It’s Happening
I slip my new Gregory 63L hiking pack into a thick canvas duffel bag. It’s tight, but it works. This way the straps of my hiking pack won’t be torn as I fly to France and the Czech Republic before arriving to Iceland. My carefully planned meals for five days in the Icelandic Highlands will travel with me to two countries first. New sturdy hiking boots I bought for this trip and tested a few times in Colorado are at the bottom. Several shirts, leggings, water resistant hiking pants, rain jacket, power bank, water shoes for river crossings, hat and gloves, swimsuit for the hot springs (of course!), eye mask, emergency kit, camera, and a toiletry bag.
Every pound counts. I will carry this pack for 34 miles. I don’t want to bring anything extra but also want to have what I need, as weather can be unpredictable, the terrain is challenging, and you can’t buy anything along the way. The Laugavegur Trail we plan to hike with my two friends goes through the Icelandic Highlands and there are only a few basic huts along the way for hikers to sleep in. I am as ready as I am going to be.
As I walk from the BSI Bus Terminal in Reykjavik at 1am to our guesthouse, it hits me – we are doing this! Five years ago, I learned about the Laugavegur Trail when I visited Iceland for the first time and put it on my bucket list. Here I am doing it with two awesome women. Elena arrives next morning. After a few planning calls and many messages, we finally meet in person. We click right away. Vicky unfortunately misses her flight connection in Chicago and will arrive a day later than planned. This complicates our plans. After evaluating the situation, we decide that Elena and I will proceed to Landmanalaugar, the start of our trek, as planned, and Vicky will meet us there arriving with a later bus the same day. During our one day in Reykjavik, Elena and I complete final logistics – buy a map for the trek and supplies for sandwiches – and then we wrap up the day soaking in the Blue Lagoon with some sparkling wine.
The next day at 7:30am Elena and I get on the TREX bus from Reykjavik to Landmanalaugar. Vicky will take the second bus of the day at 12:30pm. When we arrive, we check into our hut. We booked the huts along the trail months ago and now we finally get to see how they look. A ‘hut’ on the Laugavegur Trail is a big house divided into sections – either numbered rooms or simply the loft and downstairs. There is a shared kitchen. A pot of boiling water for everyone’s use is always available – just refill what you take out so that others have hot water after you. You need to be efficient in the kitchen, as space is limited – cook, eat, wash your dishes, and leave. Bathrooms are always in a separate hut with regular or dry toilets; some have hot water, others don’t. There is no electricity in any of the huts. The main benefit of staying in a hut is that you are protected from the harsh weather, something we come to fully appreciate after day one.
Once we claim three mattresses in a shared room of 16, Elena and I do a six mile hike around Landmanalaugar with gorgeous views of the barren, colorful mountains, lava fields, lakes, and geothermal activity. I am excited. I can’t believe I am back here after five years and doing this with these girls. When we finish our hike, we finally meet Vicky at the hut – hugs, laughs, and relief that we are finally together.
After a quick dinner, I convince the girls (Vicky is a bit skeptical) to check out the natural hot spring near our hut. It’s around 50F and windy, but people in the hot spring look cozy, chatting and laughing as light steam rises around them. We spend nearly an hour soaking in the hot spring. The temperature varies across the creek and I nearly burn the bottom of my feet before I realize that the sandy bottom is hot from the geothermal activity underneath. Even Vicky agrees that it was an awesome experience.
Let’s Go! Us Versus the Elements
The next day, we are ready – three days on the trail ahead of us! After a morning oatmeal and somewhat chaotic packing (we get so much better over the next three days!), we head out. It’s cold and windy. Really windy. During the first mile or two, we are adjusting our equipment, adding and taking off layers, and generally getting used to having 25+ pounds on our backs. Eventually, we lose sight of Landamanalaugar and officially head into the wilderness.
The rhyolite mountains around us have a unique color pallet from brown, green, and beige to red and gray, and the valleys between them are covered in snow fields. There are no trees (we see our first three towards the end of day three!). Facing no barriers, the wind is strong and intensifies as the morning progresses. Light drizzle turns into rain then into snow and soon we are in a full-blown snowstorm. I knew weather could be rough but facing the elements on day one was humbling.
We rarely stop because we are immediately cold. Going to the bathroom is no easy task. My face feels the needle-like pinches as snow hits it with the force of the wind. I don’t even feel my pack on my back because I focus all my energy on how to face the elements. I am keeping positive attitude because I like the challenge and I also want to make sure my friends don’t get discouraged. After all, this trek was my idea and I want to make sure we all have a good time.
We are happy to finally see the Hrafntinnusker hut where we will be staying overnight. A cozy-looking green house, this hut lies at 3,608 feet above sea level and is the highest (and also the coldest) point of the trek. We are assigned to sleep in the loft. As the first people there, we claim three mattresses in the corner and enjoy the warmth of the hut. After a day of being battered by wind and snow, we finally have lunch that we did not dare to have during the hike, stretch, and assess how we feel. We are all a bit shaken by the weather, but in good spirits overall. Once we rest up, we venture out again to hike about a mile to the Hrafntinnusker peak above the hut (3,743 ft) for beautiful 360 views (and insane wind!). Over dinner at a small table in our loft, we exchange stories of the day with two young German girls sleeping next to us and before 10pm our whole loft of some 12 people is sound asleep. Everyone is so tired.
