Colourful highlands

It's early morning when the alarm goes off. The sun has just risen and during breakfast we check again the Icelandic road service website. Nothing has changed: the nearest road into the highlands is still closed. Turns out the daily refresh is only at 7AM. We will be driving by that time, so we plan for the longer route which takes us all the way back to just before Selfoss. A town we passed by on our second day.

At last we leave the ring road and turn on road 26. New, undiscovered, ground that will take us further inland. This road turns after a while in the F26 which we will drive all the way to Mývatn on the next day. All F-roads in Iceland are off-road tracks and require a 4-wheel drive car. Just before the asphalt stops, we turn right onto the F225, our first F-road. We quickly read the signs sayings that 4x4-cars are mandatory and that there are possible river crossings on these roads. The speed limit is reduced from 90 km/h to 80 km/h on these roads, but 60 km/h is often recommended. It doesn't take long before the landscape around us has changed completely. From the fields and pastures we've seen around us into the black sand and green hills. The road is generally a single lane track so when encountering opposite traffic you need to be creative to pass each other or wait in a wider area.

We advance slowly but enjoy the environment we're in. As we approach our first flooded part of the road we stop and go out to inspect. Very cautious, executing everything that we've read about driving in the highlands. It's only a small pool and we make it across just fine. As a matter of fact, even a normal car would be able to do this. Nevertheless, for us it feels like the adventure of the highlands has truly started!

At the end of the F225 we head back south onto the F208, which is the original road we planned to take. It's closed further down south, but after only a few kilometres we find our first stop of the day: landmannalaugar. As we arrive, the parking area is full. There are 3 cars queuing at the end of the parking to what seems another river crossing. We park the car at the back of the queue and get out to inspect this obstacle. Across the river there is a camp site where we can see other cars parked. Mostly decent 4x4 cars. After a quick glance we feel confident about the river crossing and get back in our car. We take the lead and very decently make it across. Lead by our example the other cars follow.

With the trailing cars in the rear-view mirror, we notice our mistake... this was only a first flooded area to cross. Up ahead is a way deeper and wider area to cross. Ann gets out of the car and inspects the danger ahead. By what I make of her body language and hand gestures I believe this second part is equally do-able as the first part. Slightly pressed by the cars behind, I continue and follow the path Ann has explored: first a turn to the right to get to the edge of the pool. Just before the pool's edge, she makes clear that I cannot go there. Because stopping is one of the things you really shouldn't do when crossing water on loose stones, I decide to give the car a whirl to the left and cross at the point where we currently are. The car takes a dip with the nose in the water and rather clumsy I end up at the other side of the pool. The cars behind me have seen enough and decide to take a different approach on this (rightfully so). The car behind me with slightly higher clearance decides to go straight through. He makes it across looking less like an idiot, but I'm also not entirely convinced as the water did rise to his ventilation panel. For us that would have come even higher. We both get back in the car and drive to the parking lot. Just before we arrive, we smell a burned odour. We quickly park the car and turn it off. Hoping it will all be dry again after our walk. That dip the car made, was slightly above the maximum wading depth for our car... We hope we'll find a working car when we return.

Landmannalaugar
Even before arriving here, we noticed colour changes in the mountains around us. Slowly, the black mountains turned into beige sand like coloured hills. Within these hills various pastel-like colours can be seen.
We take the hike to Bláhnjúkur, a 945m hill that provides an excellent view on the area. Taking into account a trail review that advises us to make the walk counterclockwise, we start our trip shortly after lunch.
The trail begins with a lava field. The road winds through the sharp rock structures and every now and then provides a view with colourful hills. Not that much later we arrive at the end of the maze and at the foot of a hill with steam coming out of the earth at different locations. When getting closer to one of these steam holes, the smell of sulphur becomes more intense. As we circle back for a short while, the trail suddenly takes us into another valley. Now we're really in between the hills and we're blown away by its beauty. It is unbelievable how nature can create these places on earth.
We start our steep climb on one of the hillsides to get to the top of Bláhnjúkur. We have to tread carefully because the path can be rather slippery and is steep. Luckily, we don't mind at all to take a rest every now and then to turn around and soak in this fairy-tale landscape.
The higher we climb, more of these colourful hills in the valley become visible and more pictures are taken. After a long and very windy walk on the hill's ridge, we reach the top. Everywhere we look it's a different and beautiful scene. The idea that almost every guidebook uses the same picture for this place was never so wrong. You can take a hundred different pictures here and use them all in a guidebook.
As we descent, we realize the benefit of walking counterclockwise. The path is even more steep here and less graduate. The people we cross going up have to pay close attention to where to place their feet.
Just before we reach the bottom of the hill we pass along another strange sight. A rock, extending out of the hill has yet another completely different colour: deep dark green.
When we arrive back at the parking lot, we're curious if our car survived its first water adventure. The thought has never really left our mind from the moment we set off.

Further inland
The car starts: that's a good sign. Also no indication light on the dashboard. Relieved, we carefully drive off to meet our fearsome river crossing again. We immediately turn of the ventilation and air conditioning to prevent any not evaporated water causing trouble with the electronics. When we arrive at the crossing there's again a queue of cars. We even see a highly adapted 4x4 of 'environment control' pass by. Someone must have said something to the camping owner about this crossing and they went out to have a look. I was a bit afraid they would close it off because it became too deep. Maybe the river had swollen even more during the afternoon making it even harder to get across. We carefully study the cars in front of us, and it turns out that a straight line, slightly to the edge of the pool is the best approach. Ann gets out of the car and walks around to take pictures while I prep the car for the crossing. 4-wheel drive mode: on, ventilation: off, traction control: automatically turned off, windows: down, doors: unlocked. We're ready! From the outside everything looked flawless from the inside it still felt scary: the car loses traction on the stones, it feels like you're in the water until just below the bonnet and all sensors and systems start making beeping sounds. Next time we definitely turn of the parking sensors as well.

After the crossing we switch drivers and Ann has a go at our off-road adventure. We continue the F208 to the north to stay the night at a very basic hotel in the highlands. The road has a lot of potholes so we advance slowly. Our cell phones often don't have any service so we can't rely on Internet for navigation. It's the good old road map that tells us where we are. We pass some small waterfalls after a good while hit asphalt roads again. Not much further to the hotel now, where there is a gas station. I think everyone fills up here. It's not recommended to go in the highlands with less than half a tank of fuel. After fuelling up, we check-in at the hotel. Luckily there's dinner available here, because there's nothing else nearby. No need for our instant carbonara yet.

The hotel is simple, but has a nice and cozy atmosphere. Like in most Icelandic homes you have to take your shoes off before entering. There's a small sauna that's available free of charge. Before going to dinner we make a stop there to relax.

Tomorrow we have another big piece of highland road to cover. We will cross the country to Mývatn via the F26, also known as Sprengisandur. It's the longest inland road in Iceland and takes you through a deserted black landscape. There's little to see there, except for the experience to drive this adventurous road. After our first meeting with a river crossing today, we are a bit anxious for what tomorrow will bring...Read more