Vesturdalur / Dettifoss / Mývatn
Vesturdalur / Dettifoss / Mývatn
90 km
It's raining again!
Since the weather can change very quickly here, we decide to have breakfast in peace first. We take our time and the rain subsides more and more. After breakfast we leave. First back on the 85. From there head west. After only 1.6km we turn into the F862 and drive to Vesturdalur. There we have to cross a campsite and get to a parking lot. Or is that just a turnaround? We are not sure and I am addressing a gentleman standing there. He answers in German: I don't know ...
Well, then I can ask again in German whether there is a parking space here. He confirms this. You just have to drive a little further.
He's starting to rave about the orchids here and I don't think he's hearing properly. How - orchids?
He nods: They grow everywhere here. When I still think he's kidding me, he actually shows me a wild orchid.
Wir fachsimpeln noch eine Weile über Pflanzen. Dann fällt sein Blick auf unser Nummernschild und es stellt sich heraus, dass er aus unserer Nachbarstadt Solingen kommt.
Wir fahren weiter zum Parkplatz und machen uns auf den Weg zu unserer Route. Diese ist bereits festgelegt, wir nehmen die V6, eine Rundwanderung von 7km.
Die Wanderrouten finden sie hier.
Inzwischen regnet es nicht mehr und es ist angenehm warm.
We arrive at the rock formation "Karl og Kerling" (man and woman). It is said to be 2 petrified trolls. The descent down to the river bed is very steep, which is why we refrain from it.
Der gut markierte Weg führt zunächst weiter am Fluss entlang. Der Ausblick von hier oben über den Canyon ist beeindruckend.
The landscape changes and we come to a fork in the road. From here the path leads away from the river. We take a short break.
We arrive at Svinadalur via flower meadows. There is said to be a farm here that has been empty since 1946. We don't see anything except for a fence. Regardless, the landscape is all the more beautiful.
Hier und da ein Vogel, das sind die einzigen Lebewesen, die wir auf der gesamten Strecke zu sehen bekommen.
Vorbei an sumpfigen Seen gelangen wir zu einem kleinen Flüsschen.
Again the landscape changes. The path now leads along a lava wall.
Passing a small waterfall we reach a large plain. Here we lose sight of the marking several times. But that's not a problem, because you can no longer get lost. Shortly before the parking lot we have to cross the campsite again.
That was a wonderful walk of about 2 1/2 hours.
After a little refreshment with biscuits and cola, we drive back on the F862 south. There are no fords here - at least at the moment.
We reach a large parking lot. From here we continue on foot. There are 3 waterfalls to visit. The largest of these is the Dettifoss. He falls 45m deep with a tremendous roar. Apparently he is carrying a lot of sand because the water looks dirty.
From here the F862 is paved. The waterfalls can therefore be easily reached from the south.
We drive south until we hit the ring road. We continue west to Myvatn. We drive a bit on the 848 until we come across a campsite. (Incidentally, that was by far the most expensive campsite we were on in Iceland). After dinner we want to stroll along the lake a little longer, but there are private properties there and we can only walk along the road. We scare away thousands of mosquitoes in the grass and are glad that they are not hungry at the moment. :-)
