Day 74. 12th September. Landmannaleið, Highlands, Iceland.

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The images in this post are taken along Landmannaleið, an old route from east to west, now more prosaically known as the F225.

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The last two posts were at Ljótipullur.  I drove to Hrauneyfoss which is an hotel, a little island of civilisation in the wilderness.  I needed to fill up with petrol and also took the opportunity to have a meal in the restaurant.  Then I proceeded back along the F26 until making a sharp left onto Landmannaleið (or F225).  I stopped at Landmannahellir for the night.  The dotted line at the end roughly represents an alternative road that is not covered by the mapping utility I am using here.  The next day I would end up back at Landmannalaugar.

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We earlier saw posts from along the south east coast.  Now you can drive west from there along the coast.  Not that long ago there were no roads and bridges and it was not possible to traverse the lava and the rivers.  Even now, the road is cut sometimes by floods and potentially lava flows from volcanic eruptions.

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These are views as we drive along Landmannaleið.

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The old Landmannaleið route was marked by cairns.  Sometimes where there was a shortage of stone these were made of turf.  It was the main road then or perhaps I should say main track, and cargo and provisions were transported on horseback.

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By now it had got to late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set.

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Road conditions are variable and involve fords.  Here the road dips to go through a stream.  Some roads (not the ones I drove on) are notorious because of the drivers who undertake them in unsuitable rental vehicles (two wheel drive and some four wheel drive) and become stuck in them.  In those circumstances you can lose the car and have to buy a new one.  There is very little available in the way of vehicle insurance in the Icelandic highlands.

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Here I am approaching a ford crossing a river.  I walked across the river and selected the left branch in the road because the ford was quite safe.  You can just see that road disappearing in the distance (well, maybe you need to click on the image for a larger view).  It is the dotted line on the map but was no different for road conditions.

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This must be Löðmundur, the mountain above Landmannahellir where I was to spend the night.

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