Today's hike was great. We woke up to balmy temperatures and no wind. The main group of 5 took off a little bit ahead of us. We left before the Spaniards, per usual. I was intrigued to see how they were going to fare. They were intending to catch the 4 p.m. bus out of Porsmork back to Reykjavik (Porsmork is the official end of the Laugavegur trail), but when we left around 9:30 a.m. they were just starting to eat breakfast -- and today's hike is billed at 6 to 7 hours.
The first segment was beautiful, winding up and down the mountains and across a bridge that led to a narrow trail etched into the mountain, with a chain drilled in to help you haul yourself up. Yikes!
Next we spent several hours traversing a mainly flat area filled with interestingly shaped rocks and scruffy vegetation. At one point I wrote "Hola!" in the dirt and drew a smiley face, hoping the Spanish guys would see it. We finally caught up the lead pack late morning, when they had stopped to eat lunch. Apparently Eli had planned to camp on this hike, not stay in the huts (he changed his mind after his harrowing first day in the fog/wind/rain). So he had cooking equipment with him -- and there he was, making some dish over a little stove. Ha! We just stop for about 10 minutes at lunchtime -- enough time to scarf down an energy bar or PBJ.
Near the end of this stretch we had to climb a long, super-steep hill. We stopped at the top for our lunch, and were surprised to see the Spaniards walk up. They were hiking very quickly today because they were under a time crunch due to their late start. They had seen my note, and it made them laugh. :)
We quickly finished eating and joined the guys on the hike down the hill, which ended in a river ford. While we were taking off our shoes and socks, the other 5 walked up and we all crossed the river at the same time. It was quite cold, but only up to our knees.
The final portion of the trail went through a pretty forested area. Icelanders think their island originally was about 25% forested. A few years ago, only about 1% was left forested, so they began a huge reforestation effort and are now up to about 4%. So it was a surprising sight to see all of these trees.
We arrived in Porsmork to bright sunshine. The Spaniards had gotten ahead of us, and were already enjoying a cold beer when we walked up. The four Canadians were also planning to go back to Reykjavik, but they were catching tomorrow's bus, as they planned to spend much of tomorrow morning and afternoon doing day hikes (there are supposed to be lots of great ones here). Eli wanted to hike with us on the next trail, which goes to Skogar, but decided instead to go back to Reykjavik with the others tomorrow.
Porsmork has a hut, per usual, but also offers room rentals. I'd booked us in the "motel," where we had a room with a bed made up with linens, plus a common toilet and sink down the hall. It was small, but nice. We were able to shower in the main building (free, thank goodness). We did a short hike with Laurie and Barrie first.
Porsmork also has a restaurant, so the 7 of us met for dinner. We ran into Ryan and Emily there, the Canadian newlyweds we'd met on the first day. We hadn't spoken with them very much because they were camping, and the campers weren't allowed into the huts. But we pulled them into our dinner and conversation, and it was fun having a larger group. Ryan and Emily said they were also planning to hike to Skogar tomorrow like we were, so it was nice to know Ed and I wouldn't be alone.
The hike to Skogar is 10 to 12 hours long if you do it in one day. It's supposed to offer spectacular scenery, but be rather dangerous if the weather's bad, as you climb 1,000 meters and at that altitude, as Hafta said, the weather can change in seconds. For the worse. So yes, knowing we'd have Ryan and Emily hiking with us was a bit comforting.
Had a reasonably good sleep last night, although one of the Spaniards (I think) was snoring quite a bit. In the morning Lynn and I did some trading -- she gave me some instant coffee packets for some of Ed's mini Snickers. I can't believe we didn't think to bring coffee, tea or any kind of drink.
The bikers took off early, and the rest of us were discussing which route to take. The official route, which the hut warden said was signed, was mainly along a dirt service road. It had two river crossings. The alternate route was much prettier, but was unmarked and had three river crossings, including one called the Cold Crotch River. The hut warden said she thought that river was only up to the knees about now, but it had rained all night and was still raining, so we feared it might be rising to crotch level. Personally, Ed and I didn't like the idea of hiking an unmarked trail. We'd done a bit of that last night on the mountains and didn't care for it. I also didn't want to cross any more rivers than I had to. So we elected to take the official route with the Spaniards, while the four Canadians and Eli opted for the scenic route.
Ed and I left ahead of the Spaniards, who prefer to sleep in a tad and eat when the rest of us are out of the kitchen. Although the warden promised signage, there was none on the road. But as there was just one road, we figured we had to be going the right way.
After an hour or so we came upon another hut (I didn't realize there was another one this close to ours). We chatted with a Slovakian guy there, who said, "Dammit!" when we told him our hut had hot showers (his did not, and he was really wanting one).
At this point it started to POUR. The Spaniards caught up with us and soon we all faced a fairly wide river up to about knee level. We all forded the river, then began hiking together. The rain stopped -- yay! -- but then these enormous winds began to batter us. They were so strong. We couldn't enjoy the landscape, as everyone had their head down to better hike into the wind. Now we turned onto these enormous, black sand dunes (really lava ash). At some point I just had to eat and pee (it was about 2:30), so we stopped and let the Spaniards go on.
After a hasty lunch tucked into the side of a lava-sand dune, the sun suddenly came out and the weather became gorgeous. We caught up with the other 5 who had taken the scenic route, and the 7 of us crossed another river (I needed some help on this one). Then it was down a mountainside and into the most scenic valley and our next hut.
The hut warden here, Hafta, was dressed in an authentic Icelandic outfit and looked so charming. She had a black Lab, Bronco,who greeted us on the trail. We were assigned to a hut with 10 beds, which was perfect for the 10 of us.
