Day 8: EGILSSTAÐIR - MÝVATN - ASKJA EXCURSION - LAUGAR
Today we start the day early rising more than usual is this trip to Iceland for free. It is 5.15 in the morning when we leave our accommodation in Egilsstaðir, the Lyngás Guesthouse, where we stayed yesterday at our entrance in the East Fjords of Iceland and we go to Lake Mývatn where we have stayed at 7:45 in the morning in the Tourist Office with Saga Travel, the agency with which we will make the Excursion to Askja.
From the moment we take the rental car in Iceland it is already completely daytime and that makes the 2-hour drive from Egilsstaðir to Lake Mývatn It becomes much more bearable, with impressive landscapes, especially during the last 60 kilometers in which we travel through a desert landscape, passing through the entire area of Mývatn fumaroles, where we will come tomorrow to tour the area with much calmer.
Approaching the Mývatn area
We arrived at our meeting point at 7.15 in the morning and the first thing we do is go to have a coffee at the N1 gas station that we have right in front and surprise: there is only one dispenser and the supermarket opens at 9 in the morning, so It's our turn to have breakfast in the car without coffee.
Let's see if we are lucky and we can have one at the visitor center that opens at 7.30 in the morning.
Parking of the Tourist Office of Lake Mývatn
But we are not lucky either, when they open we enter and they tell us that they have a cafeteria service, so we can only hope that we make some intermediate stop at the Askja excursion to be able to charge that energy that the morning coffee gives us.
At 7.45 in the morning and among many more companies that meet at this point to start their tours, timely, our Super Jeep 4 × 4 of Saga Travel with which we will make our excursion to Askja and Viti for 12 hours. Today we will reach one of the most remote and incredible places in Iceland.
After the presentations and a brief explanation of the Askja excursion, at 8 o'clock we get going, Askja is waiting for us.
On the way our guide explains that since yesterday there have been more than 400 earthquakes, last night being the strongest with 3.8 degrees.
On the road on the way to Askja we continue to cross with many sheep, as we have been doing since we arrived in Iceland and they explain that in summer they leave them loose and tell us a curiosity that we did not know and that is that the sheep always go in groups of 3, the mother and 2 pups.
Before entering the F910 road, a gray sky with a rain that seems not to want to stop surprises us on a day we hoped it would be sunny.
After 10 minutes traveling along this unpaved road, we arrive at a small camping area with a cafeteria where we make a stop and take advantage of two animals to go for a couple of well-loaded coffees for 800 ISK that feel phenomenal and even They burn our stomach from how hot they are.
Technical stop for coffee on the way to Askja
In 10 minutes we return to the route without rain, this demonstrates the Icelandic saying that if you don't like time wait 10 minutes, willing to get to Askja and enjoy one of the Iceland's most spectacular enclaves.
Today there will be some stops, initially included in the Askja excursion, which we may not be able to do because we had to take another entrance road since the usual one is closed due to the risk of Bárdarbunga volcano eruption in Iceland.
After about 20 minutes on the way we pass in front of one of Iceland's best known peaks, the Herðubreið, also known as the Queen of Iceland or The queen.
The queen is a moberg (flat-topped mountain) with spectacular symmetry and incredible beauty of a subglacial volcanic origin.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Iceland
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Iceland
- 50 things to see and do in Iceland
And suddenly we see a rainbow over The queen and it only gives us time to take a picture from the 4 × 4 and as soon as we go down to take pictures with the camera we see that it has disappeared and the Queen of Iceland has been completely covered by clouds. In a matter of 1 minute short. That's how brief things are.
Rainbow over Herðubreið
This is one of the feelings we get from Iceland. Things are brief and you have to enjoy them. Surely more will come, but they will never be the same. You have to learn to enjoy life and moments to the fullest.
At certain times it seems that we have to feel bad for enjoying so much and being so happy, as if we had to carry a backpack all our lives. Not so, it should be an obligation to enjoy it to the fullest, doing the things that make us happy.
In the journey to Askja we waded several rivers, realizing that it would have been impossible to do it ourselves, even if we had brought a 4 × 4, so according to our experience, if you are not fluent with the 4 × 4 and this type of terrain, it is best to hire an excursion and thus avoid surprises unpleasant and more listening to some of the stories that the guide tells us about people who have run aground in the rivers and have had to come to rescue them.
Wading rivers on the way to Askja
Before arriving at Askja we make a brief stop at the Drekagil canyon where we take the opportunity to eat something although it is still 11.30 in the morning. As soon as we get out of the car we realize the effects of altitude, the cold is exaggerated.
Stop at Drekagil Canyon
Who had said he wanted to bathe in the Viti crater? In these moments it is clear that we do not. Although we come prepared with the swimsuit and the towel just in case.
