Day 1: Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker (12km)
When I woke up at 7.30am it was raining hard. We decided to wait for a while for the rain to stop. This trek is one of my main reasons coming to Iceland. It is known as the Laugavegur hike, from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork. The trail offers a great variety of landscape, mountains in almost every colour of the rainbow, great glaciers, roaring hot springs, big rivers and lakes. Generally the hike lasts four days. Finally we started walking around 11.00am when the rain had stopped. That day we had to walk 12km, all uphill, destination was the Hrafntinnusker hut.
And then, the hailstorm came...!! In combination with the really strong wind, the hail would be hitting your face from all directions causing quite a lot of pain. It was time to tighten the hood, cover as much of our faces as possible and walk with the head down. Temperature has dropped down to freezing point. Suddenly the backpack started to feel very heavy. My hands were so frozen I couldn't feel them anymore. My nose started running down life a river. We keep on going in these conditions until the hail stopped. Then, until we reached the hut it would start and stop again every now and then.
And then the fog came. Thick fog, the kind you can't see further than 10-15 meters. We had to be careful to stay on the trail. Just two years before (in 2004, my visit 2006), a 25 years old Israeli guy left his last breath, very close to our destination hut. He must have been lost due to this kind of fog we were experiencing but in his case it was worse, he was also trapped in a vicious storm, eventually he passed away and died of exposure to the fierce elements... a small memorial was built on the place of his death.
Finally, Hrafntinnusker hut was on sight! The last five minutes of walk to the hut felt like an eternity. It took us four hours for these 12km. Was supposed to camp but after being beaten up by hail and exposure to freezing cold I decided to stay in, fortunately there was space even though I didn't have a reservation (don't know how is the case now with Iceland being overrun with tourists). The hut was very warm and ran by a sweet Icelandic girl with two ponytails. Put all our stuff on the heating to dry and had some food. Gilbert and Florence offered me some hot coffee which felt like heaven drinking it. A few more people arrived after us, two Germans who had a break and then headed back (!!) because they had left their car in Landmannalaugar, three Icelandic girls who had some rest and then they went on to hike another 12km to the next hut!! (Icelandic people are definitely tough). The toilet is a nice experience as it is outside, you have to be fast otherwise you will freeze!
One final view of our starting point tomorrow, before I go to sleep. The hut has a thermometer on its side outside so we can monitor the temperature. When we arrived at 15.00 temperature was 0c, then at 19.30 it had dropped down to -3c. Snow kept on falling, it was really beautiful....
When I woke up at 7.30am it was raining hard. We decided to wait for a while for the rain to stop. This trek is one of my main reasons coming to Iceland. It is known as the Laugavegur hike, from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork. The trail offers a great variety of landscape, mountains in almost every colour of the rainbow, great glaciers, roaring hot springs, big rivers and lakes. Generally the hike lasts four days. Finally we started walking around 11.00am when the rain had stopped. That day we had to walk 12km, all uphill, destination was the Hrafntinnusker hut.
Start of the trail, Florence and Gilbert, the French couple I met on the way here and decided to walk together.
Going up leaving Landmannalaugar behind.
One last view looking back to Landmannalaugar as we continue climbing.
Slowly slowly we started crossing colorful mountains.
Steam emerging through the ground and we have to walk through it!
Rough lava field on the way to the plateau.
Now we were finally crossing the colorful mountains, really beautiful!
Had to snap a shot with the mountains on the background.
Incredible views, colors and steaming hot spring lakes here and there.
Now the most of the route is covered in snow.
Additional information
GPS coordinates for places in this post, click on them to be redirected to the exact point in google maps. Click on the names to be redirected to their official websites (if applicable).
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