"Viajar a pie" is Spanish for "Travelling on foot"

Category: Iceland

Section 3: Landmannalaugar to Skogar

Emstrur to Skogar

This entry is part 13 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 27 miles

Today there’s two distinct sections: first I need to finish the Laugavegur, a mostly downhill affaire to the coastal valley of Thorsmork. Then, the steepest, longest climb of the trip to go over the Fimmvorduhals pass and down to trip end in Skogar. The potential for trouble lies in this second half with a pass above 1000 metres and a stormy forecast.

Landmannalaugar to Emstrur

This entry is part 12 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 23 miles

You can get up as early as you want in the Iceland summer. I never got a precise account of what time the sun did rise but I think some “nights” I got to feel ambient light around 3 am before turning back to sleep. Most nights I’m on my own and don’t relate to anyone so it’s not obvious whether I got up early or not if I don’t look at the watch. Today I’m in a tent town that’s still quiet and still when I leave. It must be early even though we’re in full daylight. It’s clear and bright and I get ready for a memorable hiking day.

Section 2: Myvatn to Landmannalaugar

Krokslon to Landmannalaugar

This entry is part 11 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 19 miles

The day starts dark and moody. Rain spares my packing up but that’s all the respite I get as it soon starts coming down. I’m in high ground so I can see far to south and west and all I see is dark cloud. I get mentally ready for a wet march to Landmannalaugar.

Storaver to Krokslon

This entry is part 10 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 33 miles

Now that I’m fully aware of how important the weather still is, my first, early morning thought is for a sky update, pee and breakfast will come only later. It turns fairly quiet, cloudy but not overcast and it doesn’t rain. That’s good enough. Let’s go hiking.

Hagongulon to Storaver

This entry is part 9 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 30 miles

I’m now where I dreamt to be when I left Myvatn a long time ago (that’s 4 days). It’s been no death march to get here, in fact it was fairly quiet with some glorious times along the way. Now there’s no expected obstacles to get to the F26, once there I’m in relative safety no matter the weather. I feel less vulnerable. That means I’m less worried by an early morning overcast. Now I’ve got some miles to do.

Gaesavotn to Hagongulon

This entry is part 8 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 25 miles

I get my promised good weather window, it is calm and sunny in the morning. My first sunny day in Iceland 2016!!! Look at that blue sky:

Brilliant blue skies at last. Vatnajokull hides behind low cloud

Odadahraun (Somewhere in there) to Gaesavotn

This entry is part 7 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 32 miles

The weather is still mostly clear when I wake up in the morning. Where’s all that forecasted rain? I don’t want to know. I’m delighted to be able to feel relaxed and eager to start the day’s hiking, first time on this trip that I feel that way. At this stage, my first encounter with the outcome of sandy ground camping is nothing but a minor inconvenience. I’ll need to get used to this black sand all over the place. I feel for the tent but it’s its job after all.

Botni to Odadahraun (middle of nowhere)

This entry is part 6 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 28 miles

The problem with staying in such a nice hut is that it’s difficult to leave but I have that one clear, early wake-up call and no room for doubt. The weather seems to resume where it left it the day before which is not that bad of a news. It is demanding weather to be outside but far from my fear induced nightmare dreams. It is cloudy, windy, cold and generally unsettled but it is not raining consistently and there are even occasional spells of brightness.

Myvatn to Botni

This entry is part 5 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 30 miles

I set out in death-march mood. The sky is severely overcast but at least it’s not raining yet. This is a big help for a start.

Dark day in Myvatn

Daily Account

My Iceland traverse can easily be split into three sections which meet both geographical and emotional criteria: first is easy. Second is difficult. Third is safety. Then it turned out slightly differently.

