Öræfajökull is an ice-covered volcano in south-east Iceland. The largest active volcano and the highest peak in Iceland at 2,110 metres (6,920 ft), it lies within the Vatnajökull National Park and is covered by the glacier. Seen here from the black desert sands of Skeiðarársandur.
The sand is carved by millennia of glacial floods that have come flowing from nearby glaciers Skaftafellsjökull, Svínafellsjökull, Skeiðarárjökull and Morsárjökull. The bridge in the foreground is regularly swept away out to sea by massive glacial flood waves that come rushing down the sands. The snowy peak in the middle is Hvannadalshnúkur, pyramidal peak on the northwestern rim of the summit crater of the Öræfajökull volcano in Iceland and is the highest in Iceland. An official measurement completed in August 2005 established the height of the mountain as 2,109.6 metres (6,921 ft) (previously set as 2,119 m (6,952 ft)) The route to the top is a popular climb through numerous and frequently hidden crevasses, and, because of this, the climb calls for experienced mountain guides.