Fuel availability north of Vatnajökull glacier

[geokobbi]

Travellers

On old road maps of Iceland you will see fuel station at a farm called Grimsstadir. This place no longer sells fuel. I'm telling you this because I was at Kverkfjoll hut this weekend and met some bikers that were going to rely on fuel at Grimsstadir on their route south to Sprengisandur.

The only fuel in the area is at Adalbol farm, but during the next two years you can also buy fuel at the Karahnjukar workers camp. This fuel station is self-service only and seld 95okt fuel. This fuel station is ment for the people working at the Karahnjukar dam(n) , so it might be wise to consult with the people around.

The Karahnjukar fuel station is located at N64°56,579' W015°49,538' (WGS 84, hddd°mm.mmm'), or for those not using GPS, on the west side of of the glacier river Jökla and Mt. Kárahnjúkar.

More information on routes and conditions of those tracks in this area can be found in Iceland overland.

Jakob

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[MagnaBagger]

I know! The hard way

I was at Grimsstadir last summer, planned a needed patrol stop there before going to Askja and Sigurðarskali near glacier Vatnajökull. But the farmer told me this patrol station was closed for 12 years or so. I bought new Island maps though! He referred me to Möðrudalur, according to him, there 'should be' a gas station but he didn't know for sure, about 35Km to south east.


Abandoned gas station at Grimsstadir
(Click to enlarge)

I tried my luck and arrived at Möðrudalur, I see NO gas station! But there is a wonderful small camping, and when I asked the manager, he opened some wooden doors, and there was the petrol!

So I stayed the night there and in the morning drove back to the beginning to tho F88 to Askja. Because I had to return this this camping I had to drive about 35Km extra and because of this nearly ran out of fuel. I had only 18L and drove 330Km's through the highlands, sand and water.

Best part was when I reached Möðrudalur again after four day's of no gas stations going back using the F905, the petrol station was empty! And the manager emptied his own car and put 5L petrol in my bike. Such hospitality! Still had to find a next gas station in 100Km's though after that ;-)

[geokobbi]

I guess many bikers have the exact same problem magnaBagger had in the area north of Vatnajökull glacier. I belive this is the charm of this area; no fuel and endless cool trails and unforgettable nature.

There are number of things to do to avoid running out of fuel.
a) Know exactly how much you can travel on one full tank, with you bike loaded and in rought situation (sand).
b) Plan your trip very carefully. If you have gps with detailed map of Iceland, calculate the distance and add about 10-20% to that number. You might want to add more if you are calculating the distance from a map.
c) When you have used half of you supplies, see how far you have to go for the next fuel station. If the distance is greater than you have already done, you know what to do - turn around.
d) Use jerry cans. The roads close to the tarmac are normally in good conditions, so riding an extra heavy bike would not be a problem. As soon as you can, empty the jerry cans.
e) Make friends with travelers on cars, going your route. Ask them to bring few liters of fuel with them.
f) If you need a lot of fuel you might want to make a extra trip, without luggage, so you can stock up. Since some of the area north of Vatnajökull glacier is protected, I would not recommend you to ask the rangers to keep the fuel for you. Just find a nice spot and hide the cans. Just make sure you bring the cans with you when you have emptied them.

Hope this helps.

Jakob

[Bluedragon]

We're planning a trip in July so I wondered if anyone has any up-to-date information on availability of petrol in the Askja region. I think the petrol stations at Reykjahlíð near Myvatn and then Skjoldolfsstadir both on the N1 are open. What about the campsite at Möðrudalur or the farm at Adalbol?

[kevinhancock750]

i too will be going in july and have been thinking seriously about the fuel aspect in iceland. i want to do a lot of the interior and therefore would like any suggestions on a reasonable sort of mileage/litrage between fuel stops.i run an AT and taken very easily will do 200miles before hitting reserve which leaves another 5ltr.(road use).obviously loaded up and off road i will not get this mileage and am therefore considering carrying an extra 10ltr of fuel in a jerry can/s. from time to time i will need civilisation to buy food etc so i am wondering whether i need to carry this or am i just going into overkill. any suggestions?

