Retrospectives: Highlands 2 - Around Kverkfjöll and Hvannalindir

 

The photos here were taken, around Kverkfjöll and Hvannalindir, at the northern edge of the Vatnajökull glacier.

Highland landscape - with cars if you look carefully

An ICV Trail Team doing a bit of highway maintenance

Waymarking a trail with a difference - this one is for 4x4 enthusiasts.  
 (Note - off road driving is forbidden everywhere in Iceland.)

The charming little oasis at Hvannalindir

Arctic river beauty in bloom at Hvannalindir

The ranger's cabin

Angelica by the riverside and the distinctive bulk of Herðubreið on the skyline

Installing information boards at Hvannalindir

Kverkfjöll hut and campsite

An evening stroll from Kverkfjöll camp site 

Retrospectives: Highlands 1 - Kerlingarfjöll

So let's start with something beautiful. Kerlingarfjöll is a geothermal area between the Hofsjökull and Langjökull glaciers. It is accessed via Routes 35 and F347. ('F' routes are mountain roads, unpaved and rugged; only 4x4's are permitted on them.)

The photos in this post were all taken last time I was there, in August 2019.

The toilet facility above the steps into the gorge. It was on a day like this that I first went down those steps in the previous picture. They were slippery with mud and slush - terrifying! Happily they have now been replaced with something safer.

Those steps from a different angle.

Boiling water and steam vents

WhysWhys in Beast of Burden mode at Kerlingarfjöll.

The camp site in August 2019. It's not all as bleak as it looks here - there's a posh hotel, a bunkhouse and a restaurant too.