Open Geology

Fjallagjá & Hafragjá

June 2016: 1/4

Hrossaborg

Hrossaborg

Hrossaborg

Herðubreið

Roots

Hrossaborg

Marshland south of Hrossaborg. It's not easy to find a good path through the labyrinth of dunes, cliffs and water courses.

Fremri-Grímsstaðanúpur

Otherworldly view towards Herðubreið, towering above endless lava fields of the Fjallagjá graben in a distance of 40km. My viewpoint was the small cone Miðhóll.

Wide views over the flat graben from Miðhóll

Fissure

Fjallagjá

Midnight sun...

...casts intense light on old lava

On the summit of Veggjabunga I found a very old cairn

Approaching Bræðraklíf

Hafragjá during sunset

Mask of Hafragjá

In the first days of June 2016 I was back in Iceland on a trekking journey along the northern tectonic graben system of Askja. This time again with Björn who already accompanied me on the Dyngjufjöll round in 2015. Starting at the F88 junction at Hrossaborg we followed the Fjallagjá towards two small cinder cones (Miðhóll, Fremstihóll), climbed Veggjabunga, walked along the steep cliffs of Hafragjá to Bræðraklíf and finally arrived in a windswept valley below the Gjáfjöll.

Route: Hrossaborg - Bleikkolluholt - Fjallagjá (Miðhóll, Fremstihóll) - Veggjabunga - Hafragjá (Bræðraklíf) - Gjáfjöll

Mývatnsöræfi, Myvatnsöraefi, Hrossaborg, Oblivion, F88, Herðubreiðarlindir, Explosion crater, Askja, Iceland, Ódáðahraun — Panorama of Hrossaborg ("city of horses") towards the North from its highest point.

Gjáfjöll / Herðubreiðarfjöll / Hrúthálsar (2016) ->