Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Viti
There's an unexpected blob of colour at
Viti
, a deep crater full of pale blue water at
Askja's northern side. A vent here was described by one nineteenth-century traveller as
“a complete Devil's cauldron from which all living things fly; horses quake with mortal
fear and can hardly stand when taken to the brink.” The animals' fears were well-
founded: in 1875, the vent exploded with such colossal force that two cubic kilometres
of rock were vaporized and the debris blown as far away as Denmark. Farmland
between here and the coast at Vopnafjörður was buried under drifts of yellow pumice,
which poisoned the soil and sterilized the region - some two thousand local farmers
emigrated to Canada as a result. It's more docile today; you can scramble down its steep
sides, dotted with sulphur springs, to bathe in the opaque blue-white waters, which can
be a little tepid sometimes but are perfect for a quick dip.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
ASKJA
By bus
Mývatn Tours (
W
askjatours.is) runs return trips to
Askja from Mývatn (3 weekly June 18-July 9 & Aug 21-30;
daily July 10-Aug 20). The tours last 12hr and cost 18,000kr
return. SBA also visit Askja on their Kverkfjöll trip.
By car
Askja sits at the end of the F88 south from Mývatn,
and the F910 east from Nýidalur on the Sprengisandur
route - though note that the F910 should only be driven in
convoy and after seeking local advice.
ACCOMMODATION
Dreki hut
Drekagil
T
853 2541,
W
ffa.is.
On Route F88
at Askja's eastern edge, around 9km from the Öskuvatn by
road,
Dreki
sits at the mouth of a small canyon amongst the
rumpled landscape surrounding Askja. There are two basic
huts with dorm bunks sleeping sixty, plus a campsite,
toilets and showers. Wardens here can advise
on local
l
hiking
routes
to Askja and Herðubreið. Camping
1500kr
;
bunks
5100kr
8
Kverkfjöll
Set amidst a maze of ash hills,
Kverkfjöll
is an active thermal zone right up against the
icy skirt of Vatnajökull's northern edge. Low white clouds hover overhead during the
long hard slog up the dormant volcano, which erupted to devastating effect in the
fifteenth century, and once at the top these are revealed to be steam issuing from deep
fissures in the ice. Nearby
sulphur springs
, hissing like boiling kettles, prevent ice from
forming in their immediate area and the bare yellow earth is in stark contrast to the
surroundings. The outstanding
views
north from the glacier take in the entire expanse
of Ódáðahraun lavafield, the Dyngjufjöll mountains, Herðubreið mountains, and even
the jagged peaks that mark the distant northern coast.
Kverkfjöll ice caves
The Jökulsá á Fjöllum rises at Kverkfjöll from hot springs under Vatnajökull, its heat
forming an
ice cave
before the water flows north to the sea via Jökulsárgljúfur National
Park (see p.261). Some daylight penetrates a few metres into the cave, but visibility
rapidly diminishes in the thick, damp fog that fills it. The walls and roof are sculpted
by constantly dripping water, and the debris embedded in the ice gives a marbled
effect. Be warned, however, that entering ice caves is always
dangerous
, due to the
possibility of cave-ins.
Hvannalindir
Another set of hot springs,
Hvannalindir
, form an oasis halfway between Kverkfjöll and
Askja, where the outlaw Eyvindur fashioned a rough shelter using lava blocks around a
hollow on the edge of the lavafield. He also built a sheep pen with a covered
passageway to the nearby stream, so the animals could drink without being spotted and
