Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
up into a grey-brown gravel
desert
, fringed by the surreally green hills and
Mýrdalsjökull's ice cap, as you follow a four-wheel-drive track southwest. Part-way
across the desert, there's another bridge over the
Innri-Emstruá
, where this chocolate-
brown glacial river hammers over a short waterfall with such force that it sends
geyser-like spurts skywards. Then it's back across the gravel, up and over various
hillocks, until you find yourself descending bleak slopes to the
hut
at
Botnar-Emstrur
,
whose campground is in a small, surprisingly lush gully. Otherwise, the immediate
scenery appears barren, though there's a short walk west to
Markarfljótsgljúfur
, a
narrow, 180m-deep gorge on the Markarfljót, and superlative views of
Entujökull
, the
nearest of Mýrdalsjökull's glaciers, from clifftops around 3km southeast of the hut.
2
Botnar-Emstrur to Þórsmörk
The final 15km southwest to Þórsmörk is perhaps the least interesting section of the
journey, though there's initially another good view of the glacier, just before the path
crosses the Emstruá over a narrow bridge. This is followed by a climb onto a gravelly
heath, with the Markafljót flowing through a series of deep canyons to the west - easy
enough to investigate, though out of sight of the path. As you follow the ever-widening
valley, you'll start to encounter a few shrubs before crossing a further bridge over the
Ljósá
and descending to the gravel beds of the
Þröngá
, the deepest river you have to
ford on the trail - don't attempt it if it's more than thigh deep. Once across you
immediately enter birch and juniper
woodland
marking Þórsmörk's boundary at
Hamraskógar
: shady, carpeted in thick grass, and with colourful flowers everywhere.
From here, it's a final 2km into Þórsmörk to the huts (see p.125) at either Húsadalur
or Skagfjörðsskáli.
Njál's Saga country
Heading southeast from the Þjórsá on the Ringroad, the first thing you'll notice are
disproportionate numbers of four-wheel-drives towing boxes, and a wide, rolling
expanse of pasture, positively reeking of
horse
. This is one of Iceland's premier horse-
breeding areas, with Oddhóll, the country's biggest stud farm, near the small town of
Hella
. The countryside between here and the distant slopes of
Eyjafjallajökull
to the east
comprises the plains of the two-pronged
Rangá
river system, famed for its salmon
and
the setting for much of the action of Iceland's great medieval epic,
Njál's Saga
.
With the highway towns of Hella or
Hvolsvöllur
as a base, getting out to a handful of
the saga sites is straightforward enough in your own vehicle, even if you do find more
in the way of associations rather than concrete remains when you arrive. A more
obvious draw is
Þórsmörk
, a beautifully rugged highland valley only accessible by
four-wheel-drive or hiking trails from Landmannalaugar and Skógar; you're also within
striking distance of the
ferry to Heimaey
in the Westman Islands. Ringroad
buses
pass
through Hella and Hvolsvöllur year-round, as do additional summer services to
Þórsmörk and Landmannalaugar.
Hella
A service centre of six hundred inhabitants where the highway crosses the narrow flow
of the
Ytri-Rangá
(also known as the Hólsá),
HELLA
grew through the twentieth century
to serve
Rangárvallahreppur
, the fertile farming district beyond Hekla's southwestern
extremities - most of Iceland's potatoes are grown here, and as the climate warms,
formerly unknown cash crops such as rapeseed are being experimented with. Other
than hosting the annual Landsmót
National
Horse Show
in late June, Hella is really
only of interest as somewhere to pause before heading on, either to historic sites nearby,
or Hekla, clearly visible 50km to the northeast.
