This travel blog is the 5th in an 8-part series about Eyjafjörður fjord in North Iceland. My last travel blog was about the most famous ghost story in Iceland, "Djákninn á Myrká"- the Deacon of Dark River.
I made a detour from Eyjafjörður fjord into Hörgárdalur and Öxnadalur valleys to show you where the ghost story took place. And I must show you my all-time favourite mountain in Iceland, the pinnacle Hraundrangi in Mt. Drangafell.
Top photo: Hraundrangi in the clouds
Háls in Öxnadalur and Hraundrangi
It is an absolutely stunning mountain, like something out of a fairytale, a cathedral-like mountain, and one has to stop and admire it.
The mountain peak Hraundrangi makes it ever so majestic.
Mt. Hraundrangi in the wintertime - and Háls farm
Below the mountain is the farm Hraun, after which Hraundrangi was named.
The farm Hraun was the birthplace of the beloved Icelandic poet and natural scientist Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807-1845), who wrote some of Iceland's most beautiful poems.
It is not the farm in the above photos, though; this is Háls farm, it just makes for a good photo motif. Hraun is a little bit further east.
The memorial for Jónas Hallgrímsson in Jónasarlundur
Jónas Hallgrímsson was born at Hraun in Öxnadalur on the 16th of November in 1807, but moved to Steinsstaðir close by a year later, where he grew up. He died in Copenhagen in 1845, at age 37.
His grave is at Þingvellir National Park in South Iceland, one of only two graves in the national graveyard.
There is a lovely grove right by the main road in Öxnadalur valley, the Jónas Memorial Grove (Jónasarlundur). It was consecrated in 1996 and dedicated to the memory of Jónas Hallgrímsson.
The view dial in Jónasarlundur in Öxnadalur
The grove was consecrated that year in memory of the 150th anniversary of Jónas.
You will find a memorial stone in the Memorial Grove with a low relief of Jónas.
Inside the grove, you will also find a view-dial, erected in 1958 by Ferðafélag Íslands, Akureyrardeild.
It shows the names and height of the surrounding mountains and is the 8th view-dial erected in Iceland.
My husband and father-in-law by the view-dial - the view-dial is quite tall and difficult to photograph
The trees have grown so much since the view-dial was put up that they are now totally blocking the view.
I have seen old footage from Jónasarlundur grove, and back then it looked very different, and the view-dial stood tall on a mound with very few trees around it.
My father-in-law, Jakob Hálfdanarson, designs view-dials and we are always on the lookout for them when travelling around Iceland.
Hraundrangi in the snow
Now back to my favourite mountain. The name Hraundrangi means "Lava pillar" or "Lava spire". Mt. Drangafjall divides two valleys, Öxnadalur valley and Hörgárdalur valley.
Mt. Hraundrangi is 1,075 meters tall and was believed to be unscalable.
In 1956, three climbers conquered the mountain: 2 Icelanders from the Icelandic Air Ground Rescue Team and a Lieutenant of the US Air Force.
Hraundrangi in the snow
It took them 6 hours to climb the peaks, and the surface area at the peak top was less than half an m².
Since then, the mountain has been climbed many times, and in 1991, eleven people climbed it on the same occasion.
Somewhere around 150 people have now managed to climb this magnificent peak. You can watch a video of a 2020 climb on Vísir; it is truly amazing.
Hraundrangi and Drangakista to the left of it
Icelandic folklore tells us about a keg filled with money on the peak, and the one who first climbs the peak would get that keg.
The first climbers didn't find any trace of that keg; was there maybe someone who had preceded them...?
Another legend tells us about Grettir Ásmundarson, the hero of the Icelandic Grettir's Saga, climbing the mountain and leaving his knife and belt up there.
Photographing Mt. Hraundrangi
Cars often stop in the middle of the road when people spot this beautiful mountain and stop to admire it, as it all of a sudden appears like a beautiful castle.
But if you drive a little further on your right-hand side, you will find a driveway where you can stop and take pictures.
A little further on, you will also find a driveway on your left-hand side, where you can get out of the car. It is so worth it, Hraundrangi is just breathtaking.
No matter how many times I visit North Iceland, I always stop and admire this mountain and take photos.
Hraundrangi is called Drangi from this side in the Hörgárdalur valley
There is another way to see the mountain: drive behind the mountains into Hörgárdalur valley and view Hraundrangi from the other side, from Myrká, where the grave of the Deacon of Dark River is located.
The mountain looks equally majestic from the Hörgárdalur valley, the less-visited side of it.
The locals in the Hörgárdalur valley don't refer to the pinnacle as Hraundrangi; they only call it Drangi. And that is understandable, as the farm Hraun, after which Hraundrangi is named, is in the other valley.
Hraundrangi looks amazing with the sun pillar
As you can see from the photos, taken over several years, I cannot get enough of this mountain.
I wish I had had a better camera when I took the last photo, as it was breathtaking seeing the peaks flooded with sunlight.
To reach this area, you can rent a car in Reykjavík and drive up north - Hraundrangi is 372 km away from the capital city.
Here is the location of Mt. Hraundrangi on Google Maps.
This is part V in my series of travel blogs on Eyjafjörður fjord - you can join me on a tour of this longest fjord of Iceland with some detours into some interesting valleys:
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part I - Hrísey Island, the Pearl of Eyjafjörður
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part II - Dalvík & the Great Fish Day
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part III - the Historical Gásir and the Vikings
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part IV - The Deacon of Dark River - A Ghost Story from North-Iceland
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part V - Mt. Hraundrangi in Öxnadalur and Hörgárdalur Valleys
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part VI - Akureyri - the Capital City of North-Iceland
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part VII - the Christmas House is open all Year round
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part VIII - Historical Churches in the Mouth of the Fjord
Have a lovely time in North Iceland :)
