We woke up Wednesday to the usual grey skies. We packed our backpacks as today we were going on a hike. Andrea had booked a hike up into the colorful mountains of Landmannalaugar. It would be an all day adventure.
After my near accident yesterday, I wasn’t sure if I should be going on this hike. However, when I woke up and moved around, I didn’t really feel much pain, just some stiffness so I thought I would be OK to go. I knew it was important to my daughter so I didn’t want her worrying about me if I stayed back.
We were picked up in a large comfortable mini-bus. We were the last ones on the bus. The bus had two seats on the right and one on the left. All the double seats were taken, and they had all thrown their backpacks onto the single seats so all the seats were occupied by something or someone when we got on. Andrea had to ask people to move their backpacks. It seemed a little strange to have to do that. They were mostly young couples in their 30s so I was definitely the old man on this trip.
The trip up to the base camp for Landmannalaugar is a long and interesting one. Having become used to the vibrant green color of the coastal regions, this region was quite a change. There were few signs of life anywhere. It felt like we were on another planet. Landmannalaugar is part of the Fjallabak Nature Reserve which is the area commonly known as the Icelandic Highlands.
Other than the change in scenery, our biggest surprise was the change in weather. We climbed above the clouds and finally found our blue sky. It was beautiful to see the sky as well as to feel the warmth. We had dressed for the cool, cloudy weather, but layers began to come off as we felt the warmth of the sun. It turned out to be a perfect day, and we didn’t see many clouds until we returned to our cabin.
We could also see the illusive mountain tops which the clouds had hidden from us before. We saw snow capped Mt. Hekla with just a few clouds around it. By the time we returned at the end of the day there were no clouds in sight.
Our guide was quite informative. During our trip up she informed us of the early history of Iceland. Then as we got more into the mountains, she talked about the geology of the area. We were traveling on dirt roads through very barren land. Parts of it were just black sand with very little evidence of life. Moss is apparently the first plant life after a volcano blows, and it takes a number of years before the moss does its part in creating soil that other plants can begin to live in.
We stopped a couple of times for photo opportunities. One of those stops was by a large lake. There were a number of lakes in the area, and the interesting thing our guide pointed out is they are great fishing spots for trout. Early guides to the region stocked the lakes with indigenous trout, and they have proliferated. The guides stocked them so they could go fishing when off duty as guides.
At our first stop our guide ended up lying on the ground. I thought that was really strange. However, she eventually explained that she was avoiding those swarms of insects I mentioned last week. She said they will swarm around the tallest person around so when she’s on the ground, they don’t bother her. As we were hiking later we encountered people who had nets around their heads to keep the swarming insects off of them. I didn’t think they were that bad here.
The road up to Landmannalaugar is a decent road, but not for the faint of heart. It’s a narrow road in places so you have to be aware of approaching traffic. On this day they were easy to spot from the dust trails they created. The road also crossed through three streams, and I mean crossed through the water with no bridges. Our driver would slow to pass through them, but seemed to have no hesitation otherwise. We did see personal cars up at the base camp, but I would not attempt the trek without a 4 X 4.
After about two hours we finally reached the camp. There are a few buildings on site particularly a large bathroom area with showers. Visitors do have to pay to use these facilities. We were given wristbands to indicate we could use them. People were camping in tents up there, but it didn’t look very comfortable. There is a small store which is in converted school buses. (Green ones in the picture below) Because we had not anticipated sunshine, we did not come prepared with sunscreen. I went to the store to get some and ended up paying $16 for a bottle of SPF 20 sunscreen. Expensive mistake on our part.
We were finally ready to begin our hike. Our guide led the way, and I ended up at the rear most of the time as I was going more slowly than everyone else. I was also using my trekking poles which made it more awkward at times. Our guide said the hike was easy, “Like a Sunday stroll.” I didn’t find it that easy in places.
While I thought the hike was great, our guide set a fairly quick pace. I felt I was too focused on the trail and making sure I didn’t fall to enjoy the scenery or take pictures. Because I was at the end, I would make it to a stopping point just as our guide would make some comments. Everyone would then move on while I was still catching my breath. I had to hurry to grab a photo so as not to get too far behind.
There were some tricky points that went along the side of the mountain and in other places there were a lot of rocks. People were moving all around to find the best path through so it was confusing trying to get through these sections.
However, the scenery was uniquely beautiful, and our guide did a great job of pointing out some of the features of the mountains. For the most part Landmannalaugar is a very volcanic area so most of the formations are influenced by some kind of volcanic action.
About an hour or more into the hike our guide gave everyone a choice. There was a higher mountain we could climb up, or we could begin to return back to camp and then enjoy the waters of a hot spring. Andrea knew I wouldn’t do well going higher so she said we would go back. No one else chose that so Andrea and I started back.
I enjoyed this part of the Landmannalaugar hike the best. The well marked trail was easy to follow. I could now take the time I wanted to take photos, rest, or just look around without worrying about getting behind everyone else and making them wait. This section of the trail included some of the most beautiful mountains so it was great to slow down and enjoy the views. These multi-colored mountains reminded me of the Polychromatic Mountains in Denali. The color comes from the magma which was more acidic and created rocks known as rhyolite so these are known as the Rhyolite Mountains.
As we came to the end of our hike, there was a pretty steep downward trail, but from the top we could look out over the base camp in Landmannalaugar. Arriving at the bottom it was nice to see some green as springs flowed through that area.
We finished the hike in a little over two hours. We had something to eat, and then changed into our swimming suits. The hot springs was near the mountain’s edge. There was a platform there for people to leave their things, change clothes, or just look out over the water.
I was surprised when I entered the water; it was cold. I thought it was a hot spring so I had anticipated warm water at least. However, as I moved around I would feel places of warmth. There was a small waterfall coming out of the side of the mountain, and that water was hot, quite hot, but as it mixed with the other water from the stream it would cool off. There were only a few people in the pool when we got there, but more and more showed up while we were there. We probably sat in the water for an hour. It had buoyancy to it so that floating was easy.
Eventually it was time to go so we got changed and boarded the bus for our ride back home. I asked the couple sitting beside me how the hike to the top went. Apparently for them not well. They said they should have come with us. They were not physically prepared for the rigors of the hike. That was unfortunate.
Our ride back from Landmannalaugar was made with no stops or much talking from our guide. She drove very quickly through those roads. As we got to the main paved road, there was a truck by the road which had overheated. It turned out to be a friend of our guide. Their radiator had boiled over so our guide collected all our water bottles to try to give them some water to put in the radiator. An interesting twist in our day.
That evening we enjoyed a pizza dinner and then a good night’s sleep. It had been a long, but good day. With blue skies and sunny weather, how could one go wrong? However, I expect that tomorrow I will have some sore muscles. Fortunately no major hikes are on Thursday’s agenda.