Skaftafell loop

Peaks: Fremrihnaukur (610m), Kristinartindar (1126m)

Area: Skaftafell, Iceland

A fairly unstable day weatherwise after landing in Keflavik fairly early yesterday, with some heavy showers and cold wind. This limited me to short trips above the famous waterfall of Skogafoss, and a windy hike up Rejnasfell above Vik, where I stayed the night in the campground. Skaftafell was always scheduled to be the big day, however, and fortunately this, the second day, dawned clear and dry. With constant daylight I was in no great rush, and first left the ring road to take in the gorge of Fjadrarglijufur. This was magical in the early morning, and I had it completely to myself. Skaftafell was unsurprisingly a lot busier, rammed with global tourists, but I suspected they would disappear within minutes of leaving the car park. This was indeed the case, in fact once I was above the famous basalt column waterfall of Svartifoss (far from Iceland's most impressive, but one of the most photographed!) I was entirely alone. The route climbs fairly gently through low vegetation to gain an open moor at Sjonarskur, as the views open out across to Kalfafell, the angular mountain of Lomagnapur, and the awe-inspiringly bleak 'sandur' - vast glacial deposits that create a 50km section of utterly barren wilderness where the icecaps meet the Atlantic. It was, predictably enough, pretty special, and the day continued in that vein. An easy climb gained the rounded forepeak of Femrihnaukur with superb views up towards the high glacier of Morsardalur. I began to catch up with some early starters (not many) across a couple of neve fields to gain the upper cwm, surrounded by peaks. Steep scree led to a pronounced col and a stunning view across Skaftafellsjokull, the main glacier. Mist was flirting with the higher peaks, totally engulfing the Icelandic highpoint of Hvannadalshnukur. It was pretty cold, and the meat of the day came next, with a rather loose scramble up the south ridge. This was almost alpine in tone, not especially exposed but rather loose, particularly in an open gully that I took in error. At the top, it eased to a pleasant ridge and a snowfield. Mist was flirting with the summit, a very atmospheric place with plunging views to glaciated valleys in all directions. I descended cautiously, avoiding the gully, and had a snack at the col as the mist lowered a tad. An easy descent down the screes in the cwm led back to the main circular path. This leads east to the stunning viewpoint of Glama, poised above magnificent Skaftafelljsjokul, itself part of the enormous Vatnajokull icecap, Europe's biggest. The scale and magnificence of the scenery was breath-taking (not a cliche I use lightly). Far more people now, as I continued along the marked path to Sjonarnipa, looking out over the icebergs calving off the end of the glacier and the vast sandur plains beyond. A final descent through birch woodland added a varied final note to an exceptional 4+ hour outing. After some much-needed food at the visitor centre, watching a heavy shower approach over the mountains, the day continued in extraordinarily memorable fashion. I explored Jokulsarlon thoroughly (Fjallsarlon too, in some ways even better) watching the icebergs that have been calved off the Vatnajokull icecap drift slowly into the Atlantic from the glacial lagoon - stunning. By the time I arrived in Hofn, bright sunshine returned and I had a snack overlooking Sudhurdfjordur before getting an elevated spot at the campground. A truly memorable day.