Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.06.2008, Side 24

24 | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 07 2008 | Destination
Despite its name, Iceland is not all that icy. In
fact, you’ll have to go through some trouble for
a first hand experience of ice here in the sum-
mer time – like making the two-hour drive up to
Mýrdalsjökull glacier. We arrived at the foot of
the glacier at noon, just in time to meet up with
a group of tourists taking a snowmobile trip up to
the top. It is a sunny day, half-clear sky and the
view from the base camp is already pretty impres-
sive. We join the group, hoping for an even better
lookout post up top.
Mýrdalsjökull is 1515 m high and roughly
600 km2 and rests on a very active volcano called
Katla, considered one of the most powerful volca-
noes in the world. It last erupted in 1918, but the
regular eruption cycle is between 50 and 80 years,
so we are a bit overdue. Katla is carefully moni-
tored at all times, and in the case of an eruption
it would take an hour for the lava to melt through
the ice cap. This, however, is only a slightly com-
forting thought to keep in mind at the beginning of
the trip.
Things start out slowly. Our guide, a small
Frenchman called Anthony, gives us basic lessons
on how to operate the snowmobile, and stresses
the importance of everyone following in a single
line behind him on the trip, especially this time of
year when the glacier is warming and the snow on
top melting away. The landscape changes fast on
a glacier in springtime, and unknown crevasses
are known to appear where there was none be-
fore.
We take off for the top, in a single line as or-
dered. I notice one crack in the snow, which we
bypass. The group consists of an English family,
two American couples and us Grapeviners. Apart
from the guide and me, everyone is taking their
first step on a snowmobile, so we ascend slowly
while the group learns to operate the vehicle.
The hell raiser in me is having a hard time
adjusting to the slow pace, so I make sure I am
at the back of the line. Every now and then I fall
back, even stop and admire the view, while the
group gains a little advantage before I open up
to catch them again. I make sure that Anthony
and the rest of the group don’t notice, and I never
break the single line. That would be bad form, ob-
viously.
There is nothing in this world as unreliable
as the Icelandic weather. Near the top, at 1400
metres altitude, we hit fog. This is an unfortunate
result of the warm weather. The melting snow on
the glacier evaporates and forms clouds of fog as
it cools down in the higher altitude. Although this
seriously hampers our view of the surroundings,
Anthony the guide improvises a great 3-d model
of the glacier and its surroundings from snow to
explain what we would be looking at, if weather
permitted.
We head down again, towards the southwest
tongue of the glacier. We quickly descend from
the fog and into the sunlight. The visibility is great-
ly improved. We stop and take it in. On our right
we can see the outlet glacier Sólheimajökull and
its crevassed icefall, and a little further, Eyjafjalla-
jökull glacier, sitting atop another active volcano.
Between the two lies the popular Fimmvörðuháls
hiking trail to Þórsmörk. In front of us we see Vest-
mannaeyjar Islands, and to our left, Pétursey and
Mýrdalssandur. Quite impressive really. After a
short stop, we head back to base camp. An hour
later, we learn of a massive 6.2 Richter earthquake
near Hveragerði, roughly 100 km away. Although
the earthquake had nothing to do with activity in
Katla, I still felt better being off the volcano when
it hit.
Text by Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
Photo by GAS
The View From the Top
CAR PROVIDED BY:
TRIP PROVIDED BY:
Arcanum
Tel: 487 1500, www.snow.is
Keflavík Airport
Tel.: 540 2222, www.sixt.is
“Katla is carefully moni-
tored at all times, and in
the case of an eruption it
would take an hour for the
lava to melt through the
ice cap.”
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