Iceland: off trail along the Skeiðarár glacier

[Wim Depondt]

Iceland is a class on its own. I have been there five times now and the island still fascinates me. Easy access from Western Europe – and in a lesser extend North America – and good public transportation is a bonus.

In July, I finished a 3 day hike around the Skeiðarár glacier. Impressions: https://plus.google.com/photos/115730044803644133203/albums/5901264430068070385?authkey=CIj0pvO-mqTWDw

Day 1: walk from the N°1 road aka ring road towards the Skeiðarár glacier towards the Glacial lake of Grænalón (fed by the Grænalón glacier from the west of the lake and the Skeiðarár glacier, calving in the lake).
Initially, I was not planning to walk the glacier but approach the lake overland, but the Nupsa river was in spate, forcing me to walk back to the N°1, using the road bridge to cross the Nupsa and use the Skeiðarár glacier to approach the lake.

Day 2: crossing the Skeiðarár glacier towards Skaftafell national park, crossing the Blátindur pass. The Skaftafell section was largely scree slope walking. I was happy with the snow still lingering around.

Day 3: easy descent to Morsárdlar towards the Skaftafell visitor center. Partially on a trail.

Access is by public transportation. In summer, the Skeiðarár glacier is 'aper' (=not covered by snow). I had campons with me but never had to use them).
The Skaftafell area, east of Morsárdlar is popular with day hikers.

Initially, I was planning to do some more off trail walking (Landmannalaugar – Hekla volcano), but bad weather forecast – that proved to be right – and my trailrunners starting to disintegrate made me decide to walk the popular trail from Skogar to landmannalaugar (almost touching the dreaded Eyjafjallajökull volcano and crossing it’s recent eruption site – yep, that’s the one that disrupted air traffic in Western Europe in 2010). For those intrested, impressions of that trail – that IMHO has become to popular in July & August – can found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/115730044803644133203/IcelandTrek2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJP1t6SrnpGTQA&feat=directlink (photos taken on a previous trek, including the lightly travelled Rjupnahellir-Landmannalaugar extension).mg src="/backpackinglight/user_uploads/1375284836_86271.jpg" alt="-" width="550" height="413">

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