Laugarvegur Trail: Landmannalaugar to Langidalur (Þórsmörk Valley)
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Laugarvegur Trail is a pretty straight forward trail. It spans 55 km and has 4 campgrounds/huts spaced along the trail. Wild camping is not allowed in this area so most people camp near the huts (running water and toilets). We did not stay in the huts and camped outside.
We chose to start at Landmannalaugar, our flight landed at 8:30 am and we had to scramble and pick up gear and some food to catch the 2 pm bus. We picked up cheese and some salami as you cannot fly into the country with uncooked meats and dairy products. I picked up a wonderful 500 gm gas canister and some Red Alcohol for the trip at the N1 gas station.
The base camp at Landmannalaugar was a zoo as there were about 50 tents already pitched when we arrived at 8:30 pm. That and given the sun really doesn't set in July, the party crowd stayed up for a while.
The snow has been staying around a lot longer than normal and there is plenty of snow on the trail. Lots of snow + no trees = few markers to guide by. That and there are periodic white outs in the area. Since we didn't bring a GPS, we were advised to stick close to someone who had one. Were were also recommended not to rely on foot paths as the day before +30 people got lost on the trail.
Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker
After a while, we drop out of the snow and hit the volcanic ash
Not a big fan of hiking in the snow, particularly with the fog drops down.
Hrafntinnusker to Álftavatn
More snow and more fog. I also discovered that at every ravine, the snow is melting and that you are basically hiking over a lot of snow arches.
For the last two days there have been few birds, no trees, no small mammals, very few insects. Bizarre.
Álftavatn to Emstrur
Finally out of the snow, but this stretch of the trail is the least interesting. Long straight trails through featureless landscapes. The highlight of the day would be all of the creek crossings: quite refreshing actually.
Emstrur to Langidalur (Þórsmörk Valley)
Great hike, lots of terrain changes
Great Basalt Towers
We finally see some tree, flowers, insects and birds.We actually had planned to continue the hike over the Skogar with a stop overnight at the Fimmvörðuháls huts but decided to pass: too much snow, white out conditions and we couldn't count on other hikers with a GPS.
The advantage of hiking in early July was the crowds were less, the day length was long and the stream crossings were easy (mid thigh max).
If I were to do this hike again, I would probably hike it in late August and bring a GPS.
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