Hi Kevin,

Fuel north of Vatnajökull is scarce there is a fuel station at Adalbol N65 01.000 W15 34.524
And there is huge dam project which had fuel station on site but I needed a escort to the station. I also had a free tour of the dam. Some of the roads have been flooded by this project but you can go around it OK.
At the start of roads and main junctions there are large signs which show what services are in the area and the distances are shown as well.
I have a Transalp with a range of 200 miles and north of Vatnajökull was the only area I had to watch the range and it did stop me taking a few detours. I don't think I would bother with the hassle of extra fuel. There are some challenging rides and river crossings around this area and the extra weight and hazard of carrying fuel is not worth it IMHO.

Steve

[Bluedragon]

Thanks for the replies. I've never done enough off-roading in one hit to know what the fuel consumption will be so I'd rather be conservative than walk a long way and I think I'll probably have a few extra litres on board.

Originally Posted by Bluedragon

Thanks for the replies. I've never done enough off-roading in one hit to know what the fuel consumption will be so I'd rather be conservative than walk a long way and I think I'll probably have a few extra litres on board.

Hi Chris,
After a couple of tank refills you should have idea of MPG. There are some interior routes with soft sand and thankfully the ones I used the soft stuff was in short stretches and did not have an impact on my normal fuel consumption. The rest of the dirt is hard packed and made from volcanic aggregate which gives good levels of grip. Unless you are roosting the back wheel everywhere MPG should be average.

What tyre are you going to use. I used Michelin T63 tyres.

Steve

[Bluedragon]

No rooster tails from me (unless it's by accident!) so hopefully the consumption will be OK from what you say Steve. I've got TKC80's on the 650GSD at the moment but I plan to put on a new set before I go so I could change type if necessary. I see elsewhere that you wore your TKC80's out after 2500 but we've only got a week so I doubt we'll do anywhere near that much distance. Did the Michelin T63's last better?

Chris

Originally Posted by Bluedragon

No rooster tails from me (unless it's by accident!) so hopefully the consumption will be OK from what you say Steve. I've got TKC80's on the 650GSD at the moment but I plan to put on a new set before I go so I could change type if necessary. I see elsewhere that you wore your TKC80's out after 2500 but we've only got a week so I doubt we'll do anywhere near that much distance. Did the Michelin T63's last better?
Chris

Chris,
Only use TKCs that one time and arrived at the conclusion they are a very overrated tyre. The T63s grip better than the TKC off road, very noticeable on the accents and descents. The front also steers better and has less of a tendency to plow in soft sand (I tried them in Morocco this year). Not much to choose between them on road but the rear T63 lasts twice as long on the Transalp. Shop around and you should get a pair for the same money as TCKs I paid £100 a set end of last year but I have seen that they have gone up a bit since then.(F90 90 21 - R130 80 17)

The worst sand I found was on the F337 south of the Langjokull it was very dusty sand and with a light wind behind me I had to ride along in my own dust storm, I am still finding that dust when I service the bike, changed the head light bulb the other day and the back of the bulb was covered.

Steve

[AliBaba]

Originally Posted by SteveAttwood

Chris,
Only use TKCs that one time and arrived at the conclusion they are a very overrated tyre.
Steve

Couldn’t agree more!

[geokobbi]

Originally Posted by SteveAttwood

Fuel north of Vatnajökull is scarce there is a fuel station at Adalbol N65 01.000 W15 34.524
And there is huge dam project which had fuel station on site but I needed a escort to the station.

Steve

The project at Karahnjukar dam is finised so there is not fuel-station there any more, only the fuel station at Adalbol.

If you are intending to ride in the area north of Vatnajokull, make sure you know your bike fuel consumption. The roads can be tricky with heavy sand, so adding 10-15% to the normal fuel consumption would be fare.

[kevinhancock750]

thanks for that geokobbi.
i am planning my route at the moment and obviously fuel stops are an important part of it. i was watching television yesterday about the building of the dam so will be going to visit this also.
did'nt see steve on there though!