Southwestern Iceland - The Rough Guide to Iceland - page 114

LAUGAVEGUR HIKING PRACTICALITIES
The Laugavegur trail is open from early June until the end of August, when buses run daily
from Reykjavík to the end points at Landmannalaugar and Þórsmörk.
Ferðafélag Íslands' huts ( T 568 2535, E [e-mail]) sleep up to seventy people, cost 5000kr a
night for sleeping-bag space, have toilets, kitchens and usually showers, and need to be
booked well in advance; make sure you carry the receipts to show to hut wardens, as it's the
only way you can prove your booking. Campsites at the huts cost 1000kr, with access to
toilets and showers, but not kitchens. Bring everything with you, including food and sleeping
bags (you can get water at the huts) and, if camping, a tent, stove and cooking gear.
Weather varies between fair and foul, with gale-force winds a speciality of the region; you
need full waterproof gear, warm clothing, solid hiking boots, and some old trainers or surf boots
for fording the several frigid rivers . The trail is well pegged, but at the very least you need to
carry Landmælingar Íslands' Þórsmörk-Landmannalaugar map and a compass. Although the
overall gradients are the same whichever end you begin, in practice it's easier from the north,
where you spend a whole day gradually reaching the trail's apex (around 1120m) between
Hrafntinnusker and Álftvatn, instead of doing it in one short, brutal ascent from the south.

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Landmannalaugar to Hrafntinnusker
The 12km stretch between Landmannalaugar and the first hut at Hrafntinnusker is
mostly up. You leave Landmannalaugar via Brennisteinsalda onto the muddy moorland
atop the plateau, surrounded by stark, wild hills. About two-thirds of the way along is
Stórihver thermal area , a steaming gully and rare patch of grass, beyond which there's a
scramble onto a higher snowfield which peaks at Söðull , the ridge above the huge
volcanic crater of Hrafntinnusker . “Hrafntin” means obsidian , and just about all rocks
in the area are made of this black volcanic glass. The Hrafntinnusker hut has no
shower; the campsite here is on scree and very exposed.
The tightly folded ridges due west conceal Iceland's densest concentration of hot
springs , with a pegged walking track (about 40min each way) out to where one set rises
under the stratified edge of a glacier, hollowing out ice caves , though these mostly
collapsed in 2007.

Hrafntinnusker to Álftvatn
It's a further 12km from Hraftinnusker to the second hut at Álftavatn. The first stage
continues across the snowy plateau to a rocky outcrop just west of Háskerðingur ,
whose sharp, snow-clad peak makes a good two-hour detour - though views
northwest from the base, over worn rhyolite hills, patches of steam from scattered
vents, and Laufafell's distinctive black mass, are just as good. The plateau's edge at
Jökultungur is not much further on, revealing a blast of colour below which is a bit of
a shock after the highland's muted tones: Álftavatn sits in a vivid green glacial valley,
lined with sharp ridges and abrupt pyramidal hills, with Mýrdalsjökull's outlying
glaciers visible to the south.
he subsequent descent into the valley is steep but not difficult, and ends with you
having to wade a small stream before the trail flattens out near the two huts (one owned
by Útivist; T 562 1000, W utivist.is) and campground on the lakeshore at Álftavatn . After
getting settled in, hike around Álftavatn's west side and follow the valley for 5km down
to Torfahlaup , a narrow canyon near where the Markarfljót river flows roughly between
the green flanks of Stóra-Grænfjall and Illasúla, two steep-sided peaks.

Álftvatn to Botnar-Emstrur
The next stage to Botnar-Emstrur is 16km. Around 5km east from Álftavatn via a
couple more streams, Hvanngil is a sheltered valley with a privately run hut and
campsite with showers and toilet; after here you cross a bridge over Kaldaklofskvísl , and
have to wade the substantial but fairly shallow Bláfjallakvísl. . he scenery beyond opens