Iceland!!!!! Trekking, Laugavegur Trail

The Laugavegur Trail is where it's at. Four days and 55 km (plus extra with the scenic detours) from Landmannlauger to Thorsmork.

Day 1: Despite the wardens at Landmannlauger warning that trekkers must have winter gear and GPS to navigate snow and foggy conditions, our first day heading out from Landmannlauger was glorious sunshine and views. As we looked back we had the whole Landmannlauger valley below us, painted mountains in every direction and stunning textures combining sky, clouds, steam and snow.

The hike was a bit more than six miles and something like 800m of elevation with the last couple of miles over icy, slushy snow that felt like walking through sand. As the Jeep shuttling our food and gear had lost a wheel, we arrived at the hut in Hrafntinnusker ahead of dinner. Near the highest point of the trail, Hrafntinnusker is the must rustic of the huts with no flush toilets, no hot water, the tiniest kitchen and somehow squeezes in sleeping space for about 50 people.

Despite the sunny start things were chilly and people were hungry. Our guide had packed with him some dry soup packets to keep us from starving and we tried to keep up a chirpy attitude. It helped to think of the poor souls camping outside, who were also waiting for their food and gear but had to do it outside without the tents as the tents were part of the delayed gear. When dinner finally came it was pasta with a creamy red pepper and garlic sauce (coconut cream for me) combined with smoked salmon and was delicious.

View of campers from inside the hut.

Day 2: This day was hard.

We woke up to heavy wind, icy rain and whiteout conditions. The trail was rocky, muddy, slippery, not well marked, had multiple river crossings, a good amount of elevation and was 12.5 miles. We aren't sure what the sustained wind speed was, but it moved my big and strong Christopher around. At one point he nearly lost a glove as it shot out horizontally when he dropped it. In our group was a solo 74-year-old woman who had never done anything like this, was a little bit unsteady on her feet and kept the pace very, very slow. Part of me was incredibly impressed at her courage and determination. Another part of me was soggy, covered in mud (from a slide down a short, steep, loose slope), frozen to the bone and impatient to move faster so I could warm up and get to the next hut. That evening's rice, yam, veggie stew was extremely welcome.

The most treacherous part of the day was over, we doing our last river crossing of the day, the hut was just a couple of miles away and we hadn't lost anyone. Our guide was feeling good about life.

The hut that night was slightly less rustic but the sleeping quarters were quad bunk beds (two people on top, two people on bottom) ringing the edge of a small room. I ended up on a top bunk next to the wall with a ceiling so low I couldn't sit up except in between the exposed rafters. I woke up in the middle of the night in a sweaty, claustrophobic panic. Turning my headlamp on helped me calm down slightly but the panic came right back as soon as I turned the light off. I ended up clambering over Christopher, waking and annoying him in the process, and spending 10 or 15 minutes in the quiet, cool kitchen calming down before I could try and go back to sleep.

Day 3: We started with cold, soggy gear and an outlook for another 12.5 miles of miserable weather. However, as they say, "If you don't like the weather in Iceland, wait ten minutes," and we had a perfectly manageable day. It wasn't warm and there was still some wind and patches of rain but we had a mostly dry day and even some patches of sun.  Lunch was at a spot with a smallish canyon, dramatic waterfall, glaciers and mountains all around and a herd of Icelandic horses for our lunch companions.

Near the end of the end of the day we took a little 45-minute detour to a huge, dramatic, stunning canyon.  One of the photos we took there ended up being our holiday card, but even then photos don't come close to doing it justice. The drama is part the sheer size and intensity of canyon itself but also the suddenness with which it emerges from the surrounding landscape. Iceland, and this day in particular, felt like the setting for an epic other-worldly adventure.

Day 4: Our last day on the official Laugavegur Trail was a transition from long black sandy plains, crazy and incoherent mountain formations, no birds, no sheep and almost no vegetation down to something a little closer to earth. As we descended into Thorsmork it got noticeably warmer, more humid and, in general, life sustaining. We saw trees for the first time in days and our final river crossing was notably warmer than the 32 degree glacier rivers we crossed earlier in our adventures.

The most spacious hut yet we were still doubled up on a single bunk. It was oppressively warm, the snoring was still epic and I didn't sleep much or well but it felt spacious and private to be tucked away in a corner sharing immediate space with just four other people.