|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
2017 Laugevegur Trail and Fimmvorduhals Trail - Iceland
What is it:
The Laugevegur Trail is one of the most popular hikes in Iceland. The Fimmvorduhals Trail extends the hike an extra day or so, and you definitely should do it. Both trails together are around 48 miles (77 km), and there are also optional side trails. The route traverses Iceland's rugged, barren, and beautiful landscape, passing by ice caves, glaciers, hot springs, steam vents, and volcanoes. If that isn't enough for you there are 26 pretty spectacular waterfalls in the last day.
When:
There are daily shuttle busses to and from the trail starting late spring from Reykjavik. We hiked from June 15th to June 20th 2017. The busses had just started running a few days prior to our arrival and the snow pack was still very deep up high. There are huts that you can reserve, or camp at, but they are only open when the busses are running. I am glad that we hiked early in the year because the snow pack added to the stunning landscape. We did have to spend a couple days walking on top of packed, slushy snow and that did add to the challenge. The lower elevation areas were free of snow. The weather was cool during the day and stayed above freezing at night. We had a mix of drizzle, clouds, rain, wind, and sunshine. Overall the weather was pretty decent.
In Iceland in June the sun barely sets. In the middle of the night the sky is as bright as an overcast day. You could hike at any time of day if you want, and sleeping can be hard. At camp, there were people up and about most of the night which was kind of weird. A sleep mask is helpful.
Planning:
We flew in and out of Reykjavik. There is a shuttle bus that runs from the airport to a station outside Reykjavik, and then there is another daily shuttle bus from there a few hours to Landmannalaugar, which is the start of the hike.
The bus station has a small outdoor store right in it where you can buy fuel canisters and a variety of gear items that you might have forgotten. There is also a restaurant in the station, and a gas station-convenience store next door with limited re-supply. There was a Subway restaurant at the gas station. We flew with some of our dried food items, and supplemented from the convenience store.
Landmannalaugar (where the bus drops you off) is a just a "base camp" with camping, and bunks that you can reserve. There is a small camp store run out of a converted bus that had pre-made sandwiches, snacks, coffee, and odds and ends that hikers might need. You might miss the bus-store if you aren't looking for it because it just looks like a parked bus in the parking lot.
Everything is expensive in Iceland. Whatever you think something would cost in the US, double it or more. The currency is the Icelandic Kr�na, which is currently about 1:1 with the USD. Want a beer? $12. Camping is about $20 per person, per night and is only allowed outside the huts. You can reserve a bunk for more, however we stayed outside every night. If you want to go inside a hut to warm up or get out of the wind or rain, that will be $5 for an hour, if there is space.
The huts are relatively small. They have bunks and you can cook inside but they don't serve meals. Some sell candy bars or sodas. For the most part you will need to carry your food for the whole trip.
There is one restaurant on route at Volcano Hut in Th�rsm�rk. It is maybe a mile off the main route, but totally worth it if you are hungry and willing to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a hot meal after a few days of walking. You can reconnect with the route without backtracking much.
There is also a restaurant and hotel at the end at Skogar. The shuttle busses pick hikers up daily from Th�rsm�rk (by Volcano Hut), or Skogar. You can book round-trip in advance.
Difficulty
The trail was pretty easy to follow, and the cross-country snow sections had plenty of footsteps to follow. This hike had a few climbs but most of it wasn't that steep or strenuous. The hardest part was slogging through melting snow pack for the better part of a couple days. It is like hiking in beach sand. We didn't post-hole and we didn't need snow shoes or anything it just added some effort. There are a couple knee to thigh deep river fords, which were not bad.
Laugevegur Trail - Iceland Gear List:
This is the gear list that I would take if I were to do any three-season thru-hike today.
| Ounces | Packing System |
| 21 | Arc Blast Backpack |
| 1 | Pair Shoulder Pouches |
| 1.5 | Pair Belt Pouches |
| Ounces | Shelter System |
| 14.8 | Plexamid Tent |
| 2.1 | 8x Carbon Tent Stakes w/ stake sack |
| Ounces | Sleeping System |
| 18.7 | Zpacks 20F Slim, Long Classic Sleeping Bag |
| 1.7 | Medium Pillow Dry Bag |
| 8 | Neoair Xlite Pad, size small |
| Ounces | Cooking System |
| 3.3 | .6L Evernew Pot |
| .2 | Titanium short handle spoon |
| .5 | Lightload Towel |
| .4 | Mini-Bic Lighter |
| 2.3 | Soto Windmaster Stove |
| 1.4 | Roll top Food Bag |
| Ounces | Water Storage |
| 1.5 | 1 Quart Powerade Bottle |
| 1.5 | 1 Quart Powerade Bottle |
| 0 | No water treatment. |
| Ounces | Miscellaneous Items |
| 6 | Galaxy S9 Smartphone / Camera |
| 6 | Anchor 10,000 mAh PowerCore battery |
| 1.5 | Pak-Light w/ homemade headband |
| .7 | Victorinox Classic Pocket Knife |
| .5 | Silva Compass / Thermometer |
| .7 | Zpacks Travel Toothbrush |
| 1 | Passport, Credit Card, License, Cash in Travel Zip |
| 1.7 | 50ft 2 mm Z-Line cord |
| .4 | 4x Mini-D Carabiners |
| .3 | Chap Stick |
| .01 | Ear plugs |
| .8 | Sunglasses |
| .1 | Ibuprofen |
| Ounces | Gear Repair |
| .6 | 3x strips of DCF Repair Tape |
| .1 | 6x Large safety pins |
| .35 | Sewing repair kit |
| Ounces | Carried Clothing |
| 6.2 | Vertice Rain Jacket |
| 3.6 | Vertice Rain Pants (Optionally substitute Rain Kilt in warmer weather). |
| 1.0 | Vertice Rain Mitts |
| .9 | Zpacks Fleece Hat |
| 2 | Zpacks Wind Shell Jacket |
| 8.9 | Zpacks Climashield insulated Jacket |
| 1 | Medium-Plus Dry Bag |
| Ounces | Optional clothing to add for colder weather |
| 1.4 | Possum Down Gloves |
| 2.5 | Possum Down Socks |
| Ounces | Worn Items (Not part of base weight) |
| 10.2 | Columbia Silver Ridge II Zip off pants |
| 7.3 | Long sleeve, breathable shirt w/ hood |
| .9 | Ultamax Triathlete low cut socks |
| 3.5 | Patagonia boxers |
| 2.4 | Zpacks Trucker Hat |
| 23 | Teva Grecko Sandals (discontinued model) |
| 7.3 | Zpacks Carbon Fiber Staff |
| Ounces | Total Base Weight |
| 124 | 7 lbs 12 ounces (3.5 kg) |
