The Laugavegur Trail

​I’ve been home for almost two months and it feels more like a decade.  This one took a long time to write, life lately, moves fast, its busy in good and bad ways.  Iceland was an amazing time; I don’t think I could have asked for it to go much better but I do wish I had been there longer.  We flew out of Minneapolis late on Wednesday the week of July 4th after a day of work and with a short nap over Greenland, woke up at 6AM landing at the main airport in Keflavik.  It was a rainy windy day and after 6 hours in the air, they were only able to unload half the bags off the plane before everything was shut down for almost two hours.  We sat and waited for Joe’s bag while Kat and I silently debated slipping off on a bus to Reykjavik.  

Slowly we moved towards the airport exit and eventually we were on a bus driving along the highway into the city.  The air was cold, a bit of a breeze and light rain, it felt like fall, a beautiful break from the July heat back home.  Joe, Kat and I would spend the next two days wandering around Reykjavik as we waited for more friends flying in from LA.  We hung out in our hostel, explored museums, wandered around the shops downtown and enjoyed the first vacation each of us had had in a long time.  The city was a perfect escape, slow and sleepy but enough to keep you entertained.
 
On Friday our friends arrived, their journey was as eventful as our’s.  Bobby was in full blown vacation mode, poppin drinks and having a great time.  Alex and Arianna were in a much more relaxed mood but ready for an adventure.  I was just happy everyone was in the same country and we’d be walking into the highlands of Iceland the next day.  As we caught up in the hostel bar, we found out there would be a music festival there the next night and of course, tonight was opening night so it was bumpin all night long, getting to sleep wasn’t easy.
 
We woke up early and stumbled our way to the bus station, it would be a common fixture on our travels around the island for the next week.  We stashed our extra gear in the luggage lockers and loaded up on the modified 4x4 bus that would take us overland to Landmannalauger.  This 50-passenger tour bus had wheels almost as tall as me and suspension that would probably shoot you to the moon if you bounced on it just right.  We drove through rivers and down backcountry roads I don’t even know if I’d take my own SUV down to Landmannalauger.  It was a cold and breezy morning, we got our bags setup and started off towards the first hut we’d stay at, Hrafninnusker.  

The landscape on day one was wild, volcanic and shear, the black flatlands gave way to lush green highlands.  We wound our way through lava fields and higher and higher into the mountains.  At lunch I could see a point where other groups of hikers were disappearing into the clouds; we’d be heading into a whiteout.  About an hour from Hrafninnusker, the wind picked up and we entered into a dense cloud bank that sat atop a vast snowfield.  You could see about 20 yards in either direction before the mist obscured your view and we would move from snow to rock patch and back to snow as we tried to stay

together and move forward in the mist.  At one point the group was stretched out on a half mile long snow patch, I had lost track of the trail and couldn’t see the back of our group.  I let Kat go on in what looked to be the right direction, loosely following a Swiss couple and waited for the rest to catchup.  Arianna was soaked, the mist had drenched her hat and gloves, she was shivering, wanting to sit and rest.  We kept pushing her forward and eventually made it to the hut.  In hindsight, she most definitely had hypothermia setting in from the wet and cold so we had made it just in time before there was trouble.  We sipped on tea and warm drinks while the only sunny patch of the day showered us in warmth.  Eventually the clouds came back and the rain set in, it’d be an early night in the tent.

The next day was just as wet, cloudy and challenging in the morning.  We packed up looking at the vast snowfield we had to cross as the clouds pushed at the upper bowl of the mountains.  As we set off, the clouds pushed over the ridge and the valley clouded out, we pushed on.  We’d traverse over windy ridges and passed massive snow caves; we’d have a close call that day with a fall by Alex into a patch of sharp rocks and falls by Kat and Arianna down some steep muddy slopes, it rained on us for over an hour.  By the time we reached Alftavatn we were all cold and soaked to the bone but it was incredibly early in the day.  I wanted to hike on to the next hut which would give us more time for additional adventures after this, but we made the best of our early day, relaxing, playing cards in the small café, drying clothes and when the clouds cleared in the afternoon, we explored the ridges around the outpost.  It was one of my favorite afternoons of the hike.

