Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.10.2019, Page 36

Gravel road, near midnight. Each yel-
low road marker emerges from the fog,
only one visible at a time. They mark
the edge of the road and pull us slow-
ly forward. Without them, we would
stop the camper. The fog is so dense
that our windshield wipers must oc-
casionally flutter to clear our view of
the road. And yet our camper slinks up
the mountainside, 30 km/h, and down
to 20 at moments.
This is East Iceland’s route 939, also
known as Öxi Mountain Pass. The pass
is, however, impassable in winter. In
other seasons, Öxi offers a shortcut to
Lagarfljót and Egilssta!ir if weather
conditions are favourable. This night,
they are not.
Moxie for Öxi
There is no discernible edge to the left
of the one-lane road, and no guard rails
to provide assurance against a steep
plummet into a rocky ravine. To the
right, the mountain ascends at a sharp
angle. We pass a road sign warning of
rock slides. Farther on, a few small
boulders pepper the road.
Öxi’s shortcut proves a long, har-
rowing ride. It isn’t until we descend to
the surprising lush forests surround-
ing Lagarfljót that we exhale our relief.
It is now the witching hour. We set up
camp at Atlavík. The gentle shush of
the lake’s waves lull us to sleep.
Serpentine loop
Lagarfljót is famed for a cryptid ser-
pent thought to inhabit its depths—
akin to Scotland’s Loch Ness Mon-
ster. Having survived the drive over
Öxi and a night near a lake monster,
we set ourselves the goal of looping
Lagarfljót’s scenic shore. We drive first
to Egilssta!ir for lunch at Salt Café &
Bistro, which offers a serviceable and
wide-ranging menu of items unusual
to find in the subarctic northeast.
Next, we round the western edge of
the lake.
Numerous paths veer down wooded
slopes as we drive above the lake. Hal-
lormssta!askógur forest is Iceland’s
largest woodland, having been pro-
tected for over 100 years. We pull off
the road by a pine enclave and set off
on a hike to the shoreline.
After twenty minutes, we have
reached the windy shore with no sea
serpents in sight. We do, however,
discover treasure in the form of rare
wild strawberries. Our harvest is tiny
yet tart. We savour the berries as we
return to the camper.
Disaster tourism
Iceland holds within its perimetre nu-
merous disaster tourism destinations.
The most famous from recent
events, without doubt, is the volcano
Eyjafjallajökull. Similar sites include
Heimaey for its 1970s eruption, the
Laki craters formed in the late 1800s,
and Hekla, which has had a history of
erupting every decade or two. Aban-
doned herring factories have been a big
draw, particularly through their reno-
vation into art centres, museums, and
even a hotel. One could also include nu-
merous military installations such as
the former NATO base in Hvalfjör!ur,
the US military base in Keflavík, or
the decommissioned SOSUS listening
centres near Höfn and Hellissandur.
Arguably the most infamous of such
sites is the tallest concrete-faced rock-
fill dam in Europe—Kárahnjúkar Hy-
dropower Plant, constructed an hour’s
drive from Lagarfljót. We consider
whether to make the drive as dusk ap-
proaches, aware that we could face a
second night in a row of difficult driv-
ing. The pull to witness Kárahnjúkar
is strong, though, and so we wind up a
steep slalom road—this one paved—en
route to the dam.
Damn, Kárahnjúkar
The dam’s impact on the reindeer
population of East Iceland has been
notable, as it separated reindeer
from their traditional
breeding grounds in the
highlands. As we drive,
we look constantly for
reindeer but none are to
be spotted. They had, in
essence, vanished from
the ecosystem where
they formerly would have
spent their summers.
And then, suddenly
from the yawning sprawl of the high-
lands, we see it: Kárahnjúkar.
The heavily contested hydropow-
er dam was constructed in the early
2000s in order to power the Alcoa
Fjar!aál aluminum smelter. The site
of much unrest formed the Hálslón
reservoir, a body of water 27 km long
and up to 200 m deep. This renders it
comparable to, though deeper than,
Iceland’s fjord Hvalfjör!ur, which
measures 30 km long and 84 m deep.
The reservoir is conspicuously marked
out of the Vatnajökull National Park
boundaries, which it otherwise bor-
ders to the reservoir’s east and south.
Ghost waterfall
The dam’s architecture is astound-
ing. Overwhelming. Awe-inducing.
We arrive to crawl the camper along
the concrete drive on the dam’s lip.
The reservoir is so full that its water-
ways have been opened to release its
glacial-melt overspill. Water rushes
down a concrete valley to cascade over
a basalt cliff into the gorge below. Great
gusts of mist rise from the waterfall,
so much mist that the fall itself van-
ishes. Perhaps a trick of the eye, but it
appears the water never reaches the
gorge.
Words leave us. After a solemn walk
around the dam, we climb into our
camper to find our next uneasy rest.
Sænautasel
Night has arrived. We opt to drive an
alternate route back to Lagarfljót. But
the F-roads are slow-going, and we end
up far from our original destination. It
is dark as we drive, a foul fog descend-
ing over the highlands and light rain
sprinkling our ride. An owl swoops
through our headlights. Thrushes
play dodge with the
camper van.
After a series
of intuited right
and left turns, a
few lights glim-
mer ahead of us
through the gloom.
And then a dim
lake stretches its
calm body toward
the horizon, half-shrouded in fog. It is
not Lagarfljót. We have arrived instead
at Sænautasel, where basic camping
facilities for bathroom and washing-
up greet us.
As we park, a slender mother cat
slinks from the shadows to greet us.
After 24 hours of murky driving, the
cat takes to us gently, offering emo-
tional support as we make camp.
We don’t discover what we hope to
see—reindeer, a sea monster—but we
do discover life in unexpected places—
wild strawberries, the mother cat. It’s
eerie to see how Kárahnjúkar haunts
the highlands. Life thrives despite.
Distance from
Reykjavík:
650 km (if drivin!
the north route),
700 km (if drivin!
the south route)

How to get there:
Route 1
Accommodation
provided by:
lakehotel.is and
kukucampers.is
36The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 19— 2019
The Vanishin!
Dark tourism awaits in East Iceland’s Hi!hlands
Words: a rawlings Photos: John Rogers
Travel
The Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant
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