a highlight; more a memorable experience.
Day 4: Emstrur to Þórsmörk (15km, six to seven hours)
Ljósá The view from a footbridge down to the ‘River of Light’, as it squeezes through a 2m-wide fissure, is mesmerising.
Þórsmörk After barren mountains, it’s a delight to walk among the twisting birch trees of this grassy green woodland.
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ELDGJÁ
Eldgjá (Fire Gorge) is a volcanic rift stretching 40km from Mýrdalsjökull to the peak Gjátindur. At its northeastern end Eldgjá is 200m deep and 600m across, with odd, reddish walls that recall the fire after which it’s named. Although it’s not as outwardly spectacular as you may expect, Eldgjá is quite intriguing and the name alone conjures up images of a malevolently mysterious and powerful place.
In the green and fertile Hánípufit area, 8km south of the Eldgjá turn-off, the river Skaftá widens into an entanglement of cascades and waterfalls measuring 500m across in places. It’s unusual and quite beautiful.
At Lambaskarðshólar, west of the F208 road near Syðrifærá, 5km south of the Eldgjá turn-off, there’s room for 69 people in the mountain-hut accommodation at Hólaskjól ( 865 7432, 855 5812; sites per person Ikr800, sb Ikr2700), which also offers hot showers and a campsite. It’s a great place to hole up for a couple of days.
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SOUTHERN VATNAJÖKULL
Vatnajökull is earth’s largest ice cap outside the poles. At 8300 sq km, it’s three times the size of Luxembourg, reaches a thickness of almost 1km, and, if you could find a pair of scales big enough, you’d discover it weighed an awesome 3000 billion tonnes! This mighty mass of ice holds Iceland’s highest and lowest points – the 2119m mountain Hvannadalshnúkur, and a nameless trough underneath the ice cap, 300m below sea level.
Huge glaciers, pleated with crevasses, flow down from the centre of Vatnajökull. The best known is probably Skaftafellsjökull, a relatively small glacier that ends within 1.5km of the campsite at Skaftafell. Another famous beauty is Breiðamerkurjökull, which crumbles into icebergs at the breathtaking Jökulsárlón lagoon.
The drive from Kirkjubæjarklaustur to Höfn is truly mind-blowing. Rte 1 takes you across vast deltas of grey glacial sand, past lost-looking farms, around the toes of craggy mountains, and by glacier tongues and ice-filled lagoons. The only thing you won’t pass is a town.
In June 2008, Vatnajökoll National Park (www.vatnajokulsthjodgardur.is) was founded, joining the ice cap and the former Skaftafell and Jökulsárgljúfur National Parks to form one 12,000 sq km megapark – 11% of the entire country. In practice, not much has changed on the ground (although four new visitor centres at Skríðuklaustur, Höfn, Mývatn and Kirkjubæjarklaustur are being built over the next few years). The park’s creation is predominantly a political move to draw attention to the alarming speed at which the ice is melting.
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KIRKJUBÆJARKLAUSTUR
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Many a foreign tongue has been tied in knots by trying to say Kirkjubæjarklaustur. It might help if you break it into bits: Kirkju (church), bæjar (farm) and klaustur (convent). Otherwise, do as the locals do and call it ‘Klaustur’ (pronounced more or less like ‘cloister’).
Klaustur is tiny, even by Icelandic standards – a few houses and farms scattered on a backdrop of brilliant green. It’s a major crossroads to several dramatic spots in the interior – Fjallabak, Landmannalaugar and Laki. Klaustur is also the only real service town between Vík and Höfn: there’s a petrol station and a good cafe.
History
According to the Landnámabók, this tranquil village situated between the cliffs and the river Skaftá was first settled