+iceland++thórsmörk glacier++thórsmörk and skógar++photo galleries++mail rob sullivan bunyarra@hotmail.com++home+
Thorsmork is a wide valley named after Thor, the Viking God of Thunder. The rugged nature of green valleys, steep mountains, clear creeks and wild rivers make Thorsmork one of the countrys most popular hiking grounds. Surrounded by 3 glaciers, Myrdalsjokull, Eyjafjallajokull and Tindfjallajokull in the southern part of Iceland, it offers a great picturesque panorama and landscape. Its only about 160 km east of Reykjavik but the last 30 km is one of greatest strips of mountain track you encounter Ewith unbrigded rivers and streams to cross. We visited here after stopping off at the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, and it was a nice sunny summers day, perfect for travelling in IcelandMe and the glacier, on the edge of the icecapThe Eyjafjallajokull Glacier and the mountains it rests on are one of the most impressive sights in south Iceland. Covering an area of 78 km(2), the glacier tends to thin out towards its rims, except to the north where its tongues Gigjokull and Steinholtsjokull creep down onto the lowlands facing the Thorsmork nature reserve. For all those geological freaks, Iceland is said to be an excellent place to study glaciers and glacial landforms. About 10% of the land area of Iceland is covered by glaciers. During the last Ice Age almost all of the country was covered by permanent snow and glacier ice.
Thórsmörk is an idyllic place of exceptional meteorological conditions hidden in the embrace of glaciers and mountains. Thórsmörk is a place of breathtaking landscapes and a fauna of great variety. It is the home of 170 seminiferous plants as well as a variety of trees, moss and fern. There are several hiking possibilities from the lodges in Húsadalur. A short hike leads to interesting caves and the canyon of Markarfljótsgljúfur. The peak of Valahnjúkur offers a magnificent view and following a path from there a bridge over Krossá makes it possible to visit the part of Thórsmörk that lies on the other side of the river. From Húsadalur it is also possible to take the beaten path to Landmannalaugar, a treasured place where natural pools offer unique bathing facilities fed by hot springs
Here is the bus I had ridden from Reykjavik past Hekla and Seljalandsfoss to this stunning subarctic wonderland, and it was a true beast, capable of conquering any landscape, as the busdriver Batti produly boasted

r
o
b

s
u
l
l

i
v
a
n

 G
L
A
C
I
E
R
 j
u
n
e

2
2

2
0
0
6

 S
o
u
t
h

I
c
e
l
a
n
d

 I
C
E
L
A
N
D