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About 30 kilometres south of the Breidarlon lagoon the Ring Road reaches a vast alluvial plain and makes a bend to the north following the foot of the mountain range bordering the Vatnajokull glacier. What had been a large bay is now filled up with sand and rubble and builds the vast Skeidararsandur plane. Responsible for this are the Grímsvötn and Örćfajökull volcanoes. Especially the Grímsvötn, who erupts on average every 10 years, had and has a big responsibility for filling up this area. The volcano lies underneath the glacier and with every eruption abruptly melts big parts of the ice which results in sometimes massive floods rushing down to the sea and carrying plenty of rubble.
At the base of the Skaftafell glacier the road makes another bend and heads southwest again, still following steep mountain cliffs with a succession of glaciers in between. It is hard to concentrate on the road with a panorama like this and at one point passed a particularly spectacular scenery and left the road at the next possibility to have a closer look. I followed a dirt track for a while and parked the van at the foot of the moraine. From there it was short walk up the moraine and into a stunning alpine scenery.
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