Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.06.2019, Page 46

The Highlands of Iceland are any out-
doorsman’s dream—and one that,
in the three years I’ve lived here, I’ve
never experienced. But, on a stunning
summer day, myself and a photogra-
pher find ourselves zooming down
Route One South in a massive 4x4 Su-
perjeep, ready to finally witness Ice-
land’s famous interior.
Our guide is Erik, an experienced
all-terrain obsessive who tells us that
this highway drive is the boring part
of the trip, but that it’ll end shortly.
Soon, we’ll be entering the wild with
two goals: an exploration of the Hekla
volcano and Landmannalaugar.
And as the opening chords of “Long
Way To The Top” by AC/DC burst from
the speakers, we abruptly turn off the
paved highway and onto the unpaved
4x4-only Highland track. With but two
faded tyre tracks on a dirt road mark-
ing the upward path towards Hekla,
the song seems correct: It’ll be a long
way to the top if we want to rock ‘n’
roll.
Don’t go here?
The dirt road starts smoothly enough,
but gets rougher and more bumpy
with every metre we drive. Inside the
car, as the rocks on the road get big-
ger and the road narrows, we start
rocking harshly from side to side. We
hold on for dear life as the car shakes
and turns—nearly horizontal, it feels
like—to and fro. Erik calls this “the
Icelandic massage”—and he’s right,
it certainly is one way to loosen those
muscles.
It is at this shaky moment that, in
what feels like a bizarre act of God, a
travel advisory sign appears on our
right side. Warning us of the immi-
nent eruption of Hekla, the disclaimer
urges travellers to either turn back or
exercise extreme caution, as if simply
being aware of the possibility of an
eruption will save you from the on-
slaught of deadly pyroclastic flow.
Immediately after the foreboding
sign, my breath catches in my throat
as Erik belly-laughs. He’s a pro at
this, having travelled to Hekla innu-
merable times, and tells us he can’t
promise we’ll return to the Ring Road
unscathed—but we’ll have a hell of a
time. Spoiler alert: We didn’t die.
Iceland’s premier
roller coaster
Climbing the steep incline of Hekla in
our 4x4 is like a roller coaster with bet-
ter scenery. We’re surrounded on all
sides by dusty brown badlands, with
dollops of moss-covered lava stacked
haphazardly as far as the eye can see.
In the distance, we’re treated to a view
of a quartet of glaciers—Vatnajökull,
Langjökull, Mýrdalsjökull, and Ey-
jafjallajökull. Seeing four of Iceland’s
most legendary sites on one horizon is
something I’ll remember until I die—
which hopefully, I think to myself,
won’t be here on the side of Hekla.
As the tumultuous ascent contin-
ues, Erik marks every 100 metres with
a yell. Summiting the entire volcano
is, unfortunately, impossible—but we
get as close as possible and jump out of
the car to take in the crisp mountain
air. Just a stone’s throw away, looming
over us, dotted with pure white snow,
is the crater of the volcano, which I still
expect to explode at any second. While
it’s nowhere near the highest peak in
Iceland, the foreboding nature of Hekla
makes it seem as large as Everest and
as ominous as Mount Doom. But, al-
most as soon as we’re there, it’s time
to go—spending extended amounts of
time in the area is, of course, risky.
On the way down, we begin to push
the car to its limits, getting close to
cliffs and doing small drops and
climbs. Our next stop is Landmannal-
augar in the Friðland að Fjallabaki na-
ture reserve—the ending point of the
multi-day Laugavegur hike, and one of
the jewels of Iceland’s interior.
Misty mountains
After the awe-inspiring majesty of
Hekla, I fully expect Landmannal-
augar to be something of a let-down.
As if the weather is reading my
thoughts, it instantly begins to hail
and mist over as we pull up to the
camping area of the nature reserve.
Huddling in the information area, the
landscape lost to us in the overwhelm-
ing rain, I decide that—no matter the
weather—I will indulge in some pool
Distance from
Reykjavík:
155 km

How to get there:
Easy! Hotel pickup
Tour provided by:
superjeep.is
46The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10— 2019
The Road Less Travelled
Journeying through the Highlands to Hekla and Landmannalaugar
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photos: Art Bicnick
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Unbelievable colours in Ljótipollur að Fjallabakk Not Hannah's favourite hot spring