There is a huge, majestic volcano in the very heart of Iceland. People call it Askja and this name somehow makes you respect it before you actually see it. For me Askja means real interior, a lonely and silent beauty in the middle of a desolate land. When I first met her (it’s feminin in Icelandic), I was welcomed by the severest weather I could imagine… nevertheless I fell nothing but awe when I think of that day.
There are several roads leading to Askja – I chose a combination of 923 and F910 because it had been supposed to offer otherworldly views. It was indeed a perfect choice: after driving down from greenish mountains we entered a brown-grey land of ashy hills of molten lava. From time to time a distant, lonely mount revealed itself and accompanied us for a few minutes, tempting to stop and take a picture. One of them was Herðubreið which, an old and long time inactive volcano looking as a giant guard of that land. I’d say it was a desert but who saw such powerful rivers on a desert? In fact, they are the main reason for you to need an 4WD car to go there – the road is well maintained but there are many unbridged river crossings that you cannot avoid, some of which are more than 0.5m deep in the summer. Another reason is sand – when you get close enough to Askja, you have to be careful not to get stuck while driving slowly. There two other ways to reach Askja which I saw were possible: I met two men hiking (sic!) in the middle of nowhere who were asking for some drinking water and a few days later I met François who went there cycling with his teenage sons.
After passing by Drekagil, which is a camping/trekking base, the road turns narrower and you hear strange sound from beneath the car – I think it was caused by empty space under a fresh lava surface. It looked fresh because it hadn’t been yet shaped by erosion. Later I learnt that the last eruption in that area had place in 1960s so in geology language I was looking at a newborn child. From Drekagil cars are allowed to drive for 8km before stopping at a car park 2km before the caldera.
Before I went there, I’d read that there was a small lake called Viti (which translates to… hell) with warm geothermal water that you can swim in. Actually, Viti is my strongest memory from Askja trip. The 2km walk from the car park was a real struggle – the wind was very strong and it rained so heavily that when I finally reached Viti I was soaking wet. But I reached only the top of the crater, on the bottom of which laid the lake. The next challenge was to climb down, literally on my knees, as the slope was steep and covered by slippery mud. I was already exhausted when I finally reached the shore but what could I do: I HAD TO swim there! The water wasn’t hot, I guess it was ~28-30°C. Another thrilling experience in my live – outside the crater a hurricane and a rainstorm and inside me, little drops of rain on my face and no wind at all. Believe me, I’ll do it again if I ever have an opportunity. After the bath, I only had a short look at Öskjuvatn (the other, much bigger lake) and I went back to the car, fatigué mais heureux.
A short note about Askja: it’s a stratovolcano containing a few calderas. A caldera is a geological formation created following a volcano eruption. There are only six calderas in Europe and Askja is the only one in Iceland. Öskjuvatn fills a caldera resulting from 1875 eruption and Viti fills the explosion crater from that year. Askja is usually accessible by road only July-September due to harsh weather outside summer. More on Wikipedia.
