Category: hiking

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general hiking travel trip reports

Day Two of the Laugavegur hike (Hrafntinnusker – Álftavatn)

The morning brought a little mizzle, so we pessimistically donned all our rain gear. The rain gods thanked us for our humility, and declared an end to the rain for the duration of our hiking that day.

The ground steamed at us, the mountains were dark, the mountains were colourful, the snow patches had ashy residue, and ridiculously bright green moss highlighted quirks of the landscape.

We spent the first half of the hike climbing down into and then out of the creases in the landscape. Lots of little gullies were still filled with snow, and some obvious snow bridges had streams flowing under them. Nothing collapsed beneath our feet.

And then suddenly the scenery changed, and instead of colourful rhyolite mountains and ashfields and moss, we were faced with a prehistoric landscape that seemed like it should have dinosaurs casually meandering through it. Bright green, with traditional volcano cone-shaped mountain-lets, and an enormous glacier lurking to the left, just below the clouds.

We descended into the green, but no dinosaurs appeared. Perhaps they’d eaten all the trees and then moved on. That’s definitely a feature of hiking in Iceland, not the dinosaurs, but the fact that there’s nary a tree or animal to be seen. We did see several birds over the course of the hike, and a few bugs hovered nervously nearby, but seemed too shy to come up and have a bite of us. Oh, there were some sheep though, hanging around occasionally, and wandering past when we least expected it.

The hut that night was by Lake Álftavatn. We’d seen it as soon as we were in view of the prehistoric valley we were about to descend into, but it was still kilometres away, and kept tantalising us with glimpses as we gradually hiked closer. It couldn’t keep that game up forever though, and eventually we reached it.

There were actually twin huts linked by boardwalk that would also take you to the toilet block, which included a couple of showers (they would even be warm showers if you paid 500ISK). We glared at the showers and maintained our eau de hiking aroma.

A quick deal with the hut warden had us moved from one of the big sleeping rooms into one of the small private rooms – just two beds, and just the thing for the Moosling and his Papa to fall asleep on while I went out for a walk … until it started to rain on me. Everyone arriving later that day started turning up absolutely saturated.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent chatting with people in the roomy living/cooking area of the hut. Or for those in the party under the age of one, it was instead spent chasing around cups on the floor of the hut, and grinning at everyone who glanced at you, and possibly offering them your socks. The friendly driver/cook from one of the guided groups offered us some of their leftover lamb soup (absolutely delicious – I could definitely handle hiking with a cook).

Distance: 12km
Terrain: A bit hilly, with an overall altitude loss of 490m

Categories
general hiking travel trip reports

Day One of the Laugavegur hike (Landmannalaugar – Hrafntinnusker)

The Laugavegur is a 55km hike in south-west Iceland, usually completed over four days. It’s one of those classic hikes – the sort that are so classic that you should book months in advance if you want to be sure of a spot in the huts. Of course, if you don’t mind camping in the rain, then you’re probably ok. But given the weather in the area, chances are you would be spending at least one night sitting outside cooking in the rain, then huddling in the damp of your tent. We booked space in the huts.

After a four hour bus ride from Reykjavik, we were grateful to be out of the bus and able to stretch our legs (and set the Moosling loose) once we arrived in Landmannalaugar. And then it started to rain. Finishing lunch and then getting sorted to hike in the mizzly rain, we set forth through the twisty-tortured moss-covered lava fields of Laugahraun. Distant sheep wandered about wetly and the picturesque mountains were shrouded in clouds.

Hiking further along, the ground was steaming too. Between that, the clouds, and the mizzling rain, it was a very damp hike, with just a hint of sulphur.

But then, slowly, the rain stopped falling on us. And even if the clouds didn’t really lift, it was a definite improvement. And those ridiculously colourful rhyolite mountains were peeking out at us everywhere, with their artistic daubs of moss and ash-saturated snow, looking like a painted backdrop rather than genuine scenery.

Hiking on through the alien scenery, the crowds thinned out, until we were mostly walking on our own, occasionally running into another couple hiking along, or stopping for a snack. Although numbers on the trail are high, and the distances to cover each day are low, everyone seems to thin out over the whole trail, with late starters, and early starters, and “lets sit in this meadow for a few hours”ers.

Although there was a lot of geothermal activity to be seen, the only bathable hot springs for the day were behind us, in Landmannalaugar. We’d decided not to partake, feeling that everything was damp enough already, and really wanting to do something other than sitting after the bus ride.

Before too long we were hiking across rocky plains, following yellow painted poles and walking past a memorial to an Israeli who had died of exposure up here in recent years. Then around a corner, and the hut appeared – the Hrafntinnusker, our home for the night. Sleeps 52 (plus a Moosling who kept trying to crawl into the kitchen). Below it were nestled a colony of colourful tents, each ineffectually huddling by an optimistic wall of balanced rocks.

Distance: 12km
Terrain: A bit hilly, with an overall altitude gain of 470m

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canada general hiking

Mt Indefatig…fatigue… ibobble (Mt Fatty?)

Apart from the broken ankle at the start of the hike (not one of ours), this was a fairly unremarkable K-Country hike, up the Southern summit of Mount Indefatigable. The girl with the broken ankle was carried back to the carpark with this assistance of Brendan and Alex. Then we went up. There were views. And more up. And then some scree. And then we were at the top, and there were views in all of the directions.

And then we went down again. There were a lot of very pretty flowers to look at. And the Kananaskis Lakes (as long as you didn’t spend too much time looking at them, else you’d be risking the fate of the girl with the broken ankle).

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general hiking

Citadel Peak and Quartz Ridge

Rock Isle Lake

 

Habituated ground squirrel at Rock Isle Lake thinks I have some food for him. Little did he know I was about to grab him and put him in my backpack. I’d always wanted a pet ground squirrel.

 

Walking through Sunshine Meadows

 

Hanging out while everyone naps at Citadel Pass (we spent over 3 hours there in the end)

 

Views towards Mount Assiniboine from Citadel Pass

 

Walking back towards Sunshine from Citadel Peak – a couple of us climbed it, but I didn’t take my camera up with me. Views from the top were awesome!

 

Cautiously making our way across a couple of snow patches to reach Quartz Ridge

 

Up towards the second knob on Quartz Ridge.

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canada general hiking

Old Goat Glacier – thumbs down

Old Goat Glacier is one of the K-Country hikes that is closest to Canmore. Behind the Spray Lakes campground, it’s easily accessible, tucked under Old Goat Mountain. And it’s a nice enough little walk. As long as you don’t go out expecting too much from the glacier.

I was underwhelmed. Unfortunately my photographer didn’t capture my thumb silhouetted against the sky, but it’s definitely getting a firm thumbs down rating. The glacier obviously used to be much bigger. And there was a nice moraine to walk in along. But otherwise – not terribly exciting. And walking into the dead-end glacial valley was a little bit spooky, with huge walls looming either side of you and ahead.

I managed to stumble on the scree and slammed my shins into some nice sharp rocks, gouging one hole that was deep enough to show the white bits – the bits you see and go “Ooh, that might need stitches”. Being a busy long weekend in town, needless to say I decided I’d manage without sitting in Emergency for six hours, opting instead to go and listen to some free folk music from the festival.

We saw these Mountain Sheep on the way back into town as well. It would have been more poetic if they were goats. Maybe if you just squint at them a bit and pretend.