Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hekla
Believed to be the literal entrance to hell in medieval times - a fact that left the
mountain unclimbed until daring students Eggert Olafsson and Bjarni Palsson
scrambled up in 1750 -
Hekla
is Iceland's second most active volcano, with at least
eighteen eruptions known to have occurred in the last thousand years. Oriented
northeast, the mountain forms a 40km snow-covered oval ridge cresting at around
1500m; it should be visible for miles around, but a heavy smudge of cloud usually
obscures the peak and gives Hekla (Hooded) its name.
Hekla's
earliest recorded eruption
was the one that buried Stöng in 1104. The
mountain tends to fire up with little warning, spraying out clouds of fluorine-rich
tephra
, which blankets the landscape, poisons groundwater, and kills fish and livestock.
Lava follows the ash, welling up along a fissure that splits Hekla's crest lengthways for
5km; during the notorious 1768 eruption - before which the mountain had been
dormant for seventy years - flows covered over 65 square kilometres. Eruptions subside
equally quickly, followed by months of grumbling - the anguished voices of tormented
souls, according to legend.
Hekla has erupted regularly since 1970, the
most recent eruption
occurring on the
evening of February 26, 2000. It wasn't much by the mountain's standards but
triggered the largest emergency operation in Icelandic history, when over a thousand
rubbernecks from Reykjavík needed rescuing after a sudden snowfall trapped them on
Hekla's slopes. Fortunately, the lava went the other way.
2
Leirubakki and the Hekla Centre
May-Sept daily 10am-10pm • 1000kr
About 30km east of Selfoss along the Ringroad, you reach the lonely Vegamót fuel station,
marking where Route 26 points northeast towards Hekla, whose unmistakable snow-
capped dome is a beautiful sight on rare cloudless days. A further 30km up Route 26,
through a landscape of lush horse pasture giving way to rubble, buses pull in on the
mountain's western foothills at
Leirubakki
farmstay, where the
Hekla Centre
offers a history
of the mountain from folklore to science, with some spectacular videos of past eruptions.
Þjófafoss
Past Leirubakki, Route 26 continues through a wilderness between the Þjórsá river and
Hekla's western slopes, the ground covered in tiny pieces of lightweight yellow
pumice
that are collected hereabouts for export. After about 5km there's a road towards the
mountain itself and Næfurholt farm, one of the area's few functioning survivors
- though it had to be moved after one eruption - then a roadside ridge blocks in
Hekla's foothills while the Búrfell mesa springs up ahead of you. Wheel ruts and guide
posts heading off-road towards Búrfell at this point can be followed for 4km to
Þjófafoss
, where the river bends right under Búrfell's southern tip in a wide, low
waterfall, a friendly splash of colour among the monochrome landscape.
Tröllkonuhlaup
Route 26 runs right past
Tröllkonuhlaup
, the Troll Woman's Leap, a waterfall named
after one of these unpleasant creatures crossed the river in a single bound while chasing
HIKING HEKLA
At the time of writing
Hekla
was closed to hikers because of a worries over potential eruption.
Usually, the return
hike
to the top takes around eight hours, involving rough gravel terrain
with snow higher up; you need to contact Ferðafélag Íslands, the Icelandic Hiking Association
(
W
fi.is) for advice about current routes and conditions. Alternatively, Arctic Adventures
(
W
adventures.is) lead day-hikes to the summit.
FROM TOP
BLUE LAGOON
P.93
; LAVA CLIFFS NEAR LANDMANNALAUGAR
P.116
>
