Earlier in October the company I work for organised and held their annual staff party. This was a little later than usual, as it has been normally held in mid to late September, but due to the workload over the summer things were delayed slightly. Ordinarily the party happens over two days; day one would involve us driving into the Highlands of Iceland to a large “cabin” in the wilderness. We’d spend the night there eating and drinking and then the following day we would drive back home.
This time however, things didn’t really go to plan. We had an unseasonable cold swing during the earlier part of October which produced big snow storms in the Highlands and this in turn led us into a bit of trouble. But more on that later.
Day 1
The plan was to set off at 9am so that we had enough daylight hours to make it to the cabin, also to give us a little wiggle room if we needed to shovel a bit of snow off the trails into the Highlands. Rather than departing at 9 we instead just started to organise the four vehicles in our convoy and by the time it was done at 10 we began our journey westwards and into the wilds.
We stopped first in Hvolsvöllur at a grocery store to grab some snacks before the long drive out. Once everyone was pleased with their shopping we continued the drive westwards on Road 1 for about an hour or so before turning off halfway between Hella and Selfoss. The next place we made a stop at was Hjálparfoss – a beautiful double waterfall just north of the mighty Hekla stratovolcano. We snapped a couple of quick pics at the waterfall before driving further inland towards the last petrol station/toilet stop at the edge of the Highlands. After tanking up, we headed out onto one of the ‘F’ roads (mountain roads) leading towards our first major stop: Landmannalaugar.
The moment we hit the F road we all sorta knew that getting to our cabin in the Highlands might be a little difficult at this time of year. The main reason for this was because as soon as we drove off the asphalt and onto the gravel F road it started to snow. Then it really started to snow. We got some very heavy snow come down for a good 30 minutes as we continued our drive to Landmannalaugar.
We finally caught a break in the clouds and snowstorms when we arrived at Landmannalaugar. Which was fantastic because that meant we could get changed into our swimwear and head to the natural hot springs! The hot springs in Landmannalaugar are more of a hot river/stream that flows out from the source deep below the ground. The heat of the stream varies every few seconds, with cool(er) waves flowing in between scalding hot waves so it can take some time to find just the right spot to relax! We spent a good half hour in the hot spring before drying off, getting changed and then piling back into the cars for the final stretch – the drive to our cabin for the evening.
We managed to get out of Landmannalaugar easily enough, but we ran into a slight problem just after we reached the turn off to the cabin. There was a lot more snow now than what we had before! Most of the tracks we drove on before getting to Landmannalaugar were covered up and the path to the cabin was completely buried under a good half metre of snow in some places. Needless to say it was quite slow going at this point. There were a few people walking in front of the first car in our convoy to probe the path and ensure we weren’t driving off the edge anywhere. But this was really just a futile effort since we were going nowhere fast. The decision was made to turn around at this point and head back to our base rather than spend the next few hours (it was almost the evening) slowly driving into the Highlands.
On the journey back home we took a slightly different route to the one we came in on which was a nice change of scenery. Things went much faster this time, there was less snow coverage on the roads out of the Highlands and most importantly it wasn’t snowing! We could actually look out and see some of the mind-blowing landscapes the Icelandic Highlands have to offer – for a limited time until the sun set. We made a quick stop here and there to refill the tyres with air before driving onto asphalted roads again and making our way back to civilisation. By the time we arrived Hvolsvöllur it was already quite late in the evening so rather than cooking up a big BBQ feast back at the base we opted for pizza at the local pizzeria – a good way to finish the day overall!
Check out some photos from Day 1 below. What we did on Day 2 continues after the photo break!
Day 2
We began things a little later in the morning on this day. The original plan was to visit Vestmannaeyjar (the Westman Islands) – a string of volcanic islands just off the south coast of Iceland. Unfortunately this plan had to be scrapped because the ferry that would normally take us there had been canceled for the day. This was due to the fact that the harbour on the island that the ferry would dock at had been filled with sand and therefore could not be reached. Normally there is a ship that dredges sand out of the harbour, but unluckily for us, on this day it was unavailable.
So we changed our plans and headed further east from our base, through the town of Vik and off road towards the Katla Glacier – Kötlujökull. There is an ice cave here that is advertised as the only ice cave ‘open all year’. Generally speaking, ice cave season starts in November and lasts until March/April. However the cave in Kötlujökull appears to be much bigger and more ‘stable’ than many of the other caves that are open only during winter. Because of this many tour companies operate in it year round.
[In my personal opinion – the cave structure looked a bit sketchy when we took a look inside and it’s probably not somewhere I would take paying customers, I would wait until things froze again.]
Despite this, the landscape around the glacier and the glacier itself are truly out of this world. A titanic, foreboding black glacial fortress with towering spires of ice greets you as you crest a hill. The glacier is surrounded by plains of pitch black volcanic sand from the many eruptions of Katla over the centuries. This is one place you don’t want to be when Katla erupts. It has been the main glacial flood plain for 18 of the last 20 eruptions of Katla and one can only assume it will be flooded again when Katla next erupts!
While we only took a quick peek into the cave, we did spend some time wandering around the front of the glacier checking out some cool icy formations as well as dodging quick sand here and there. Once everyone was accounted for we jumped back into the cars and headed to our next stop: the Yoda cave.
The Yoda cave is quite simply a cave which when viewed from inside or out looks like Yoda. It is located in the side of the mountain Hjörleifshöfði, which is south of Kötlujökull and directly in the centre of the Katla flood plain Mýrdalssandur. While the cave itself is quite cool looking and very photogenic, I find the geological story behind Hjörleifshöfði to be a little more interesting. It is believed that a few thousand years ago Hjörleifshöfði was a small volcano below the ocean, which over time grew until it was an island surrounded by the Atlantic. Over time, due to the large eruptions and subsequent floods emanating from Katla the area surrounding Hjörleifshöfði was filled in by ash, sand and gravel, thus connecting it to the mainland. It has been said that when the vikings settled Iceland there was a small fjord to one side of the mountain were one could dock a ship. However since then there have been many more eruptions of Katla that have further filled in the fjord resulting in the appearance of Hjörleifshöfði as we see it today.
The next stop on our tour was Þakgil (pronounced: thak-gil). This place is a hidden gem here in the south of Iceland. It’s a little camping ground situated at the bottom of a big valley. There are lots of hiking trails leading off in every direction that grant spectacular views of the surrounding areas, including the vast Mýrdalssandur. I will include more photos and go into more depth about this area in a future blog post since I’d already visited this place a few months ago!
Once all was said and done in Þakgil we began the journey back to the base, stopping briefly at a waterfall to grab a couple of pics and to also re-inflate the truck tyres.
Upon reaching the base we met up with the rest of our colleagues who were busy firing up the BBQ in preparation for the great chunks of lamb that were to be grilled for dinner. After the lamb was done, we were all very keen to tuck in and fill our very hungry stomachs. After a few plates of meat, potatoes and other vegetables all of us eventually retired to our rooms to recover from the feast!
Big thanks goes to Benni and Andrína for organising all of this for us!
My Nordic Life 
Wow, la caverna Yoda è incredibile!! 😃 Foto meravigliose e bellissima avventura nella neve! l’Islanda è sempre unica, in ogni stagione 😃
Celebrate good times! Glad your enjoying your Icelandic adventures. Look forward to some soon too 😍