day 1 - Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker

As you can see from the post title, the Icelandic language contains words that are way to long and in a strange order, so its incredibly hard to try and say!!

We caught a bus from Reykjavik and got to the Landmannalaugar hut for lunch. It was overcast, but still incredibly beautiful. The black rocks and green moss make for a stunning combination!

Had the funny ( and scary) realisation that one of our group had worn jeans, and had no beanie or gloves, so our guide had to get him some gear. I was starting to feel confident! But the hut warden was really stern about the weather, and no independent hikers were aloud to leave without a GPS. The two groups which had tried to get to the hut that morning returned while we were getting ready, they had been unable to get through.

We headed off for what was described as 12 kms, 5 hours, climbing about 500m, so all in all not to bad. The start was lovely, through big chunk of lava, called ( not surprisingly ) a lava field!! Very Lord of the Rings!

And then on to active geothermal areas, where the water is boiling out of the ground

and over really colourful bald hills.

This is where it started getting really interesting with the weather. By the time we were about half way through it was raining hard, icy rain, and blowing a gale. I mean literally nearly blowing you off your feel. Then the fog closed in and it got really scary. Walking across black lava sand, hardly able to see a metre in front of you, on steep slopes and in wind. I was so glad of Inga, and her orange jacket.

We arrived safely, after passing the memorial to two Israeli boys who died on this part of the trail in summer. Talk about peak adventure!  We were all wet, and glad of the hut, which was filled with us and about 15 independent hikers, all very concerned.


Track notes:
Distance 12 km, estimated walking time 4 - 5 hours. Elevation increase 470 meters. From the hut in Landmannalaugar (75 persons, GPS 63°59.600 - 19°03.660) the trail goes through a rough lavafield "Laugahraun". From there on up the slopes of "Brennisteinsalda" and to the plateau. The view offers an incredible spectrum of colours. After 3 - 4 hours you arrive at "Stórihver", a hot spring and almost the only green spot visible in the first day. In most years the rest of the trail from "Stórihver" to "Höskuldsskáli" hut is covered with snow. Chances of fog are very high so even though the trail is clearly marked you must be careful. A walk to the icecaves (approx. 1.5km from the hut) is a must. The huts location GPS 63°55.840 - 19°09.700 and sleeps 36 persons.