Hekla 1491m

Hekla, seen here from Skarda, is not the highest mountain in Iceland but it is perhaps the best known.

Although Kelsey's guide to the Mountains of the World dismisses it as "a good climb for the average traveller or tourist" this was not reflected in our experience. This is not to imply that the climb involved any technical difficulty, but there is no track and, as is usual on a recently active volcano, the terrain is exceedingly rough. Our problems were compounded by worsening weather which deprived us of views from the top, or indeed of being certain that we had reached the absolute summit. The summit area is a maze of small craters and a small cairn on the unstable rim of one of them had to content us. We finished well after dark and, unwilling to risk driving on the poor roads, ended up with an uncomfortable and cold night with three of us trying to sleep in our small rented car. A memorable ascent! The small picture shows us on the way up on the rim of one of the craters.

Here are some more Hekla links:

Walking the World Index
This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page
1