Blogs from Laugavegur, Southwest, Iceland, Europe

Advertisement

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur June 22nd 2022

It’s 6am and the sun is shining brightly. I decide to take my shower now whilst everyone else is still in bed. The bed has to be dismantled and bedding stowed before we can enjoy our breakfast. Today we have elected to head up to the hills to Pingveiller National Park - home to the first Viking parliament…formed in 980AD…and Oxararfoss, a gigantic waterfall. We start at the waterfall and then walk along a gulley formed by the movement of tectonic plates…’walking between two continent’ Ian has threatened to report more about this later? Retracing our steps we make our way towards a tiny tin church passing the site of the Viking parliament and taking in the lovely views. By the time we have done all this we are pretty tired but it’s hard to resist ... read more
Oxararfoss Waterfall
Rift between two continents
Tin Church

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur June 21st 2017

I had a difficult time finding practical info about walking the Laugavegur Trail in the opposite direction- from Thorsmork to Landmannalauger (skipping the Skogar portion because it's a little sketchy in mid-June), so this entry mainly falls within that scope. I hiked the 55k trail with my buddy Dan, but without a guide. If you're just here to see what I'm up to, there are photos throughout. Hopefully my spellings of Icelandic locations are somewhat consistent. Don't ask me to pronounce any of them. Booking the Huts and Buses For the huts, all you need to do is send an email to fi@fi.is with your booking request. I sent an email two months ahead of time and my preferred huts were already fully booked, which is why we had to walk in the opposite direction. The ... read more
River Crossing
View from Álftavatn Huts
Landscape after the climb toward Hraftinnmusker

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur June 30th 2014

Day 3: Hvanngil - Emstrur (Botnar) 10 km, 4 - 5 hoursElevation decrease: 40 m We saw a really lot of people one starting on the trail. We were wondering where all those people came from, probably there was some way for the buses to get in. Right after leaving the campsite, there is a bridge to cross one of the river Kaldaklofskvísl. This was a really nice area with rivers, stones, lot of streams, mostly flat. Then we saw service road and a bus driving in a distance. So that would explain sudden appearance of so many people on the trail. It was like a mela. Soon the second-deepest river of the trail needs to be crossed. Typically it would take some ... read more
Long walk
Lava field
Final campsite

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur June 29th 2014

This is a 4-day backpacking trip is the reason we were in Iceland. We started with a bus from our campsite to Landmannalaugar. Day 1: Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker 12 km, 4 - 5 hoursElevation increase: 470 m We took the hiker bus from campsite to landmannamaugar. The bus goes through some interesting mountain roads, wading a few rivers. It stated out as cloudy and drizzly but became a bit sunny by the time we reached the starting point.We were somewhat apprehensive about the hike - how difficult is it, how is the weather going to be and how are we going to deal with the snow etc. We knew that a stormy front is coming on Sunday, but we were supposed to have ... read more
Valley
White and Green
P1000662

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur July 25th 2011

for english scroll down Een maand arctische zomer aan de noordpoolcirkel, lijkt ons een uitstekend plan om de hongerige liefde te stillen die we voor het hoge noorden koesteren. Vooraleer we ons storten op een ferm uit te kluiten gewassen wildernistocht in Oost-Groenland, gooien we de benen los op, het met trollen en elfen, bevolkte Ijsland. Op het intrigerende eiland middenin de Atlantische Oceaan, is er een eeuwig gevecht aan de gang tussen zijn grote ijskappen en actieve vulkanen (waarvan Eyjafjallajökull intussen de sterrenstatus heeft bereikt). Dit voortdurende spektakel houwt het landschap in een buitenaards profiel. Met zijn slechts 3 inwoners/km² is het eiland, eenmaal van de kust weg, een vulkanische wildernis, waar haast g... read more
Lord of the Rings landscape
Eagle's eye on the Mýrdalsjökull
Rjupnafell

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur June 24th 2009

Late morning, the sun (!) wakes us, and we crawl out of our tent for some breakfast and coffee. Using the "super special" burning liquid bought in an outdoor shop in Reykjavik almost sets the tent on fire, because it produces a high flame, and all efforts to extinguish or control the size of the flame are in vain. Additionally, it completely covers all cookware involved in a thick layer of black soot. Quality stuff! Just for reference, if you own a Trangia using liquid fuel and you value your life, do not use Primus PowerFuel! To extinguish the flame, we needed to resort to using some of the moss around us. Yes, it's that bad! The coffee is still ok, and we pack up and continue on towards Ƥingvellir, the field between the European and ... read more
Prima!
On the road again
Piles of rocks

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur August 15th 2007

Emstrur to Þórsmörk Day four was a long hike, and every time we thought we were surely getting close, it always seemed as if there were a little more to go. We saw the only trees of the hike at the end, going through a birch forest with trees about 10 feet high. Then we arrived in beautiful Thorsmork, with the hut at the base of the glacier. Waiting on us there were two legs of lamb, several fish filets, lots of potatoes, salad, wine, and beer thanks to our Icelandic hosts, who had the feast shipped to us at the hut. How nice! We grilled the lamb and fish, drank the beer, and had an outstanding party. It was a great way to end a fabulous four days in the Icelandic countryside. ... read more
A Steep Decline
Rachel at the Gorge
Glacier

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur August 14th 2007

Álftavatn to Emstrur Day 3 was mainly interesting for the side trips at the beginning and end of the day. We started by climbing a small mountain next to the hut to the 360 degree views at the top. There we signed the notebook left for all of those who make the climb. At the end of the day we did a short hike from the hut out to a canyon. The wind was blowing like crazy but we stood on the lip and took pictures anyway. In between, we hiked through a volcanic ash desert. ... read more
View from the Top
Birna and the Flag
Rachel on the Mountain

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur August 13th 2007

Hraftinnusker to Álftavatn Day 2 may have been the hardest day. We had to cross a series of ice-filled crevices, but the ice was melting in many places. Then we had to climb a steep mountainside, then descend the other side on a trail of loose rocks to the valley below. Still, we were a good ways from our hut (and in fact had to hike past what looked like a nice hut, and go another couple of miles to get to our hut, including our first stream crossing. It was a long day, but at least at the end we had an entire room of the hut to ourselves. ... read more
landscape
Michael
Rachel

Europe » Iceland » Southwest » Laugavegur August 12th 2007

Landmannalaugar to Hraftinnusker We woke early in the morning to catch the bus from Reykjavik to Landmannalaugar, the starting point of our hike. It was a four hour bus ride and we arrived around lunch time. We had a nice lunch at Landmannalaugar, and of course I managed to cut my thumb slicing cheese. Already injured! But it wasn't too bad, so I slapped a band-aid on it and our group of 13 set out on our four day trek. The first day of the hike has the most elevation gain at something like 500 meters. But what they don't tell you is that is the net elevation gain from the start of the day to the end, and the day itself is up, down, up, down, up, down. We climbed far more than 500 ... read more
Christine and Birna at Mount Heckla
Landmannalaugar camp grounds -- the starting point of our hike.
Michael and treking poles, ready to go.




Tot: 0.162s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 11; qc: 77; dbt: 0.0772s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb