Thru-Hiking.com on adventures in Iceland

Last summer, Thru Hiking hiked the Laugavegur Trail, a four-day, 55-kilometre hike in the south of Iceland. The trail leads from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork, where you spend the night at designated campsites or in mountain huts. Curious about the adventures in Iceland? Thru Hiking tells you all about it!

"I normally hike alone, but this time I was travelling with a few friends. It was a lot of fun because almost everyone was camping for the first time. The choice of equipment and the physical preparation alone were an adventure in themselves. The most important things for this route: sturdy, waterproof hiking boots, good rainwear and lightweight camping equipment. And as preparation in the Netherlands: lots of hiking with a full rucksack!

We got off the bus in Landmannalaugar with full rucksacks. Here we pitched our tents and explored the area on a beautiful day hike. We immediately climbed 400 metres and looked out over the colourful, typically Icelandic mountains. We'd barely started and were already in awe of the beautiful landscape. As we descend, we notice how much water is flowing. We jump over the streams to keep our feet dry. Back at camp, it's time to prepare dinner and go to bed early. Tomorrow is the first "real" day of hiking.

Today we first hike to Hrafntinnusker. This is the highest hut on the trail at 1000 metres. It seems - so we learn in the camp - that the weather conditions on the way are bad and we should better continue to Álftavatn, a more distant camp. We prepare ourselves for a long day of hiking and set off early. The first few kilometres are a steep climb. The heavy rucksack with all our food makes our progress slow. We pass small geysers on the way up and the view is wonderful. When we are a little further up, we come across a large snowfield and the weather changes. Thick fog and rain. We grab our GPS and hike in the direction of Hrafntinnusker. We arrive about four hours later. There is still a lot of snow, a strong wind and thick fog. We decide to rest and have lunch before continuing our hike to try our luck at the next base camp. Another four hours in dense fog as we toil towards Álftavatn. Up, down and up again. After 12 kilometres we finally reach the campsite, which is located by a lake. Luckily there is no fog here and the wind is a little less strong. We pitch our tents. In the evening, we toast a successful day's hiking in the hut and are glad that we made it."