Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [257]
If you took F88 into Askja, try leaving along F910 so you don’t have to retrace all of your steps. Other options from Askja include heading east towards Egilsstaðir, or west on the Gæsavatnaleið route Click here to Sprengisandur. To reach Kverkfjöll, head east on the F910 for 22km, then south on the F902 to reach the ice caves (Click here).
Öskjuleið is definitely for 4WD vehicles only. Even mountain buses have been known to get bogged in treacherous sinking sands. The route usually opens in early July.
TOURS
There are several operators that run tours out of ReykjahlíÐ (Click here) in the Mývatn region. These tours run between late July and the end of August (naturally when the routes to Askja are open!). Scenic flights from Mývatn over Askja are also possible (Click here). Super-Jeep tours from VarmahlíÐ (Click here) take in the caldera as well. Another possibility is to link up with the tours from the farm at Möðrudalur. Elisabet, the owner and guide, was a park warden in the area for many years and knows more about the region than most tour leaders. Most operators can give day-trippers the opportunity to spend the night at Askja camp, and they can be picked up at the end of the following day trip. Ferðafélag Akureyrar ( 462 2720; www.ffa.is) organises hut-to-hut hiking tours (Ikr49,000 per person) geared towards Icelanders. The route starts from the Þórsteinsskáli hut at Herðubreiðarlindir and follows the Öskjuleið route to Svartárkot in upper Bárðardalur. The route runs via the huts at Bræðrafell, Dreki, Dyngjufell and Botni. The tour takes you over the vast Ódáðahraun lava flow and usually only runs a couple of times in July. With proper planning, this five-day trip may also be done independently.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
There’s no public transport along the Öskjuleið route. Take a tour (see above), or hire a 4WD and prepare for a rocky ride.
There are no petrol stations anywhere on the route. The nearest ones are at Möðrudalur (87km from Askja), Mývatn (100km north of Askja), Hrauneyjar (235km from Askja along the F910 west, then the Sprengisandur route south) and Aðalból (90km from Askja on the F910 east).
Grafarlandaá
This tributary of the Jökulsá á Fjöllum is the first major stream to be forded on the southbound journey to Herðubreið and Askja. It’s reputedly the best-tasting water in Iceland, so fill your bottles here! The banks also make a pleasant picnic spot.
A short walk from the road takes you to a dramatic canyon being formed by Jökulsá á Fjöllum. The stunning set of waterfalls makes it feel like a mini Jökulsárgljúfur in the making.
Herðubreiðarlindir
The oasis Herðubreiðarlindir, a nature reserve thick with green moss, angelica and the pinky-purple flower of the arctic riverbeauty (Epilobium latifolium), was created by springs flowing from beneath the Ódáðahraun lava. You get a superb close-up view of Herðubreið from here (unless, of course, you’re greeted by dense fog and/or a wall of blowing sand, as is usually the case).
The mini-tourist complex has a nature-reserve information office, a campsite (sites per tent Ikr900) and the Ferðafélag Akureyrar 30-bed Þórsteinsskáli hut (N 65°11.544’, W 16°13.360’; sb from Ikr2000; mid-Jun–early Sep), a pretty cushy lodge with showers, a kitchen and a summer warden.
Behind the hut is another Fjalla-Eyvindur ‘convict hole’; this one is scarcely large enough to breathe inside. It was renovated in 1922 on the remains of the original, which had long since collapsed. Eyvindur is believed to have occupied it during the hard winter of 1774–75, when he subsisted on angelica root and raw horse meat stored on top of the hideout to retain heat inside.
Herðubreið
Iceland’s most distinctive mountain (1682m) has been described as a birthday cake, a cooking pot and a lampshade, but Icelanders call it (more respectfully) the ‘Queen of the Mountains’. It crops up time and again in the work of local poets and painters, fascinated