Ring Road Iceland - Höfn

I chose Höfn, a town slightly south of the Ring Road, because I wanted to visit Vatnajökull National Park. What I didn't expect was a thriving community with excellent modern services, a strong fishing and agricultural industry and rapid growth in tourism.

Historically speaking Höfn is a relatively new town unlike the others I've travelled through that can trace back their history for centuries. It has a harbour surrounded by sea on three sides that is usually difficult to navigate due to shifting patterns of shoals. Regular dredging is needed to remove excess sand from the harbour so ships may safely moor.

Across Skarðsfjörður Bay is Stokksness Peninsula and the dramatic Vestrahorn mountain. At the tip of the peninsula is a radar station used by Iceland's Air Defence System to monitor their airspace. Vestrahorn is a 454m (1,489ft) tall scree mountain largely made up of subvolcanic rock. The scree formation is a result of water flowing into rock walls and freezing due to temperature fluctuations. The frozen water then splits and splinters the bedrock which then tumbles to the base of the steep slope accumulating as loose rock.

Between the peninsula and the mountain is a beach with black sand and green tufts of grass sprouting from it. The beach got very dark at night making it a great spot to see the Northern Lights. The black sand is a result of volcanic activity. It is formed by rapid cooling of lava when in contact with the sea. The lava then shatters and breaks down into small particles until it looks like sand. Unlike normal sand that is hardier and more resistant to weathering, black sand continues to break down. A by-product of this breakdown is that shores become deep very quickly making waves behave differently to what we may be typically accustomed to elsewhere. Common advice I hear is to keep a substantial distance of at least 30m (100ft) from the shore in case a rogue wave that is much larger and reaches much further up the shore sneaks up on the unsuspecting visitor.

Finally let me tell you about Vatnajökull, Europe's largest glacier. Covering an area of 8,100 square km (3,127sq mi) in some areas the thickness of the ice cap is anywhere from 400 to 1100m (1,312-3,280ft). Beneath the ice is a landscape of valleys, canyons and gorges. Highly active volcanoes also hide beneath with Grímsvötn being the most active. Its last eruption in 2011, caused multiple earthquakes and an ash cloud rising to 20km (12mi). Vatnajökull has 30 glacier tongues which are huge sections of the glacier falling from the top of the ice cap, down a long slope, at a very slow pace and as it reaches the bottom the glacier tongue starts breaking and forming deep cracks with enormously loud noise eventually ending in a lake or the ocean.



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Ring Road Iceland - Egilsstaðir

Along the second longest river on the island, known as Jökulsá á Fjöllum, are three substantial waterfalls; Selfoss, Dettifoss and Hafragilsfoss in close proximity. This glacial river is 206km (128mi) long and flows into the Greenland Sea. Its source is Vatnajökull, the largest ice cap in Iceland that covers 8% of the country.

The most spectacular of the waterfalls is Dettifoss. Incredibly powerful with its 44m (144ft) drop and 100m (330ft) width it is also deafeningly loud. The waterfall can be seen from both the west and east banks and on a good day a rainbow may be seen from the west bank. Selfoss, much smaller, is only a kilometer away upstream. Although it doesn't have the same volume or power and is only 10m (32ft) tall, Selfoss is much wider than Dettifoss and best seen from the east bank since most of the water flows from the west. Hafragilfoss is downstream of Dettifoss and just as powerful with its single 27m (89ft) drop.

My next stop was the Jökuldalur Valley, known for its forceful glacial river and basalt column canyon. The river used to roar its way from the Highlands, cutting through the valley which for many centuries due to its force and high level made crossing it inaccessible and very dangerous. However, in 2009 the river's source was diverted by a hydroelectric plant and created the Hálslón reservoir. From the reservoir the river flows with the same force for 60km (37mi) in underground tunnels to drive the hydroelectric turbines of the power plant.

What's left of the original river course is now fed from surrounding mountains, creeks and small rivers. No longer a glacial river carrying 120 tonnes of sand, mud and dirt, it is now a clear, blue river flowing to its final destination. The greatly reduced water level has exposed the basalt columns that makes up Stuðlagil Canyon. These hexagonal columns are a result of basaltic lava slowly cooling over time and as the columns shrink in volume they crack creating these symmetrical columnar patterns. The canyon is also home to pink-footed geese during nesting season when they lay their eggs along the gorge. A little further down is Stuðlafoss, a waterfall that cascades down moss-covered basalt columns. The shorter columns at the bottom stack in front of each other resembling an ancient throne.



When you think of Iceland, it probably conjures images of ice caps, glaciers, barren land, volcanoes but not of trees or forests. So it's hard to imagine that once, Iceland was heavily forested when the climate was warmer and the glaciers were smaller. Then the Vikings came and since trees were their main source of building materials for housing and boats and smelting metal, the forests diminished over time. Native trees were mainly birch with some rowan, willow and aspen trees. At the turn of the 20th century reforestation projects and woodland planting schemes commenced and have been ongoing ever since. Near Eggilstaðir is Iceland's largest forest, Hallormstðaskógar, covering 740 hectares. The forest has 40km (24mi) of hiking trails and a tree museum consisting of 70 species of trees. The most delightful part was being able to collect edible mushrooms and pick raspberries and redcurrants. When I ran out of water I was able to refill my bottle directly from the stream as it's clean and drinkable.



See you soon,

Richard



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