Vatnajökull Öræfajökull
February 24th - 26th 2006
Sunrise over Vatnajokull. This is going to be a great day.
Far in the south, Oraefajokull rises high. Hvannadalshnjukur, the highest peak is 2.111 meters. This is our destination for the day.
"Waking" up the trucks takes some time. All except my Sport Trac are diesel powered.
Heading for Oraefajokull
Driving towards the rising sun on the endless stretch of snow is hard to describe in words.
Gudmundur in his red Land Cruiser.
A beautiful day for wheeling in the snow.
Bessi with his co driver.
A lonesome fulmar is rescued. It had thick ice on it's head and couldn't fly. After a hot shower it is able to head for the ocean.
Trucks line up at Snaebreidur, the highest possible place in Iceland to drive a 4x4 to.
Lots of great photo opportunities. Birgir seizes the day and gets a picture with his new Patrol and the amazing view in the background.
View to Hvannadalshnjukur is magnificent.
4x4 Off Roads!
Oraefajokull is a volcano of the caldera type with peaks all around. Hvannadalshnjukur rises some 250 meters above the main crator. It is not too hard to climb to the top from the south side. It is steep and has a couple of cracks that must be carefully crossed.
That's me enjoying the view from the top.
Everybody gathers at the top.
Three members of the Guinness society decide to wear their t-shirts only.
It is not until they turn around that this familiar number sequence is revealed.
7 - 9 - 13 !
Suddenly a small plane is flying low around us. It is almost possible to shake hands with the pilot and passenger. As they are passing by they throw out a small package. It is clearly addressed:
Dagur Bragason
Vatnajokull
Iceland
Inside is today's newspaper, Morgunblaðið. It turnes out that these are friends of Dagur and knew he was somewhere in the area.
Here are a few pictures from the plane:
They knew we had been at Grimsfjall during the night ...
...and following the tracks was obviously not difficult. Leading them straight to Oraefajokull.
Last three people up at Hvannadalshnjukur as seen from the plane.
South Side of Oraefajokull Caldera
View to the east shows the lake Jokulsarlon where icebergs break off the glacier.
Enjoying the day at the top.
Sigurjon's Land Cruiser acted a little weak and sounded strange under load. Dagur the master mechanic located the problem as a diesel fuel filter needing change. Lucky enough - Geir was carrying a spare filter of the correct type and Dagur fixed the issue in minutes.
(Photo by Dagur)
A part of the group took a short detour on the way back to the hut and looked at Þumall (e. Thumb). It is what is left of a volcanic kernel.
heading back in the afternoon sun. Birgir in his Nissan Patrol...
...and Bessi in his Hilux Double Cab.
Geir picks up his guitar and provides light music for the group.
We receive the sad news that a terrible accident has happened on Hofsjokull ice-cap. A 4x4 truck has fallen down a deep crevasse. One man has lost his life and another is in great danger. Rescue units are on location and have a hard time getting to the vehicle 15-20 meters down. Driving on ice-caps can be fatal - this must be respected at all times.
Tomorrow we'll be heading back to civilization...
