Gear list modifications for Iceland (Laugavegur & Fimmvörðuháls trails)

[Al K]

I am considering hiking the Laugavegur & Fimmvörðuháls trails over 4 days in early July 2018. Up to now, all my backpacking has been in the summer and in the West (ie Sierras, Wind River, Cascades, Canadian Rockies) where I have enjoyed the relatively dry conditions and only small/easy sections of snow travel. For a 5 days Sierra trip my total pack weight including food, 2L water, &bear canister is around 28-30lbs.

My main pieces of gear are as follows:

backpack – Granite Gear Leopard 58
tent – Mountain Hardwear Super Mega UL
sleeping bag – Marmot Plasma 15
sleeping pad – Exped SynMat UL 7
water filter – sawyer mini
fleece liner gloves
eVent mitts
rain jacket
down jacket
Trail Runners (not waterproof)
hiking poles
Pack Towel

Some gear change considerations I have thought of so far:

Put everything in bags/liners to prevent moisture
Wear eVent rain pants instead of regular hiking pants
Full change of clothes for sleeping
GTX boots (Lowa Renegade) instead of trail runners
Swap down for fleece jacket
Crocs for river crossings
Gaiters for rain/snow
MicroSpikes
GPS unit
No bear canister

Let me know if anything I am considering changing up is overkill or if there is anything else I am missing.

Also, if you have any other advice regarding the trail it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any input!

[Katherine .]

I am planning the same for Aug, and will be staying in the huts. Here are my thoughts on some items on your list.

tent – bringing a mid for back-up in case I get off schedule
sleeping bag – EE 20 quilt because it’s what I have
sleeping pad – something to be the “bottom” of my quilt and give me a bit more cush in the hut beds (and backup)
water filter – I don’t think we need this
fleece liner gloves – for sure!
eVent mitts – something like that for sure!
rain jacket – yep
down jacket – i’d go w/synth option if you have one
Trail Runners (not waterproof) – same
hiking poles – yes
Pack Towel – yes

Some gear change considerations I have thought of so far:

Put everything in bags/liners to prevent moisture – for sure!
Wear eVent rain pants instead of regular hiking pants – from the get go cause the weather could change on a dime? I don’t like rain pants enough to do that, but will bring a full-zip version
Full change of clothes for sleeping – yes
GTX boots (Lowa Renegade) instead of trail runners – nah
Swap down for fleece jacket – I always bring both. I get cold. And my down anorak makes a good pillow.
Crocs for river crossings — usually don’t change, but apparently if you want to go in the huts you need some “inside shoes” — so if those are Crocs anyway, and they’re dry by then… I dunno. Some second pair of footwear will be involved.
Gaiters for rain/snow – yeah, dirty girls for sure. Something more generous, maybe?
MicroSpikes – prolly overkill
GPS unit – I’m gonna use my phone. You can also rent them there.
No bear canister – nope

Now of course this is all *in anticipation.*! I’d put more value on opinions of those who have done it already.

One tip I picked up: bring cash for the hut showers

[Manfred]

Hi Al,

My daughter and I hiked Fimmvörðuháls & Laugavegur  and beyond end of June/beginning of July 2016 – so roughly the same time of year you are targeting. You can see our trip report here on BPL.

Here are some thoughts in no particular order:

When you scroll through the photos in the trip report you will notice some pictures where my daughter wears rain jacket, rain pants and rain mitts. I would certainly bring a full set of rain gear – as the cold wind gets to you otherwise. On the other end of the spectrum I would pack swim trunks to be able to take advantage of hot spring and sauna at Húsadalur and the hot spring at Landmannalaugar.

You certainly don’t need a bear canister. I would stick with your trail runners that are not water proof and bring a pair of SealSkinz waterproof merino socks for going through slushy snow. We didn’t see any need for micro spikes. We didn’t use a water filter. We didn’t use crocs or otherwise to cross streams, but just walked through the water in our trail runners. We didn’t stay in any of the huts.  We had long johns to sleep in our 20F quilts in our zPacks Duplex tent. We brought our own cooking gear and food. Our base weights were 10 lbs for my daughter and 12 lbs for me as I had some extra gear (camera, inReach, solar panel, etc).

I would get the 112 Iceland app on your smart phone and check in every day.

Have fun on your trip!

Manfred — Ban People Less – Be Open. BPL-BO

 

[Al K]

Great advice; much appreciated.

Can anyone confirm that permits are not required? I plan on sleeping in a tent the entire time.

Also, what is the best GPS app for iPhone? Want to have just in case weather gets foul and I lose track of the trail. Will probably bring a satellite phone (wife requires).

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I prefer US Divers brand 3 mm closed cell neoprene sox as a VBL over thin poly socks. One pair of poly socks per day. Turn VBL sox inside-out every night to partially dry and place inside foot of sleeping bag overnight to complete drying.

** Remove boot liners and place in sleeping bag overnight to avoid painfully cold boots in the morning!

Wear a fleece balaclava at night and be <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>sure</span> it can easily cover your nose.”Cold nose syndrome” makes you unconsciously bury your face in your bag, thus wetting it with your breath.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

When I was there, if you were staying overnight at the Fimmvörðuháls, you needed to reserve a hut as they did not allow tent camping at the summit.

I use Gaia on my iPhone for GPS

The one thing that I would suggest is to take more than 4 days to hike the trail.  It truly is a spectacular place and I would spend as much time as I could out there.  My 2 cents

BTW,  a lot of the fun is also in meeting and talking to all of the international travelers on the trail

[Author]

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