Iceland 08-11-21-2014

Iceland! A good ten hour time difference from Hawaii beckoned so I invited my three children for this adventure of camping with day hiking in the south east section. Joshua and Kai agreed to come with me so we had a three-generation hiking and camping adventure. Reykjavik is a nice town with many tourist shops and some historic sites with views of the ocean and surrounding coastal volcanic mountains. We had a day to tour the town with an hour walking tour and some local meat soup before meeting our touring group of eight people the next morning. They had already been together for 9 days in Greenland and were continuing their tour for another 9 in Iceland. The tour leader, Tomas, was a 36-year old guide with a French father and Icelandic mother. He has been guiding backpacking and bus (day-hiking) tours for 16 years during summers, and playing saxophone in a band during the rest of the year. In addition to the Jacobs, there were 8 other campers; 5 French from the south of France, 1 Chinese from Hong Kong living in Wales, 1 Swiss German, and 1 Russian living in London. Jean Luc and his wife Francine are in their late fifties/early sixties and are new grandparents. He spoke some English, she did not. Denis is 72, widely traveled, but doesn't speak much English. Pascal met Denis on a previous adventure travel in Patagonia but didn't know he was also going to be on this trip. Pascal usually has bicycling adventures (Paris/Brest/Paris race in 90 hours, sleeping in telephone booths, ATM vestibules, and bathrooms along the way), but has been hiking all over the world, too. Chantal was in her late sixties and had been to Iceland many decades ago. Her usual haunts when not in France is in South Asia. Louise, whose Chinese name meant 'Happy Green Land', was a bubbly woman on her first major hiking trip, but certainly not her first international travel. She teaches business administration in Wales, and likes to collect at least a couple of words from each country she visits. Sep (Joseph) is a quiet guy from Switzerland. Andre was a not-quiet guy from Moscow who is a cancer researcher at University College London. He had the same camera as Leonard and took over 5000 pictures.
We traveled on a bus with four wheel drive capabilities. Our journey was taken up with the changing scenery and a nice man who talked to us on tape with information about the country, culture, economics, geology, and farming and other businesses we passed on our way. The photographs will be grouped in the time frame we experienced this changing land. The photographs may have some more narrative and are tagged in the metadata. To view this in flickr, scroll down after you select the photograph. I have attached for your interest (or not) the itinerary we had before this trip.

Day 1: Reykjavík-Þórsmörk
Departure from Reykjavík by the scheduled bus at 08:00 in the morning. Our route takes us south-east to the beautiful waterfall of Seljalandsfoss where we make a short stop before changing into the mountain bus that will take us into the valley of Þórsmörk. Named after the Norse god Thor, Þórsmörk is a grandiose valley, carved into the volcanic tuff by many rivers descending from the glaciers. Getting into Þórsmörk is in itself a little expedition, because you have to ford at least twenty rivers! Our destination is also at the foot of Eyjafjallajökull (1617 m) volcano, covered by a glacier. Its eruption in April 2010 is still very memorable when it released huge amounts of ash into the atmosphere, paralyzing the air traffic in a large part of Europe for several days. Arriving mid-day at the camp In the afternoon we will take our first hike exploration of the surrounding area. We have many possibilities for our hike: a narrow gorge carved into the tuff (Stakkholtsgjá), caves and more. Overnight in tents.
Walking time: 3 hours

Day 2: Þórsmörk
Today we will explore the natural wonder that is Þórsmörk, and enjoy the scenery. Þórsmörk means the woods of Thor and the green valleys are filled with arctic birch and colorful flowers. For example we can visit the song cave “Sönghellir” or hike up to Valahnjúkur a small peak where we can enjoy excellent views of the surroundings and the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Overnight in the same camp as the night before.
Walking time: 6-7 hours

