Hiking In Iceland: Landmannalaugar-Thorsmork

We meet at 7:00 at Ráðhústorgið (Town Hall) on Vonarstraeti - Tourist Information Center.

The drive takes about 3-4 hours, on the way we drive along the south coast and then turn inland and pass Icelands most active volcano, Hekla. Our hike starts in Landmannalaugar as we walk through this geothermal wonderland and look at the colorful mountains and steaming hot springs. We walk by the beautiful hot spring Storihver before crossing into the obsidian desert by Hrafntinnusker. We spend the night in the hut in Hrafntinnusker, one of the most remote huts in Iceland.

After breakfast in the hut we head out again and walk along the Reykjafjoll mountains and then descend into the Jokultungur area. The geothermal activity has turned these gullies yellow and red. From the top of Jokultungur there is a great view over the Fjallabak area and lake Alftavatn which is our next overnight stop. Before reaching Alftavatn we cross an unbridged stream on foot. We spend the night in the hut by the lake.

We start the day with another refreshing stream crossing as we make our way past the green volcano Storasula and into the black desert of Maelifellssandur. On our way we will see Hattafell, a volcano with a strange flat top. We walk through this black glacial desert and into Emstrur where there is chance to enjoy the view of Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull glaciers. Just before reaching the hut in Botnar we turn of the path to look at Markarfljotsgljufur, almost 200m deep canyons carved out by the glacial river Markarfljot. The hut in Botnar is in a little green oasis, a welcome sight after walking through the black sands.

We put Emstrur behind us and continue along the canyons on our way to Thorsmork. The trail takes us within a few kilometers from the great Myrdalsjokull glacier. As we descend towards Almenningar a few trees can be seen, a sign we are getting closer to the coast. We walk under the characteristic mountain Einhyrningur and into the dense birch forest in Thorsmork. Thorsmork is a green valley nesting under the glaciers Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull.

We catch a bus to Reykjavik in the afternoon and arrive at the central tourist info where the tour ends at 22:00.