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The following morning, we were up early again hiking towards Emstrur.  It was a short day with plenty of glacial river crossings but we had a lot of fun.  The broad volcanic and glacial valley we hiked down was basked is sun all day long, it was beautiful.  On this section of trail Joe and I spent the day trying to find the place Joe, Emily and Bryan had taken one of the famous RRT photos in (checkout the bathroom panorama next time you’re in the shop).  We hunted for the spot taking picture after picture, it was fun, the group mood was light and joyous after two difficult and rainy days.  I was happy to be on the trail and enjoying the trip that day.

Learn Icelandic
Jokull = Glacier   |   Foss = Waterfall

We’d eventually make it to Porsmok on the day after, for most people, this would be the end of their hike but we had decided we’d be pushing all the way to the coast over Fimmvorduhals to the mighty Skogafoss.  Our last day was 13 miles with over 3,500’ of elevation gain and loss.  The trail took us high up next to Myrdalsjokull and near the recently created Magni und Móði volcanos from the last eruption of Eyjafjallajökull.  This was by far my favorite day, we played in the mountains, got some sketchy rock sliding in and climbed around some dicy ridgelines, it was incredible…. As we continued through the day it set in that the route was almost complete.
 
The 5 days of hiking culminated in a long walk down towards the ocean along hundreds of waterfalls and some of the freshest water I’ve drank.  We ended the trail by walking down the steps on the flank of Skogafoss, it was an odd end…. The place was crammed with other tourists who probably couldn’t even begin to imagine the walk we had just completed let alone the day we had just had.  I was happy and full; I was glad that we got the chance to walk a route many people would consider the adventure of a lifetime but for me will just be this year’s adventure (soft brag).

We took a bus from Skogafoss to Hella and then I ditched the rest of the crew to go and pickup our rental car from Keflavik.  It was a long adventure wandering around the cities and traveling along the Ring Road but it was nice and relaxing.  In the early evening I got back to Kat & Joe, Bobby, Alex and Ariana had gone their own way to explore and have a little more touristy of a trip end.  Kat, Joe and I camped, explored off the beaten path hot springs, hiked across glaciers, ate breakfast on an abandoned US military plane and enjoyed kicking our way around the southwest part of Iceland the last few days of the trip.  

The group eventually ended up back in Reykjavik together, a final night of wandering about, sharing stories from our time driving the island separately and drinks and dinner.  It was a good evening until Ariana, who has a lactose allergy worse than just intolerance, got a bite of yogurt in her dinner and had to run off and get stuck in her hotel bathroom for several hours.  It was an eventful end to an eventful trip.  
 
On the final morning I woke up early and drove Joe to the airport and then returned to Kat at the hotel.  We caught up with Bobby for a cup a coffee and a little breakfast before packing up our room.  Kat and I did one last walk through Reykjavik before returning to the airport early for our flight.  We had plenty of time to explore the airport and grab some final treats from the Duty Free.  After another 6-hour flight we arrived back in Minneapolis, tired and full of stories.  I was so tired that I accidentally grabbed the wrong bag off the luggage rack and spent another two hours trying to get back into the international terminal to get the right one. Eventually we made it home and shared stories with Kat’s parents before returning to Cincinnati the next day.

Since Iceland I’ve moved from Ohio to Colorado, I’ve climbed more mountains, went backpacking in new places and found a new home to explore.  I’m settled and full of a readiness for the next adventure.  In November, myself and a group of 10 will be heading to Tanzania to climbing Kilimanjaro, the 19,341’ roof of Africa and I’m sure more shenanigans will spring up with world renown mountains now in my backyard.  I’ve got a lot more excitement coming up and I’m looking very forward to it.

"A good beginning makes a good ending."
- Icelandic Proverb