Go on a hike in Iceland they said. The sun will shine they said. Well I went on a hike the other day and the sun did shine. And there was stinging face lashing hail. It was snowing with huge snowflakes drifting down in the stillness . There was bracing wind. Fortunately there was no rain. Indeed, I think it was the only kind of weather we didn´t get. And this was only seven hours and some 17-18 kilometers of a hike from the vicinity of the town of Hveragerdi in the South West of Iceland to the edge of lake Thingvellir. This what I call the full Iceland experience!

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Get the Iceland hiking app

This hike was with the hiking group Vesen og Vergangur (Facebook page in Icelandic) which is the brainchild of hiking guide Einar Skulason and has some 12 thousand members. He is the man behind the rather cool hiking app called Wapp. It is available for both iOS and Android devices and gives you access to untold number of hiking trails here in Iceland.

Hike in Iceland and see the sights

Quite regularly the group goes on day trips and they are always good fun. As mentioned earlier the hike was from the vicinity of Hveragerdi. To be more precise the hiking trail was from the valley of Grændalur valley. This valley is right next to the Reykjadalur valley which is known for its geothermally warmed stream, popular for bathing. But now it is closed for traffic to protect its fragile environment.  We passed the pools called Kattatjarnir – literally cat pools. The hiking route took us into the the Ölfusvatnsgljúfur canyon with its impressive rock formations. We crossed the Tindgil ravine and for us with vertigo it was a bit of a challenge. Hrómundartind peak was impressive and we finished the journey by wading across the Ölfuvatnsá river.

 

Pictures from the hiking trip

I realize that this is a bit obscure for my regular readers but at least I hope you enjoy the pictures from the hiking trip. You can see the route on my Endomondo account.

A group of people hiking in Iceland.
It was snowing when we started out.

 

Steaming hotspring in Iceland.
Steam and snow in Grændalur valley in Iceland.

 

Steaming landscape in Iceland.
Now we have sun and it is sweltering hot!

 

Summer in Iceland.
What a lovely day. For about five minutes!

 

Crossing the ravine
Crossing the ravine. We had to be careful since things were a bit slippery.

 

Yay! Sun again.
Yay! Sun again.

 

Hailstorm in Iceland!
Hailstorm in Iceland!
Cool rock formations and snowstorm in the Ölfusvatnsgljúfur canyon in Iceland.
Cool rock formations and snowstorm in the Ölfusvatnsgljúfur canyon in Iceland.
Hrómundartind peak in Iceland.
Hrómundartind peak in Iceland.

 

Be safe in Iceland

Do not go alone on long hiking trips in Iceland. Get an experienced guide. Study and follow the information on Safetravel in Iceland.