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Sandfell

Sandfell is the site of an abandoned farm in Öræfi, where in more recent times there was a church and a vicarage, until the year 1931. The farm, which dates back to the Age of Settlement, was, according to the Book of Settlements, the home of Þorgerður, the widow of Ásbjörn Heyangur-Bjarnarson, who was lost at sea on his way to Iceland. Þorgerður then turned settler and lived at Sandfell with her sons. Sandfell was abandoned in 1947.

Image: Danish surveyors in the meadow at Sandfell in Öræfi in 1902

Sandfell is where one of the major hiking routes to Hvannadalshnjúkur begins. It should be pointed out that the hiking route to Hvannadalshnjúkur is long and somewhat difficult, and much of it is on the glacier. The safest way is to go up on the glacier with experienced mountain guides.

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