Laugavegur Trail - Day 1, 2, 3, The Film

Landmannalaugar to Alftavatn

DATE 18.07.2015 | DISTANCE approx 22KM |

Posted by Matt | Filed under OTHER LOCATIONS

 

CLICK FOR LARGER MAP

Download GPX file

(I found this gpx route online and rarely needed to use my gps so i cant guarantee accuracy)

 

The day of the Laugavegur had finally arrived. I leant about this trail several years ago after my previous visit to Iceland. Photos I had seen online revealed an alien landscape packed with dramatic peaks, glaciers and lava flows. I knew that if it was even half as good as yesterday's climb up Blahnukur then we wouldn't be disappointed. Today was also the start of the laugavegur marathon so the camp as very busy! I believe the winning runner completed the route in under 5 hours!! The recommended time spent on the Laugevegur is 5 days to make the most of the scenery. our plan was to complete it in 3 days and then extend our journey by an extra day and complete the Fimmvörðuháls Pass too. We chose to wait for all the runners to leave camp before we set up. At 09:15 the last group of runners set off and so did we. the runners were gone and trail was quiet again. one thing we were warned about before we set off was that the trail had an unusual amount of snow still on it for july. This meant a tougher and slower day but really you couldn't complain about this walk taking too long.

 

READY TO LEAVE LANDMANNALAUGAR WITH VERY HEAVY BACKPACKS

LOOKING BACK TO LANDMANNALAUGAR

APPROACHING BRENNISTEINSALDA

EGGY STENCH OF SULPHUR AS WE PASS THE CRATER. STANDING AMONGST THE STEAM IT BECAME QUITE OVERPOWERING AND STEAMED UP MY CAMERA LENS INSTANTLY.

LOOKING OUT TO BLAHNUKUR AND THE LAVA FLOW BELOW

AMAZING COLOURS OF BRENNISTEINSALDA (SULPHUR WAVE)

FOLLOWING THE VERY REGULAR MARKER POSTS

LOOKING BACK

IT'S PRETTY EASY FOLOWING THE MARKER POSTS. FROM ONE YOU CAN USUALLY SEE THE NEXT IF NOT TWO. I STILL RECOMMEND A MAP AND COMPASS THOUGH AS I CAN IMAGINE IT'S A WHOLE LOT MORE DIFFICULT IN POOR WEATHER.

SNOW AHEAD

IN SOME OF THE AREAS THE SNOW WAS METRES DEEP. THIS MADE IT DIFFICULT SOMETIMES TO SEE THE MARKERS. LUCKILY FOR US THE MARATHON RUNNERS HAD LEFT US A CLEAR INDENTATION TO FOLLOW.

LOTS MORE SNOW COMING UP BUT AN OBVIOUS TRACK TO FOLLOW

A RATHER ACTIVE GEOTHERMAL AREA WITH BOILING WATER BUBBLING UP FROM THE GROUND PROVING THAT HOT LAVA WASN'T FAR BENEATH US.

IT LOOKS LIKE PREVIOUS WALKERS/RUNNERS GAVE UP ON THE DIRECT ROUTE

UNFORTUNATELY I HADN'T PACKED MY SUNGLASSES. WHY? BECAUSE EVERY lAUGAVEGUR VIDEO ON YOUTUBE SHOWS RAIN. I REALLY WASN'T EXPECTING SNOW AND BLAZING SUNLIGHT. This was a pretty dangerous situation to find myself in. My only option was to walk with my eyes closed as often as possible and rotate wearing alan's sunglasses.This was ok to do for half the day but any longer could have been seriously hazardous.

take sunglasses!!

Below you can see the hut at Hrafntinnusker. For many this is the location of the first overnight stop. Our plan though was to push on to Alftavatn as we had all afternoon to get there. also it doesn't really get that dark at this time of year in Iceland so we had plenty of time.

looks like plenty more snow ahead

Lunch at Hrafntinnusker. This is our new friend shay.

You can see the Hrafntinnusker hut in the background. we still had plenty of white ground to cover

have you ever seen a landscape like this?

a big view ahead and clear sign that we would be dropping in elevation and away from the snow.

Our destination was at the front of that large lake.

shay

a fabulous view and a worthy contender for best picnic spot ever!!

me and shay. he had a great joke about an apple

getting close to the camp now and we were allfeeling rather tired. me and alan jumped this stream...Just

an end to an epic day. probably the best day's walking i have done. I love diverse days with plenty of distinct sections. this was definitely one of those.

arriving at alftavatn. We booked into the cabin for the night. Good thing too as it was a very windy night.

Great camp ground

outdoor dinner. One of the biggest things we had to consider on this trip was what sort of food to take. It had to be lightweight as we would be carrying 5 days worth. We settled for biscuits, Super Noodles, Tuna packs and a few Hot Packs.