After we got settled in, all of us but the Spaniards hiked a side trail to a gorgeous canyon. It looked as spectacular as the Grand Canyon. Well, it was smaller, but it was still pretty darn impressive.
That night the 11 Belgian kids hiked into camp and stayed in an adjacent hut. Ed and I passed on the $5 shower this time.
Boy, did we sleep well last night! Jet lag and a long hike will do that to you. We had hoped to hike to these much-acclaimed ice caves yesterday afternoon after our main hike, but the weather was too lousy. So Ed and I hiked there this morning when the rest of the hikers headed to Alftavatn. WOW.
The ice caves were large and impressive, although we couldn't go inside because there was a danger of collapse. The neat thing was that there were all of these hot springs bubbling up on the outside of the caves, so there was a juxtaposition of the white-and-black icy caves and the hot, bubbling springs that created lush green and yellow vegetation.
This side hike was only about 1.5 hours, so we were able to start the main hike around 10:30 a.m. The first part looked like we'd be hiking across a long, flat area with some short ravines to hop over. In reality, it was much more strenuous. Normally these ravines fill with snow over the winter, so early in the hiking season, when the snow is still melting, you can easily hop over the ravines or walk across them on the snow. Since we were hiking at the very end of the season, all of the snow had melted and the ravines went all the way down to the bottom. So we had to keep hiking down steep, sandy cliffs, hopping over streams, then hiking up steep, sandy cliffs. It was quite tiring, and the footing was difficult at times. But gosh, the scenery was gorgeous.
From there we moved to some mountainous areas, and then we saw a beautiful lake in the distance, with lush, green vegetation growing out all around it. To get there, we first had to hike down a very long, steep, rocky hill. We hated that. It was pretty dangerous, and you had to move very slowly. At the bottom, we faced our first stream ford. Ed managed to hop across on some pointy rocks, but I had to take off my boots and socks and wade over in my Keen sandals. The water was very cold, not surprisingly.
We reached the hut mid-afternoon. It was new and very nice, although instead of bunkbeds they just had a row of beds touching one another. Ed tucked me next to the wall, and then he was next to me. Luckily the hut never filled, so no one was right next to him.
Once we got settled in we did a side hike up two nearby mountains, which offered sweeping views of the valley. Then it was back to the hut for showers ($5 for 5 minutes) and dinner. We got to know our hiking friends -- Barrie and Laurie from Ottawa (our age); Lynn and Enn from Toronto (30); Eli from Israel (24); and Josep, Carlos and Esteban from Spain (30s-ish).
While we were getting dinner ready, a group of 19 dirt bike/motorcycle riders roared up. It was some organized ride. They filled the hut and largely kept to themselves, although one older guy told me it was the first day of the ride and one person already had broken bones and was going to the hospital. Yikes!
All in all, another great day.
Ed and I began our adventure on the Laugavegur Hiking Trail last Wednesday. We got on a bus from downtown Reykjavik that was taking people to Landmannalaugar, the typical starting point at the north end of the trail. There were 11 students from Belgium on the bus, plus an assortment of other folks. The ride took 4 hours. The first two or so were on highways, and then the bus turned onto a gravel road. And then onto a really small, winding, rutted dirt trail. None of us could believe a huge tourist bus could navigate these trails. The bus even went across several streams, which caused all of our eyes to bug out a bit. And then we were there.
Landmannalaugar has spots for camping, a natural hot springs area you can soak in, an information office and bathroom facilities. We tried to pick up a trail map, assuming there were free ones in the office, but all they had was a (poorly-written) guidebook for about $20. First lesson learned -- Iceland is a very expensive country to visit.
Neither Ed nor I have ever backpacked before, and I was surprised that I didn't mind carrying a heavy pack at all. After the first 20 minutes or so, you don't notice it at all.
The trail took us through gorgeous rhyolite mountains, which look sort of like colorful sand-dune mountains. We saw lots of shiny chucks of rock -- obsidian, we later learned -- and light rocks made of pumice/lava. It rained lightly on and off, and then the sun would come out and create rainbows. They were everywhere. It was truly magical. You could also see steam coming out of all sorts of vents because of the volcanic nature of the island.
About halfway through our 4-hour hike the weather got quite windy. As in really windy. This happened right when we were walking along the top of a ridge on a path only as wide as our feet. With the wind and my big pack, I was afraid I'd blow off the mountain and I began crouching as I walked. I was just about to start crawling to be safe when the winds died down a bit and we got off the ridge. That was definitely a bit scary.
Toward the end of the hike we crossed a small snowfield, then went past a memorial for a 24-year-old who died here, just about 1.5 miles from the hut. Yikes! Shortly after that it began raining hard, and got foggy and cold. We hoofed it to the hut and decided there would be no side hikes later, as planned.
The hut was old but clean. We shared a room with a couple from Germany and two guys from Austria. We made our first freeze-dried meal -- Kung Pao chicken (good) -- and were happy to collapse into bed at 8:30 (we were still jet lagged).
On Monday, Ed and I leave for Iceland, landing in Reykjavik on Tuesday morning. Wednesday, we're off to do the Landmannalaugar trail, considered one of the world's most epic hikes. The trail winds past mountains they say are the color of the rainbow, great glaciers and steaming hot springs. It requires some river crossings and passes near the 2010 eruption site of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. It should be an outstanding (epic!) adventure.
We've never backpacked before -- only used day packs -- so this will be interesting and a challenge. I also just realized now, at 8:10 p.m. on Friday, that the sleeping bags we ordered from REI a week ago never came in today as they swore they would. Panicking a little trying to track them down (I can hear Ed downstairs on the phone with them, and it doesn't sound encouraging).
I'll keep you posted about our hike, although entries will come after we've finished on the 14th, when I'll have Internet access.
Carpe diem!
