Camping on the F88. Moon plains!!!!
This next section covers the area from where the F88 leaves the ring road to Dreki Huts at the foot of Askja. It was 91km in total and took 2 1/2 days of walking, followed by a half day exploring Askja caldera and swimming in the thermally heated Öskjuvatn lake.
I followed the F88 for 59km until Thorsteinsskáli Hut. Then continued along the F88 for another 20km until it meets the F910, from which it is just 12km to Dreki.
From the ring road the landscape changed dramatically, a vast expanse of lava and ash as far as the eye could see. Wild camping the first night was magical. I had never heard silence like it and it was comforting to know that there wasn’t a soul around for miles in any one direction.
The few days were filled with plodding along taking in all the sights and sounds around me. Time was interspersed by huge distance mountains, fabulous rivers, unusual rock formations and a couple of river crossings (the deepest of which was probably knee height) as well as copious amounts of endless sand.
An actual day of sun! Managed to burn my nose and the solar panel worked!
Gorgeous scenery. Wherever there is water there is moss and a few hardy plants.
Herðubreið (queen of the mountains) in the distance.
Logistically it isn’t a particularly difficult area, the track is well formed and there are between 10-20 vehicles a day. Being on the road for 2 1/2 days meant that I often saw the same tour guides every day driving to and from Askja. I got friendly with a few of them, they would stop to chat and tell me I was making good progress and a couple of times I was given treats like chocolate or at one point a boil in the bag sticky toffee pudding. In terms of water, I was able to make do with what I was carrying with me but it is possible to top up at Thorsteinsskáli Hut and the rivers looked fast flowing enough that the water would be safe to drink.
After 91km of walking I came to Dreki Huts, where I paid for camping and then promptly managed to hitch a ride to the top of the crater (its a 16km round trip otherwise). I got lucky and managed to get a lift with an Icelandic tour guide in his super jeep! He had two clients with him but they seemed happy to have me along for the last bit of their journey. Once we got up to Öskjuvatn lake we all stripped off and went for a swim in the 20 degrees geothermally heated waters. You have to be careful there though, as in 2014 there were some pretty big landslides around the rim of the lake.
Before leaving Dreki Huts I visited the on site wardens and got some up to date advice. Some people seemed to think that there was going to be deep snow on the route to Kistufell, but this was later disproven by a vehicle that had recently come along the route. I also submitted a travel plan on https://safetravel.is/travel-plan just so that people would be aware of where I was going. The wardens were really helpful, they informed the warden at Nýidalur that I was on my way and gave a time frame of 5 days in case of bad weather. I also messaged my mum and best friend back home that if they hadn’t heard from me in 5 days time they should contact ICE-SAR. The only reason I took this many precautions was that this part of the route would be the most remote and I wouldn’t have any mobile phone signal.
Jökulsá á Fjöllum which I had seen enter the ocean earlier in the trip.
More moon plains.
Actually looks like Mars! I was lost for words at the scenery in this area.
Another night wild camping, not far from where the F88 meets the F910.