Lónsöraefi
NATURE RESERVES IN LÓNSÖRÆFI
STAFAFELLSFJÖLL
Extending inland from the coastal plain Lón in Austur-Skaftafellssýsla is a ring of mountains, dales and wastelands of extremely varied form and colour. Since early times the Stafafell property has been the largest in the Lón area. Its church was the principal one in the region in pre-Reformation times and had its own minister until 1920. The property included several crofts and the present farm Brekka developed from one of them. Both the home pastures and the grazing rights for the mountains of Stafafell are shared by these two properties. The land above the farmsite at Stafafell is called Heimafjall between the rivers Jökulsá and Hlíðará, as far up as the ravine Hvannagil and the peak Fláatindur. Further inland are Austurskógar, which reach as far as Sviptungnavarp near the peak Hnappadalstindur, where awesome chasms block any further progress by man or animal. The entire area is referred to as Framfjöll, to distinguish it from Innfjöll, west of Jökulsá, extending from Skyndidalsá north to the watershed line on Hraun and including Víðidalur.
NATURE RESERVES IN LÓNSÖRÆFI
On the initiative of the East Iceland Nature Preservation Assoc. (NAUST) the Innfjöll area, along with Eskifell, Kjarrdalsheiði, Kollumúli and Víðidalur, was declared a protected area in 1977 in accordance with the Nature Conservation Act and the landowners' agreement. The protected area is referred to either as part of the wilderness Lónsöræfi or the Stafafellsfjöll mountains.
The protected land area in Lónsöræfi is one of the largest in Iceland, totalling some 320 sq. km., a superb natural region equal to a national park. It is surrounded by high mountain ranges, reaching over 1000 m, on three sides, crowned by snowy peaks and glaciers stretching icy tongues down the valleys. To the west is Grendill, the highest peak (1570 m), with Jökulgilstindar (1313 m) in the east and Sauðhamarstindur (1319) between them. From many locations a glimpse can be caught of Snæfell (1833) in the northwest, beyond Hraun.
GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS AND BIOSPHERE
Varied and colourful geological formations characterise this area, most of them dating back som 5-7 million years, although the most recent originated during the last Ice Age. Within or near the protected area are the remains of many central volcanoes: Lónseldstöðvar are closest to the farms while Kollumúlaeldstöðvar are deep in the reserve, Flugustaðaeldstöðvar on its eastern edge and Eyjabakkaeldstöðvar in the northwest. They are all characterised by acid rock, liparite and intrusions, in addition to which thermal activity has played a part in producing the area's colourful rock formations. The remaining evidence of this activity is found in mineral springs.
In Kollumúlaeldstöð a caldera some 35 sq. km in area was formed and the large quantity of fused fragments north of Illikambur is evidence of an explosive eruption there.
The immense erosive forces of the Ice Age have lacerated the country and given it the striking appearance it bears today. Glaciers hollowed out the valleys Jökulsárdalur and Víðidalur, after which the rivers running through them carved deep chasms. Several waterfalls liven up the scenery – in Jökulsá high up in Vesturdalur, there is a high waterfall in the river running south from Vatnadæld, a towering falls flowing from Suðurfjall across from Tröllakrókar and falls such as Dynjandi and Beljandi in Víðidalsá.
Birch woods are located farther up Jökulsá, thickest in Leiðartungur and to the south of Kollumúli, where rowan trees also grow. Mountain plants such as glacier buttercup and Arctic poppy grow in the slide debris down to the lowlands, along with yellow saxifrage, a characteristic plant of Iceland's East Fjords.
Historical sources mention reindeer in this area in the 19th century and since 1964 the animals have often been seen in considerable number.
FARMS AND SIGNS OF HABITATION
Two now deserted farms, Eskifell and Grund in Víðidalur, serve to link the nature reserve with local history and legend during the 19th century. People lived at Eskifell 1836-63 and at Grund for three separate periods, totalling 20 years, 1835-97. Around the turn of this century the farmers at Stafafell began to herd their sheep, especially the weathers and weaned lambs, to summer pasture north of Skyndidalsá and many of the place names including Lamba- as an element recall such farming practices. Sheep were later herded into Innfjöll prior to lambing, where they were sheared and earmarked. After 1960 this practice ceased and there were few sheep in the area that decade, giving the vegetation a chance to flourish. Since 1971 farmers from Nes farms have pastured their sheep in the Innfjöll area and grazing is evident from the vegetation in many areas.
TRADITIONAL MOUNTAIN TRAILS AND TRAVELLING
In former centuries the highland trail crossing this area lay along the eastern edges of the glacier Vatnajökull. Travel between districts was on horseback; men from the north of the country, for instance, headed for the fishing stations south of the glacier. Many ancient cairns and place names, such as the fords Norðlingavað in Jökulsá and Víðidalsá, bear witness to such traffic. After farms in Viðidalur were occupied late in the 19th century, more attention was again given to these wilderness trails and a number of men travelled the route between the Fljótsdalur and Lón districts, among them Þorvaldur Thoroddsen, the first natural scientist to make the trip. The trail lay, as it does even today, along Illikambur. The farmers of Víðidalur set up tow-ropes with small rafts to cross Jökulsá and Víðidalsá in 1892-93. In 1953 people of the Lón district built a footbridge over Jökulsá by the hut at Nes, which the farmers of Víðidalur called Stórahnausnes. From the mid-1960s onwards travellers began to make their way along the paths to Illikambur, camping by the ridge.
The Touring Club of Austur-Skaftafellssýsla built the mountain hut Múlaskáli at Nes in 1991-92 and the following year the Touring Club of the Fljótsdalur region built a hut on the lake Kollumúlavatn at an altitude of 630 m. Earlier a hut had been built on the north slope of Geldingafell. These huts are spaced at suitable intervals for hikers between Stafafell and Snæfell or Fljótsdalur. Plans are underway for the building of a footbridge over Jökulsá at Austurskógar with a stopping place in the vicinity, which would provide a continuous chain of huts along the hiking route between settled areas.
NATURAL PROTECTION AND INFORMATION
General rules for protected areas apply to these nature reserves. All driving is prohibited, except on the track to Illikambur, and the area is in other respects a hiking region.
Nature warden operates in the area on behalf of the Environment and Food Agency of Iceland.
Helga Davids, helgadavids@ust.is
Office is at Nýheimum, 780 Höfn, Hornafirði
Tel: 470-8030 / 822-4036
Nature warden is stationed in Múlaskáli over the summer months who can provide information on hiking routes. Similar service is available at the hut at Snæfell. Information on the area can also be obtained from the travel services at Stafafell.