This is the day-by-day account:

Section 1: Northernmost to Myvatn

Section 1: Northernmost to Myvatn

Coast, River, Canyon and the Inland Lowlands
Section 3: Landmannalaugar to Skogar

Section 3: Landmannalaugar to Skogar

The Mountains and the Hiking Highway

Section 1: Northernmost to Myvatn

Dettifoss road to Myvatn

This entry is part 4 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 25 miles

I’m happy to face one final road walk today. The wimp in me got scared yesterday and I’m fine with that middle ground in not giving up but taking the less compromising route. It won’t be a memorable journey but I’ll be worry free no matter the weather. Real wilderness will need to wait a bit longer.

Asbyrgi to Dettifoss road

This entry is part 3 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 28 miles

It starts overcast and windy, at least the wind will be on my back. The other good news is that I’ll be on a real hiking trail today. A rare, welcome event, I won’t find another such trail until the final 2 days of the trip. I also know this trail is easy to follow, not only from reports but from previous, own experience, and this is the other, funny part: I was hiking on this trail 16 years back, no less. Back then, the same northerlies as expected today left me dripping wet and cold to the point that I bailed out mid-way. I’m here now to fill that gap.

Leirhofn to Asbyrgi

This entry is part 2 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 29 miles

Day 2 is typically a tough one in fastpacking trips with no quarter. It is the day when the body is already beaten by the previous day’s effort but not yet used to the constant beating of a thru-hike. I can’t take it easy though. If I mean to cross Iceland in 13 days, I can’t just take it easy, not even for one day, not even for day 2.

Raufarhofn to Leirhofn

This entry is part 1 of 13 in the series Iceland North to South

Distance covered: 28 miles

It’s overcast and gloomy as I wake up in Akureyri but I commit to not worry about the weather, at least until I start the actual hiking. I still need to get to the starting point and that is a few hours bus ride away. This is Iceland and the most mundane bus trip is a spectacular event so I sit back and relax.

Iceland North to South

WhereIceland
WhenJuly/August
Distance546 km / 340 miles
Length13 days

Across Iceland, north to south

Gear

Pack / Tent / Sleeping bag / Mat / Stuff sacks / Clothing / TowelPoles / Stove

This is about gear, Iceland and myself. It’s all mixed together. I mean to assess how my kit worked in Iceland but some of the sections are necessarily decontextualized, if only because I love to talk about gear, in essence because I’m talking about myself.

Resources

Phlumf

Jon Ley’s Plhumf.com website is almost as old school as mine but I needed to look nearly nowhere else. His 2006 trip fits exactly my idea for this traverse and I’ll actually be following his footsteps as long as they haven’t been erased by some new lava flow.

Logistics

Access / Direction of travel / Hiking window / Maps / Digital / Resupply / Fuel / Huts / SAR

The information here is what I’d needed to know when planning this trip. It is organized in a north to south fashion, where applicable. It should be easy to apply to a south to north trip anyway.

Information

Cool facts / Terrain & Relief / Hiking grounds / Camping / Weather / Wildlife / Landscape

It was this beautiful. Consistently

Hiking coast-to-coast-something is a very powerful idea, it just makes sense from a travelling standpoint. It gives the traveler perspective over the territory. It makes for a trip with a beginning and an end.

First Impressions

Final steps of the traverse. The Atlantic in the background

Crossing Iceland was intense. Here are a few relevant thoughts

Gear Preview Highlights

I dream of the gear I’ll take to Iceland. These are my current thoughts:

Shelter

Stephenson’s Warmlite 2C

Wamlite 2C in the Lapland hills

It’s exposed and potentially windy in the Iceland highlands so the shelter of choice must be wind-worthy. The other key factor in shelter choice is sandstorms, which may not be an obvious feature of a sub-polar region but it is in this particular case: Iceland is all lava. In the highlands, fine volcanic dust covers wide areas devoid of any vegetation that could help stopping it being blown around. When it is, it gets into the most intimate corners.

Idea

Iceland North to South

The base idea is to cross the island north to south starting at one of the northernmost tips and reaching the south coast over where the icecaps allow a passage. It ends up a slight diagonal NE-SW.

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