Land of Ice and Fire

Traditional turf-roofed farm houses have a detailed history dating back a thousand years into the Sagas. The glacial outwash plain that occupies the middle ground is occasionally a roaring torrent of glacier meltwater and icebergs, forced from the Vatnajökull ice cap by subglacial volcanic eruption. My attachment to mountains and mountain people began here. The mountain group, Kristinartindar, reach only the modest height of 1,126 metres and are a moderate day's hike from the Skaftafell National Park camp ground. Regardless, to my mind, the view through the entire 360-degree circumference is one of the most impressive in the world. Hvannadalshnúkur glows in the late evening light, the very summit of Öraefajökull; this ice-mantled volcano erupted in 1362 and 1727 and devastated the surrounding farmland. The farms of Skaftafell lie at the tip of the low green promontory in the middle right distance. It is planned that much of the area seen in this photograph will be included in a greatly enlarged Vatnajökull National Park as part of Iceland's contribution to the International Year of Mountains. The shadow in the left foreground, of course, supports the Hasselblad!

49  Skaftafell and the view to the west (June, 1987)

 50  Iceland moss and crevasses (September, 1984) 51  Öraefajökull, Iceland's highest point at 2,119 metres (June, 1987)
     

Run Slide Show

  

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