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Öræfajökull
Iceland's biggest killer volcano!
...but thanks God, not very active :-)
Öræfajökull as seen from Leirur in front of Hofsnes and Fagurhólsmýri.
Öræfajökull is a perfect place for mountain hikes, ice climbing and glacier
exploration. There are more mountains above 1000 m than in any other place of
that size in Iceland, but it is also one of the few places in the world where a
glacier can be reached at an altitude of only 50-60 m above sea level. The
Glacier Guides and the
Icelandic Mountain
Guides are based in Skaftafell in summer and a wide range of trips are
available. Guided glacier tours are arranged from by
From
Coast To Mountains in all around the year.
Towering over the entire region is Oraefajokull glacier,
which includes the highest mountain in Iceland, Hvannadalshnukur (2119 m). Also
the third-largest volcanic cone in Europe, it has dominated this part of Iceland
since time immemorial and twice spewed out fire and brimstone in historical
times. In 1362 it produced one of the largest eruptions since the settlement,
swamping farms with ash and leaving the district unfit to live in for many
decades. According to the Oddaverjaannall chronicle, "no living beings survived
apart from one old woman and a mare" in the parishes of Hof and Rauðilækur, and
after the eruption the district earned the name Öræfi, "desert". At Bær, just
south of Fagurhólsmýri, archaeologists are now excavated relics from the layer
of ash in what has been called "the Icelandic Pompeii".
After another eruption under the glacier in 1727,
contemporary records describe how it was impossible to tell night from day for
days on end due to the ash fallout. The water released by the glacier burst
following the eruption is estimated to have reached 100,000 m3/sec. -
the same volume as the Amazon. By comparison, the mighty Skeiðará glacier burst
in 1996 peaked at 45,000 m3/sec.
This photo is taken looking east from the bridge over
Skaftafellsá, and shows Hvannadalshnúkur (west face). Dyrhamar is on the
right, and the glacier on the middle of the picture is called Svínafellsjökull.
Hvannadalshnúkur (east face) from the top crater of Öræfajökull. Now Dyrhamar is
on the left
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