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The Official Tourist Guide - East Iceland

The Official Tourist Guide - East Iceland

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⌘ Skessugarður close to Sænautasel is a huge<br />

natural wall made of boulders that on the average<br />

weigh a couple of tons. <strong>The</strong> Troll´s wall was formed<br />

by the ice-age glacier and later washed clean of<br />

smaller rock during a catastropic flood. Don‘t miss<br />

this geological phenomena.<br />

⌘ Kárahnjúkar dam and Hálslón reservoir<br />

were created as part of <strong>Iceland</strong>’s most massive<br />

and controversial construction project to date,<br />

and have since become a frequently visited site<br />

by tourists observing the gigantic structures. <strong>The</strong><br />

reservoir covers an area of 57km 2 and reaches<br />

all the way to the edge of Brúarjökul. <strong>The</strong> dam<br />

is Europe’s largest of its kind with a height of<br />

193 m. <strong>The</strong> long-term use of the water form<br />

the reservoir, for turning the powerful turbines<br />

down at Fljótsdalur Station, began in late 2006.<br />

<strong>The</strong> power plant supplies energy to an alumina<br />

smelter in Reyðarfjörður. Two tuff peaks named<br />

Kárahnjúkar, the higher one is 835 meters, stand<br />

on the east bank of the Jökulsá river.<br />

⌘ Hafrahvammagljúfur. Below the dam<br />

at Kárahnjúkar the river Jökulsá river cuts<br />

through Kárahnjúkar forming a huge canyon,<br />

Hafrahvammagljúfur, as well as Dimmugljúfur<br />

which is one of the darkest and most impressive<br />

canyons in <strong>Iceland</strong> over 200 m deep. <strong>The</strong>re is a<br />

short hike to the viewpoint of the now almost<br />

empty gorge.<br />

www.east.is<br />

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