Trip report: The Laugavegur trail day 2

Kenneth Shaw

7 years ago

When volcanic desert transforms into a true paradise on earth

Hrafntinnusker to Álftavatn – 12 kilometer from volcano to paradise

After a day and a half of hiking in rain and cold, finally some sunshine and water. I stopped here and filled up my water bottle, ate an energy bar and called home. This really lifted my spirits.

After what felt like an eternity of walking in rain and snow, after volcanic ash, rock and gravel. A long sleepless night in an unprotected snowy volcanic wasteland.

The Laugavegagur trail transformed itself into a true paradise on earth when I came up over the ridge and looked out upon Alftavatn.

Alftavatn is where most pictures you see of the trail come from, and in the next section you will see why. However to get there you have to walk along a desert wasteland for almost the entirety of the 12 kilometers from Hraftinnusker.

My journey to Alftavatn started after a cold night of “sleep”. On top of that I of course only use trail running shoes. While this is normally never a problem, on this one occasion my feet where frozen until I got my temperature up as the first 5 kilometers of the trail was covered in mushy snow.

It took me about 6 hours to get to Alftavatn from Hraftinnusker, lets just say I was in no hurry at all. While it was cold, wet and at times just all around shitty, I actually enjoyed this part of the trail immensely; granted, more now when I’m sitting at home writing this book.

While the campground looked lovely, I opted for the cabin.. there was actually an available bed! The room here will cost about $50.00.. to me it was worth it that night.