The Laugarvegurinn hike is on- let's do this!
We didn't have to catch the bus until 10 so we got up, drank some coffee, got goods at the store and made some sammies for the hike. Of course the bus shows up early so we quickly pack our bags, me feeling like I'm def going to forget something. We jumped in the 4x4 monster truck bus filled with tourists and headed off to Landmannalaugar.
We met Barbara from Austria in the bus. We told her we planned on doing the hike in 2 days, she said we are crazy. That made me nervous. She wanted to hike with us since she was alone but she had reservations at the first hut. That wasn't going to work for us. First of all, we had no reservations and we were told they booked up fast. Second, we would have to make it at least to the second hut to make it in two days. We drove through fields filled with lava rock that shot out of Hekla during our 2.5 bus ride. After driving through some rivers I understood why the bus was a beast. Hekla is a huge mountain with a glacier on top that we re going to walk by.
The start of the trail had us going straight uphill. The wind was picking up so much it was almost blowing us over. We walked through a field of obsidian and reylite which is a slow cooling lava rock that has lots of detail. We walked through an area of geothermal springs with the lovely smell of sulfur. Up the mountain, we hit one ridge where the wind was blowing so hard Andy grabbed my hand so I wouldn't blow over the edge. All of a sudden the wind ripped my backpack rain cover off and over the land, impossible for me to retrieve it. Aahhhhh! Son of a bitch, why is the hike starting off like this!? We quickly moved on and took a little detour (well marked eh?).
Up and up the mountain we hit rain then hail. This is going to be a rough hike. Andy had to hold my hand several times so I didn't blow away. Walking through the hail, it was almost impossible to see. The hail would pelt our eyeballs, making it hard to see the "well marked" stakes we were supposed to be following. I was hiding behind Andy as much as possible to block the wind and hail. The hike to the first hut was pretty much all uphill. We found ourselves in snow up to our knees. Wtf? We weren't prepared for this!
Finally we found the hut Hrafntinnusker. We opened door but I immediately shut it because there was no room for us. There has to be another area right? Nope that was it. We made it in, drenched and freezing. It was a shit show inside. The mood was tense, I don't think we were the only people ill prepared. The warden was very nice but said we couldn't stay there because the hut was booked. Are you fucking serious? I might die if I have to go back outside. Andy quickly got me some hot water as I was close to a breakdown. It helped but I just got colder the longer I sat there. We tried to eat our sammies but it was difficult. Andy heard some guys talking about pressing on and said we would go with them. Traveling in this weather is better in groups. I was almost catatonic so I got up and put on my wet raincoat just to move again. You could see the look of horror in other people's eyes. Some people were setting up tents in this snow surrounded by 2 ft high walls. There was no way that was going to happen. The warden told us we were brave for going out in this. We were both drenched, multiple layers through. I held the hot water bottle and we went back outside since we didn't have the option of staying there. It took us 3 hrs to get there and it usually takes 4-5.
The next part of the hike was very scary. Andy, myself, the two dudes from Boston (Miller and Rick?) took the trail one stake by one since you couldn't see farther ahead. A each stake we would all look around for the next and it wasn't easy. Sometimes it took us a couple minutes to walk around looking for the next stake. Many were blown over from the strong winds. There were small breaks where we could see the valley so we quickly took pics. A some point we started following red stakes instead of the blue stakes. There wasn't much we could do to change course at this point.
It was 7:45 when we got to Alftavatn, just over 3 hours when the book calls for 4-5 hrs. The boys had reservations but I was hoping they would have openings and they did! Andy wanted to press on to the next hut but the look in my eyes said we were staying here. The hut was well worth the $90. The mood was very different, no fear of death, no shit show like the first hut. There as a group from possibly Denmark in the kitchen and welcomed us, telling us to sit by the gas fire. We four of us were ecstatic! We made it!! We aren't going to die! We quickly took off our wet clothes and made dinner. Andy made the best Mac and cheese with hotdogs ever, he added real cheese. We were starving which made it more delish. Nothing could get our spirits down at this point. We went to bed just after 9 to prep for the long next day. As the Danish were going to bed, we were informed the old person to have died was a 25 yr old who froze on the mountain.