Like Pros
Day two is 10 miles. The barren rhyolite mountains stretch as far as you can see. We cross many snow fields. We try not to think too much about the creeks running under the snow and the possibility of falling through the snow into the creek. After a few miles, we climb up a steep black hill, cross a canyon with geothermal activity, and suddenly a completely new landscape appears. It’s a shock. On one side, we have the brown-beige-green rhyolite mountains of the past day and a half and on the other side, we see miles-long valley with sharp black volcanic peaks covered in bright green grass. It’s breathtaking.
After a quick lunch to admire this new view, we run into a hiker who that morning by mistake took Vicky’s shoes. Long story short, this hiker confused Vicky’s shoes for her own, causing quite a bit of distress for Vicky when she realized her boots were missing. Vicky was hiked in half a size smaller shoes and we were all looking at the boots of everyone we passed on the trail in the hopes of locating her misplaced shoes. Finally, around noon, our diligence paid of and we found the (unintentional) shoe thief and shoes were exchanged!
As we continue to descend, we come across our first creek crossing. While Elena and I go through the ice-cold water, Vicky attempts to cross with dry feet over a few boulders before she nearly falls into the creek, slipping on a wobbly one. Lesson learned – don’t trust boulders and brave the ice-cold water instead. It’s better to have your feet wet for a moment than fall with your full pack in the water and have no dry clothes.
We finally arrive at the Hvanngil hut. We are assigned to a small room with seven men. The chances of snoring tonight are high! In the end we get lucky. A large group doesn’t arrive and we get to use their dormitory with large bunk beds, allowing us to stretch nicely. Two young Dutch men join us in the room. One of them is a big joker, so the evening is filled with laughter. We are also offered a glass of red wine by a friendly Icelandic lady and we savor every drop of it. Perhaps the biggest treat of the night though is the five minute hot shower available at this hut! Like the other nights, by 9:30pm we are all deep asleep.
The Big Stretch
The next day we are up early and leave before 8am – we have 18 miles ahead of us! Shortly after we start, when the air is still very cold, we cross the most challenging river so far. It originates from a glacier a few miles away and the water goes above our knees, forcing us to take off our pants. The current is strong. Vicky braves it first with her long and fast strides. Elena and I go at the same time. Elena loves the adrenalin of these river crossing and her eyes light up with excitement. For me, this one is tough – my legs hurt in the ice-cold water and fighting the current takes some effort. But we are all laughing and proud when we are safely on the other side.
The first eight miles of today’s hike take us through long, flat stretches of black sand lava fields. We know we need to make up time on this easier part. The weather is balmy, partially cloudy, no rain, and at times the sun even makes our cheeks pink and warm. Our goal is to get to the Emstrur hut, our half-way point, by noon and we get there right on time. We have lunch and rest up in a large tent that protects us from the wind, but with nine more miles to go, there isn’t time to lounge around and we get going soon.
After Emstrur, the terrain gets again more challenging. Vicky’s toe that has been bothering her for the past few months is becoming quite unhappy. My pain relief gel and her anti-inflammatory medicine that helped her before no longer do the job. She is bravely pushing through. I feel good overall, but at one point my stomach starts feeling strange. I am hungry but have no appetite. Vicky offers me a salami stick. Normally, I am not a fan of them, but right now, after all my sweet snacks, it’s delicious. I make a mental note to pack more salty snacks on future treks.
On the last few miles, the scenery changes again and we are surrounded by shrubs, small trees, and sizeable peaks. Eventually we see the ocean in the distance. We are close! Far behind us, we still see the mountain that we saw from the other side when we started in the morning. I am proud how much ground we covered. My heels are quite sore at this point, but I am happy. This is what I love doing. This is what I want to do more of. I love these girls who jumped on this adventure with me.
After we cross the last river, we use our remaining bits of energy for the final miles to Þórsmörk. I am so happy to finally see it in the valley below us. We made it! The Þórsmörk campground store has prosecco and chocolate, precious items after four days in the wilderness. We celebrate our accomplishment with some bubbly and delicious Icelandic chocolate. Another group offers us a rich chocolate pudding and we take it. After all, we burned over 4,000 calories that day.
Grateful
I cannot sleep the last night. Emotions, fatigued muscles, pride, and joy are keeping me up. I walk out of the hut, and watch the sunset colors reflecting on the mountains across the river around midnight. After attempting a few hours of sleep, I give up and watch the same color play as the sun rises around 4am. I fall asleep deeply in the morning and the girls let me catch up on sleep as they pack up and get ready for the day.
On our last day, we have the morning to explore Þórsmörk before heading back to Reykjavik in the afternoon. As if we haven’t had enough, Elena and I do one more hike in the beautiful valley and Vicky wisely chooses to rest up by a pretty creek and stretch her sore muscles with some yoga in the campground.
As I reflect on the past five days on the bus back to Reykjavik, I feel proud, accomplished, happy, and full of life. I know this will not be my last time in Iceland. I also know this is the beginning of something new for me, I want to do more of these long-distance treks. I loved every step of this one and I will not be stopping here.
