Day 12: 7/18/07 Skaftafell to Kirkjubæjarklaustar
Trip Start
Jul 08, 2007
1
12
21
Trip End
Jul 23, 2007
Kirkjubæjarklaustar, Iceland
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
I slept about 10 hours. I was a little sore when I first got up but after walking to the WC and back I felt fine.
We broke camp quickly and loaded up the trailer. Öræfajökull was cloud free so we stopped for fotos on the way out of the park. We made another stop at the destroyed bridge girders from the 1996 jökulhlaup and had more good views of Öræfajökull as well as where I had walked the previous day. Our next stop was a Magnus stop at a place called Dverghamrar. It is comprised of numerous 2-4 m high basaltic columns. Magnus took a group foto with each of us sitting on a different column. A fracture through the site gives a beautiful view of Slóðfoss. One large column, called Erikslundar, which I think mean's Erik's penis, bends away from the wall at about a 45˚ angle.
From Dverghamrar it was a quick drive to Kirkjubaejarklaustar. We had camp set up by 12:30. Audrey and I did shopping for dinner. We returned to camp and loaded the bus for the grueling ride to Lakagígar. We were treated to a beautiful view of Katla and the Mýrdolsjökull before leaving the pavement. En route over the washboarded dirt road, Magnus pulled off to show us Fagrifoss (Beautiful Falls)-a place I had not seen before. It was a great short stop that we all enjoyed.
Lakagígar has been included in Skaftafell National Park and there is now a Blágil campground on the rift. We climbed Laki under fairly clear skies. There was a good view of the Vatnajökull to the northeast but it was hazy in the SW so we could not see Mýrdalsjökull.
Magnus wanted to explore the road beyond Laki. It is new and no longer dead ends but makes a loop back to Blágil instead. There is a nice spatter cone with a deep hole before returning to the main road and the bumpy ride back to camp.
The campground had filled considerably, mostly with Icelanders. We cooked dinner and ate it all. I went to bed after taking a much needed shower for 150 kr. I was instantly asleep in spite of a lot of partying in the Icelanders' campsites.