After 20 minutes stretching our legs we return to our 4 × 4 and finally we are on our way to the Caldera del Askja and the Viti Crater.
We arrived at the Askja car park at 12.15 and we began to travel a path completely surrounded by snow, at first a bit steep and then completely paved for about 3 kilometers.
Just arrived at Askja
Way of the Caldera del Askja and the Viti Crater
The mud makes the road a bit difficult since we are slipping a lot and that makes us walk much slower than we expected.
Caldera del Askja and Crater Viti
We get ahead of a couple of couples who come with us in the Askja excursion and suddenly we see the lake that floods the Viti crater in the distance and that is when we realize that in front of us, hidden in the snow is the Askja.
Stunning views of the Askja Caldera and the Viti Crater
Amazing. Speechless. We are alone in front of one of the most incredible wonders of nature we have ever seen.
It is clear that less than 5 degrees is not the subject to bathe and less with the step cut by the landslides of previous days.
Apart from that, as soon as I see the slope I am quite clear that, at least for me, it is impossible to get off. The truth is that looking at it well, I do not understand how there are people who can go down and then climb on such a slope.
Caldera del Askja and Crater Viti
We ask the guide and he tells us that we have about 40-45 minutes to be in this area at our leisure, so we have to run and go to see the craters from all possible angles, drawing at all times the snow and mud that they force us to juggle so as not to fall.
Roger climbing the mountain to have better views
Stunning views of Viti and Askja from the heights
After 20 minutes we see that the other two couples who came with us are gone and see each other in the distance on the way back.
We are amazed to see that they have paid 38,000ISK per person (thanks Ali for letting me know that there was an extra 0: D) to be 10 minutes in front of this amazing wonder and leave, but hey, everyone is free to spend as much time as they want.
We are not going to deny that we are forced to return sooner than expected, since we see that the guide is already waiting for us only, so with little desire we begin the way back.
Awesome excursion to Askja
When we get to the car they tell us that we will return on Drekagil canyon, where we were a few hours ago, to make another brief stop before returning to Mývatn.
At this point we have to say that these are some of the inconveniences of having an organized excursion or tour and more for us that we are not used to, but in this case and telling that we have been 4 hours on the road, stopping only 2 times in sites "without too much importance", without even stopping to take a picture along the way, we have to say that the tour in general has known us little by little, although we would repeat it only for the incredible experience of seeing the Caldera del Askja and Crater Viti.
Although we can not forget what we said at the beginning of the day and that is that the initial planning has had to change and eliminate some of the planned security stops.
After another time wading across the river again, we arrived again at the Drekagil canyon where we are another 20 minutes in which we take the opportunity to eat and shelter from the cold after one of the booths.
Drekagil Canyon
At 14.30 in the afternoon we start again, this time already back to Mývatn.
The cold has gotten into our bodies and the truth is that it has not allowed us to fully enjoy this last part of the excursion. We did not think it would be so cold at this time, although the guide has told us that the weather in August was not so cold for a long time and the snow was still maintained.
We do the rest of the way giving the occasional header, unable to keep our eyes open all the time, after the early morning we have given ourselves.
At 60 kilometers from Mývatn we stop again at this morning's coffee and cannot resist having a couple of coffees, a donut and an ice cream for 1900 ISK while we chat with the guide and recharge our energies.
At 17.30 we put the road, this time if without stops until the parking of the Mývatn Lake Visitor Center, where we arrived this morning almost 11 hours ago.
Today we sleep in Laugar, so with the time it is we decide that it is best to go there directly and tomorrow continue with the planning we have planned.
Today we are dead and we need to rest but before we stopped to put gas and take a look from the campsite to Lake Mývatn and this is when we check how true the warnings about mosquitoes are. They look like planes!
Views of Lake Mývatn
We reach Laugar from Lake Mývatn in 20 minutes and the first thing that the owner of the guesthouse where we stayed, the Laugar Guesthouse, does is to warn us of the risk of flooding in the area due to the eruption of the volcano, since now the alert has risen to orange.
After asking about the itinerary we plan to do tomorrow, he does not recommend that we go to the Mývatn Lake Information Center before going to Detifoss, as it is one of the areas that may be affected.
After a day of the most complete we can only rest for a while and go to dinner at the gas station bar where we ordered a couple of pizzas plus water and coke for 3350 ISK which by the way are very good and we feel great.
With a full stomach we can only return to our guesthouse and rest to continue tomorrow with this incredible trip to Iceland.
Day 9: LAUGAR - MÝVATN LAKE: Skutustadagigar - Stakhólstjörn- Höfdi: Kálfaströnd - DIMMUBORGIR - Hverfell - Grotagja - MÝVATN GEOTERMAL AREA: Bjarnarflag - DETTIFOSS - SELFOSFOSS - HAFRAGOSV - HOSTS