We met Barbara from Austria in the bus. We told her we planned on doing the hike in 2 days, she said we are crazy. That made me nervous. She wanted to hike with us since she was alone but she had reservations at the first hut. That wasn't going to work for us. First of all, we had no reservations and we were told they booked up fast. Second, we would have to make it at least to the second hut to make it in two days. We drove through fields filled with lava rock that shot out of Hekla during our 2.5 bus ride. After driving through some rivers I understood why the bus was a beast. Hekla is a huge mountain with a glacier on top that we re going to walk by. We got out of the bus and immediately got behind shelter because it was windy and raining. We went into the unisex bathroom to prep and get our gear in. I out on my makeshift rain pants made out of a garbage bag and duck tape. Bring it. At the base of the trail was a hot pot that looked so lovely but we didn't have time for that. We registered for the hike (in case we got lost). Barbara had a topographical maps and we had our free map from the diner. No need for us to pay for a map since the trail is "well marked. We took some pics at the trailhead and I stepped in a puddle and soaked my shoes. Goddammit. That was the thing I was trying so hard not to do.
Finally we found the hut Hrafntinnusker. We opened door but I immediately shut it because there was no room for us. There has to be another area right? Nope that was it. We made it in, drenched and freezing. It was a shit show inside. The mood was tense, I don't think we were the only people ill prepared. The warden was very nice but said we couldn't stay there because the hut was booked. Are you fucking serious? I might die if I have to go back outside. Andy quickly got me some hot water as I was close to a breakdown. It helped but I just got colder the longer I sat there. We tried to eat our sammies but it was difficult. Andy heard some guys talking about pressing on and said we would go with them. Traveling in this weather is better in groups. I was almost catatonic so I got up and put on my wet raincoat just to move again. You could see the look of horror in other people's eyes. Some people were setting up tents in this snow surrounded by 2 ft high walls. There was no way that was going to happen. The warden told us we were brave for going out in this. We were both drenched, multiple layers through. I held the hot water bottle and we went back outside since we didn't have the option of staying there. It took us 3 hrs to get there and it usually takes 4-5. The next part of the hike was very scary. Andy, myself, the two dudes from Boston (Miller and Rick?) took the trail one stake by one since you couldn't see farther ahead. A each stake we would all look around for the next and it wasn't easy. Sometimes it took us a couple minutes to walk around looking for the next stake. Many were blown over from the strong winds. There were small breaks where we could see the valley so we quickly took pics. A some point we started following red stakes instead of the blue stakes. There wasn't much we could do to change course at this point. The terrain was gnarly. The warden told us it was rolling hills. She didn't lie because we hiked up and down steep hills over and over again. We would slide down the slushy mountain and either hop rocks across a small river or walk across a fucking ice bridge. Mind you it's the end of the summer and parts of these ice bridges were melted, some with holes in the middle. They had rivers running blow. If we broke through we'd end up 7 ft under with no way to get up, none of us had rope. I let Miller go first. After the first several we started to feel confidant about them. No one fell through, we made sure only one person was on them at a time. There were thermal spots all over the mountain. There wasn't much point to try to warm up near them since they would only put more wetness in our clothes.
The four of us were exhausted and freezing. Andy was trying to look through his fingers but the hail kept getting through to his eyeballs. The gloves Andy bought froze to his fingers and he almost had frostbite. Miller kept hallucinating the next hut. We wanted to see it so badly. We started to walk down the mountain and the hail turned to rain. I never thought I'd be so happy to be in cold rain. A least we are not going to die. All of us were so happy, the terrain got easier, and we finally saw the next hut! We were almost giddy with delight! The valley was gorgeous, lush with rivers and green next to the snow capped mountains. It was a lot of downhill which I don't mind since I was so done with uphill.
It was 7:45 when we got to Alftavatn, just over 3 hours when the book calls for 4-5 hrs. The boys had reservations but I was hoping they would have openings and they did! Andy wanted to press on to the next hut but the look in my eyes said we were staying here. The hut was well worth the $90. The mood was very different, no fear of death, no shit show like the first hut. There as a group from possibly Denmark in the kitchen and welcomed us, telling us to sit by the gas fire. We four of us were ecstatic! We made it!! We aren't going to die! We quickly took off our wet clothes and made dinner. Andy made the best Mac and cheese with hotdogs ever, he added real cheese. We were starving which made it more delish. Nothing could get our spirits down at this point. We went to bed just after 9 to prep for the long next day. As the Danish were going to bed, we were informed the old person to have died was a 25 yr old who froze on the mountain.