The Highlands - Iceland - page 699

There's no public transport along the Öskjuleið, but there are plentiful tours . Alternatively,
hire a large 4WD and prepare for a rocky ride (seek advice on fording rivers). The route
usually opens in mid- to late June.
If you take F88 into Askja, it's a good idea to leave along F910 so you don't have to re-
trace all of your steps. Other options from Askja include heading east towards Egilsstaðir,
or west on the Gæsavatnaleið route (F910) to Sprengisandur (ask locally for advice on
conditions). To reach Kverkfjöll ice caves, head east on F910, then south on F902.
There are no petrol stations anywhere on the route. The nearest ones are at Möðrudalur
(90km from Askja) and Mývatn (130km north of Askja).
Kverkfjöll Route
As its name suggests, this 108km-long route creeps southwards to the Kverkfjöll ice caves.
It connects Möðrudalur (70km east of Mývatn, off the Ring Road) with the Sigurðarskáli
hut, 3km from the lower caves, via the F905, F910 and F902. After visiting Askja, you can
follow up with a trip to Kverkfjöll by driving south along the F902.
Along the way are several sites of interest, including the twin pyramid-shaped Upptyp-
pingar hills near the Jökulsá á Fjöllum bridge, and the Hvannalindir oasis where there is
yet another of good ol' Fjalla-Eyvindur's winter hideouts. Hvannalindir lies about 20km
north of the Sigurðarskáli hut.
Kverkfjöll is actually a mountain spur capped by the ice of Kverkjökull, a northern
tongue of Vatnajökull. Over time, it's also come to refer to the hot-spring-filled ice caves
that often form beneath the eastern margin of the Dyngjujökull ice.
Besides being the source of the roiling Jökulsá á Fjöllum, central Iceland's greatest
river, Kverkfjöll is also one of the world's largest geothermal areas. The lower Kverkfjöll
ice caves lie 3km from the Sigurðarskáli hut; they're about a 15-minute walk from the
4WD track's end.
Here the hot river flows beneath the cold glacier ice, clouds of steam swirl over the river
and melt shimmering patterns on the ice walls, and there you have it - a spectacular tourist
attraction. Perhaps this was the source of the overworked fire-and-ice cliché that pervades
almost everything ever written about Iceland.
Large blocks of ice frequently crash down from the roof - don't enter the ice caves or
you risk being caught in their heated combat. Also, the giant blocks of ice can alter the en-