Day 3: Þórsmörk - Volcano and Fimmvörðuháls Pass (1100 m) – Skógafoss
Today we will cross the famous Fimmvörðuháls pass that separates the glaciers Mýrdalsjökull and Eyjafjallajökull. From Þórsmörk we climb up the Kattarhryggir ridge to the Morinsheiði plateau where we begin to see the signs of the eruption in March 2010. The lava flowed from the hills above plunging like a waterfall into a deep valley. As our accent continues, we have to cross the new lava before coming to the foot of the two magnificent red craters. Arriving finally at the highest point of Fimmvörðuháls at 1100m, we discover the view to the south. Our descent faces the ocean and follows the many waterfalls of the river Skógá all the way to the famous waterfall of Skógafoss (60 m high, one of the most powerful in the country). Arriving at Skógar we set up camp. Overnight in tents.
Walking: 8 hours. Accent/decent: 1000 m.
NB: In case of unfavorable weather (including poor visibility), we might shorten our day by going to the craters and back to Þórsmörk for a third night at the same camp.

Day 4: Skógar- Skaftafell
Final exploration of the area around Skógar before we get on the bus that takes us east along the coast. The road passes the village and beaches of Vík, crosses the great sand plains of Mýrdalssandur and the vast lava field of Eldhraun (Lava of Fire), made by one of the biggest lava flows in historical times. In the beginning of the afternoon we arrive at Vatnajökull National Park – Skaftafell at the foot of Iceland’s highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (2119 m). After setting up our camp for the next three nights we will go on our first discovery of the area. Night in tents.

Day 5: Vatnajökull National Park- Skaftafell
This beautiful park sits at the foot of Europe's largest glacier, Vatnajökull, a green oasis of arctic birch, surrounded by mountains and glaciers, decorated with colorful valleys, rivers and waterfalls. Views of Hvannadalshnúkur to the one side and towards the ocean and the vast black sandy plains of Skeiðarársandur to the other. Today we will discover the park´s natural beauty. We might either visit the Valley Morsárdalur, Bæjarstaðarskógur woods, glacier Morsárjökull and the hot springs of Jökulfell, or climb on one of the peaks of Kristínartindar, with breathtaking views of all the glaciers which descend from some of the highest summits in the country. Night in tents at the same camp.
Walking time: 8 hours

Optional (not included in the price) on Day 5 or Day 6:
- A glacier walk on crampons on the Svinafellsjökull glacier, supervised by a glacier guide. 2 hours (Price: 7 500 ISK, or about € 45) or 4 h (10 500 ISK, or about € 65).

Day 6: Jökulsárlón - Skaftafell
We take the bus to the Jökulsárlón glacial lake, dotted with icebergs "calved" by the great glacier Breiðamerkurjökull, one of the great wonders of this region. Optional boat tour on the lake (price: 2800 ISK, or about € 20). Return to Skaftafell in the afternoon. Same camp.
Walking time: 2-3 hours

Day 7: Skaftafell-Eldgjá-Landmannalaugar
Spectacular bus transfer from Skaftafell to Landmannalaugar. We head back west but shortly after the village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur we turn from the main road into the highlands. At Eldgjá, the "crevasse of fire" created probably by a single explosion in the year 934. The eruption must have been almost as powerful as that one of Laki in 1783. Eldgjá is a part of the mid-Atlantic ridge that for 200 million years has slowly but surely been distancing America slowly from Europe. Arrival at Landmannalaugar around midday, and after setting up camp we start our first explorations of the area and at the end the day it’s possible to go for a nice bath in warm springs!
Walking: 2-3 hours

Day 8: Landmannalaugar
For our day in Landmannalaugar we have a choice of many different hiking routes through this extraordinary landscape characterized by the yellow rhyolite mountains with a hint of red or blue. In addition to its high geothermal activity, Landmannalaugar is very interesting for its great variety of volcanic formations. There you can find side by side acid rock (rhyolite flows and domes), cinder cones, explosives craters, pseudo-craters, crater lakes…. And after a good day’s hike we can again soak in the warm river. Same camp as the night before.
Walking time: 6-8 hours

Day 9: Landmannalaugar- Reykjavík
Our bus comes to pick us up and we head out to visit two must see attractions in the Icelandic nature; the golden waterfall Gullfoss and the Geysir geothermal area, the home of the famous hot spring and its faithful neighbour Strokkur that spouts every 7-10 minutes. Arrival in Reykjavík in the late afternoon at the Reykjavík bus terminal where the tour ends.