Trek Around Mount Hekla

4-5 hours – ca.10 km ( 6 miles) Altitude 135 m to 175 m (443 to 574 feet)

Early morning rendezvous at 7:30 AM with your guide at Reykjavik Central Bus station. Hiking clothes, duffel bag and day pack ready for trekking. The trip begins. Approx. 3 hours (160 km) road transfer to the trailhead. The majestic Hekla volcano rises above a grassy plain and marks the entrance to the high volcanic lands. Probably It is Iceland’s most famous (or infamous!) and active volcano. Hike starts by late morning crossing grassland. The few little farms of the area have had to move many times over the centuries as eruptions have engulfed them. However, much of the countryside is now verdant with some former lava flows covered in green moss and arctic birch. Green moss, « bonsai » arctic birch grove along with the pure water springs, creates the feeling, perhaps, of a real Japanese garden. In August on this day, we can take a little longer as the berry and mushroom picking gets in the way of our passage.

6-8 hours – ca.22 km (14 miles) Altitude 175 m to 320 m (574 to 1050 feet)

We cross the river Western Rangá, then we hike the last series of hills made from palagonite rock (sub-glacially formed) that protects the last fragments of burned countryside. On the far side, we arrive onto a moon-like surface at the foot of Mount Hekla and cross a stretch of perfectly flat volcanic slag. The black surroundings, so dark they resemble the blue color of a crow’s feathers. Tiny, we are moving in a completely mineral world of infinite slag plain along the eastern flank of the volcano, which has been vomited most of the cast of the latest eruptions.

We walk away from “the Gateway to Hell” (as Hekla was known in the middle ages) and the landscape begins to soften; the green colors of the mosses slowly covering lava fields and the pumices that rain on the land with each eruption. Crossing the “pass of the lambs” we walk in the direction of the majestic monolithic crown of Mount Loðmundur, surrounded by marshland and rich pasture, reflecting in the beautiful lake Loðmundarvatn reflecting Mount Loðmundur a flat-topped volcanic monolith that erupted through glacial ice during the Ice Age. Landmannahellir has been for ages and it is still used now by the shepherds as a base when catching thousand sheep in fall after having been grassing free the whole summer. We are in a legendary place with thousand stories to tell.

The trail leads us through extraordinary landscapes. First we go around the beautiful lake that shines at the foot of Mt Loðmundur. Then we climb up the northern flank of the Caldera de Hrafntinnusker and enter the pastel colors of acid volcanism. Extraordinary view of the Landmannalaugar valley. We begin the descent towards the refuge and the campsite of the valley, a little surprised to meet suddenly so many people after 4 days of wonderful loneliness. After a bath in the famous hot water river in the middle of a marsh covered with cotton grass, In the evening we regain the tranquility of Landmannahellir.

We begin the easy climb of the rim of the caldera, then move south through the vast circus towards Mont Laufafell. The metaphor for Hrafntinnusker “Black Raven Reefs" is a fine example of the ancient and natural metaphorical poetry of Iceland. It means reefs or obsidian (Hrafntinna), Hrafn for raven and Tinna for intense black. A black vitrified lava with sometimes blue or green reflections, sharp like a razor blade that spreads here on the gentle pastoral hills of acidic rocks of the caldera. We are going to see carefully the innumerable solfatares with pools of bubbling mud, jets of powerful and noisy vapors. On the edge of the caldera we reach a flatness of black slag that leads to the Mount Hekla which dominates the horizon.

One can admire here the alignment of mountain ranges, all perfectly parallel and aligned in the same direction: the direction of the mid-Atlantic ridge that crosses Iceland from North to South enjoying a spectacular view of Fjallabak South with three major icecaps : Mýrdalsjökull,Eyjafjallajökull and Tíndafjallajökull.

Our trail cross small green valleys where wander chrystaline water streams, swamps dotted with cottony linolette, deep canyons, volcanic cones covered with moss. This area could well be an advanced post of observation of the Elven Kingdom at Mordor's Gate.

The Tindfjöll called "The Peaks" is a small chain of majestic mountains with many summits, including the largest Ýmir (1462m) and Ýma (1448m). Of course this is not the Himalayas, nor the Patagonian Andes, but a mixture of the two miniutarized that gives this illusion of virgin immensity which Iceland has the secret. While Tindfjallajökull is the smallest glacier in the country, it is located on a giant crater about 7 to 10 miles in diameter, formed by an explosion of ancient fissures. Following the Mountains we cross desolate lava fields of Mount Hekla volcanic system which dominates the northern horizon of its visible or invisible presence, then a rapid descent to the valley, where the expanses of lava are now covered with grassy meadows, sheep and cries of birds.We walk to the first farm. Transfer by jeep to the village of Hella on the circular road No. 1 where our base is situated. From there:

1. Return to Reykjavik where you arrive in the afternoon either by regular bus to Mjódd Central Bus Station), or down town with one of our vehicles.
2. Individual two-day / two-night extension to the Vestmann Islands (see online program)