Iceland 2013: Imperial Fellwanderig Tour Diary
After checking everyone had brought all the food and tents that they had been given a few days previously, (they had, apart from a couple of tins of sweet corn) we checked in and sat down for our last English breakfast for 10 days.
We all converged on Luton Airport at 5 am for our flight out to Iceland. After checking everyone had brought all the food and tents that they had been given a few days previously, (they had, apart from a couple of tins of sweet corn) we checked in and sat down for our last English breakfast for 10 days. Charlie finally turned up 15 minutes before the flight left - apparently TFL whimsically decided to cancel all his buses. The 3 hour flight went quickly and soon we had beautiful views of a glacier and the rugged volcanic coastline of Iceland. After passing through passport and customs without an incident we got the bus into the capital, Reykjavik, checked into the hostel and went about exploring the city. We soon found the cheapest supermarket, Bonus, and in the evening the 12 of us sat down for a hearty dinner to prepare us for the week ahead. The next morning we woke up early to get the 8am bus to Landmannalaugar where the start of the trail was. The bus’s tour guide told us we were traveling through the epicentre of an earthquake as well as the reason why there are so many horses in Iceland: “The land is so cheap you can buy a horse, if you have one horse why not 2, and if you have two why not twenty!” As we drove deeper into Iceland we went off-road onto the F roads, soon seeing a police super jeep and a group of people raking the side of hill! Several river crossings later we arrived at the collection of huts at Landmannalaugar. We however were camping, and due to the rocky ground we debated the merits of using pegs or rocks to secure the tents down – exciting stuff! After having lunch we headed off on a day walk up the surrounds hills to stretch our leg, and enjoyed a view of the solid lava flows beneath us. The evening was spent relaxing in the warm natural geothermal pool next to the campsite. Over the next four days we walked as planned from Landmannalaugar to Baser. On the first day on the trail we walked through the lava field and then up and higher. We got our first experience of walking on the fragile Icelandic landscape, were a footstep on moss can easily kill it, and many photos of the plumes of sulphuric gas rising from the ground. The next day saw us climbing over the snowing pass and down to Álftinnusker. There was a democratic mutiny at the campsite, led by Sally, Sarah and Katharina with the group deciding that they would rather stay in the hut away from the biting wind and cold than camp. After being told by the hut warden that we weren’t allowed up any mountains due to the closing storm, Charlie and I settled for a brisk run around a nearby lake before too staying in the warm hut. The next two days saw us walking downhill towards Básar. Here the scenery became less snowy and turning into a black desert. We had to wade several rivers, only knee deep but very cold, creating a lot of faff as people removed their boots to cross. Approaching Básar we walked through the area known as “Almenningar” with crossing the river Þröngá which is glacier-fed but which is widely braided at the crossing point and only knee-deep max. The landscape and vegetation changed rapidly during this section—Birchwood and all kinds of plants emerged, a welcome change to the desert behind us. We met up with Joe, who came bearing gifts of chocolate, cheese and chorizo to liven up our diet. The next day was a relaxing rest day for those weary from being on their feet all day and enjoyed the bathing pools near the hut and the warming hot chocolate. Meanwhile some of us walked up an exceptionally pointy mountain – walking the furthest and highest we had all trip but thankfully without our heavy rucksacks. The summit had a great view. Our 6th and final day of walking started early with us climbing over 1000m passing between the glaciers “Eyjafjallajökull” and “Mýrdalsjökull” and climbing Iceland’s newest hills “Magni” and “Modi”. On the way down we passed 23 waterfalls as we approached the finish of the trail at Skogar. After travelling back to Reykjavik we spent the following day driving around the Golden Circle route seeing the mid-Atlantic ridge in Þingvellir and the Gullfoss waterfall, thanks to our three drivers Sally, Jessi and Joe. Our final day was spent relaxing in Reykjavik before getting the flight back to England. Many thanks to everyone who came along and I am sure everyone will agree it was an amazing experience.
