Day 3 – Hellismannaleid: Landmannahellir to Landmannalaugar
We check the weather forecast and it is windy and showery. We contemplate staying put and using our spare day here: the warm cosy hut is appealing after our long wet day yesterday. But the forecast is for worsening weather tomorrow, so we decide to move on. That proves to be a good decision.
Each day is more spectacular than the last. Today it does rain on and off most of the time, and is very windy, but it really doesn’t matter. There are lakes and grassy fells. After a brief period of fog, it lifts just in time for us to enjoy the incredible scenery as we approach Landmannalaugar. A perfect summer’s day really!
So we’re back on track and have a “standard” day today.
The day begins with a steep ascent behind the huts.
Landmannahellir Hut - ours was the central of the three larger ones with bunk/dorm accommodation. The others are cabins.
Glimpses of snow ahead: I hope we walk over some today!
You can walk around the mountain behind the hut but we decide to climb it, and the views are worth it. Hellisvisyl snaking across the plain.
Oh wow. Descending down the other side with a view over Löðmundarvatyn.
Skirting the lake. The rotor gusts are insane, almost strong enough to knock us over.
Frog Orchid (Dactylorhiza viride)
– great excitement!
The sheep here are very different to our Oz merinos. They are strangely triangular in cross section, and their wool is much more coarse and hair-like. Not surprising seeing as it’s so cold.
I’m guessing these small boulders have been tossed out or down from a volcano? Geologists, please help!
I’ve tried to capture the colour of this moss. It is an iridescent lime green that looks completely out of place in a natural environment.
The wind is a good 35 or so knots on this hillside and it's drizzly. I don't take many pictures as it is just too exposed. Lifrarfjallavatyn just has a few gusts across its surface.
We have crossed the (one) road and are finally at the snowline.
The rain has been steady all day…
but there are always things to see: abrupt extrusions and columns of rock.
We still have the trail almost entirely to ourselves, less than a day from busy Landmannalaugar.
Frostastaðavatyn
The fog is dropping.
Whiteout conditions are notorious here and a map and compass aren’t much help, but we have our trusty ancient Garmin 72map, our Garmin Inreach Mini, and two phones with Mapy.cz and the route plotted. I'm anal about backup navigation because I'm so afraid of getting lost!
Fog descends. We go slowly. Waymarkers are mostly visible but a couple of times we need the gps route.
Mossy mountain-heather:
(Harrimanella hypnoides)
First glimpse of the famous rhyolite of the mountains around Landmannalaugar.
More snow!
And here we are. Wow. We’d seen so many pictures when researching the hike, but the reality is so much more than you expect. More vast, more colourful, more awe-inspiring... just... more.
These are the colours as I saw them on a rather drab, drizzly and gloomy day. Jaw dropping. We keep stopping to marvel. The tiny people on the plain bottom left give you an idea of the scale.
Waterfalls, snow, green, white, orange and red rhyolite, and Trolls’ Dicks!
One last river to cross. River crossing sandals are essential when hiking this region in Iceland - thongs are no good as you’ll lose them. Landmannalaugar is tucked behind the lava field top left (we’re approaching from the northwest).
Great to see that most people seem to respecting the signage.
Moss is incredibly sensitive to trampling.
A lavafield to cross to reach tonight’s campsite
Landmannalaugar. It’s a bit of a shock to see so many people after the solitude of the last few days!
70+km/hr wind forecast plus rain.
The camp is extremely exposed so we place extra guys and have built a little wall around the windward side. A French film crew is doing a story on the Icelandic search and rescue volunteers, who spend most of their time rescuing tourists. They have their mikes and cameras, and are filming volunteers in suspiciously clean uniforms advising campers. They come and talk to us because, to the uninitiated, our Duplex tent, which is probably one of the strongest ones in the campground, looks like something you might buy in the toy department of Kmart. But we know from where the wind is approaching and have zero concerns about our tent because our pegs are very secure.
Here comes the weather. We wonder what tonight will bring!