Iceland Day 9 – Thórsmörk

What A Difference A Day Makes

It was a rough sleep last night. We are staying in a type of place I have never stayed in before – a private room but with shared toilets all housed in what looks like a double wide. The Dutch guys that came in at 11.30 clearly thought they were either the only ones there or didn’t give a rat’s ass about anybody who might be sleeping. As Jenny said, if I can clearly make out what language you are speaking and every word you are saying (even if I don’t know what it means), you are clearly talking way too loud. So by the time they finally shut up it was like 12:30 and then they were at it again at 8:00 AM – hollering down the hallways, whistling while they walked, and walking so heavy our whole bunk bed shook every time they passed- which was a lot!

Why did I choose to stay in this place? Because it is the only game in town. There is no other option and I wanted remote and the photos I had seen from some of the hikes were exactly what I was looking for. The camp, Volcano Huts, is in Thórsmörk Nature Reserve, an area not easily accessed and not on a lot of tourists’ radar.

When we woke the skies were still mostly overcast but some light blue was appearing over the mountains that we didn’t even know existed yesterday. Jenny told me the skies were clearing from that direction and would be completely sunny by noon.

Of course yesterday’s weather through a wrench in our planned hike but today…. well that was a whole different ball game!

We had a basic breakfast, double checked our route, got our stuff (ie snacks) together and headed out at 11:45 to skies that we’re doing just as Jenny had said.

We double backed on a trail we took yesterday while we were scouting our plan of attack for today, making sure we knew where to go. I was exceptionally pleased that I had downloaded the route off All Trails and that I could use it while offline.

It didn’t take long before there was a fork in the path but no direction arrow to follow. We were able to quickly get on track with my app and again when the red trail markers we were following, just switched to blue and had no indication we were also on red – again thanks to the app we could make sure!

As we walked along the day cleared to nothing but blue skies and calm winds. We got a bit nervous when we read a sign that told us to be careful on windless days entering hollows and canyons near some volcano as gasses can accumulate. Again – no clear signs as to where this volcano was located (there was nothing obvious from where we stood) and we figured we would have to see it if we were getting anywhere in the vicinity.

At one point Jenny commented that it was actually a bit strange that we hadn’t seen anybody else since we had set out – I kind of liked it. I also liked the fact that there are no predators in Iceland and that it is considered exceptionally safe.

The hike was nice as we climbed into the mountains, passing through a dense area of bushes that obscured most of view until we popped out at one point and couldn’t get over our luck. We took a seat on the ground and just took it all in.

As we resumed our hike, we decided that Icelanders must like trekking uphill because we have yet to find a hike that didn’t include some serious glute-frying climbs which also means that there are some serious patella wrecking descents but it’s all in the price you pay for spending time in the mountains.

When we finally hit the top of the two serious climbs we knew we had, I wanted to take a side spur to a viewpoint that I could see, Jenny said she was good to wait for me and that she would just sit and enjoy the solitude the spot offered. I love that she is as content being alone as she is with being with friends.

From here we hiked along the spine of a mountain before dropping all the way down to the valley floor and another, far simpler, camp that sits on the edge of the floodplain. I refilled our now empty water bottle as we looked up, and I mean up, preparing ourselves for the last climb.

We had taken our time, stopping to admire the views. to have snacks, to look at the flora, to take photos, and just to talk. We don’t ever hike with the feeling we have to make our best time or beat the suggested hiking time, for that, I feel, you might as well run laps around a track.

The final climb, up to the very top of 3,000 foot Mount Valahnúkur, was a doozy but wow oh wow the views – all 360 degrees of them – were truly mesmerizing. There was a nice grassy area that we plopped ourselves down on – partly from exhaustion, partly from being captivated and partly from recognizing the luck we had had.

Yesterday, we couldn’t even see the top of Valahnúkur, even though it turns out we were only about 500 feet beneath its summit. In fact, we couldn’t see anything that we were seeing today – nothing! So we would have almost felt ungrateful if we hadn’t stopped and absorbed it all. Besides, it really was breathtaking; one of the top five scenic hikes I have yet to take. Pictures truly don’t do it justice.

After a bit, we began the descent down, most of it turned out to be the same hike we did yesterday, except for the part at the very top that I had to use my hand as a blinder to make it down, this after I first fell into a crouch as my knees buckled. Of course Jenny cheered me on saying it wasn’t really that bad and I could do it!

Being able to see the camp below gave us perspective on just how big our loop was and just how high we climbed.

I was so happy today turned out the way it did. I would have been bummed if we had been washed out. There was a lot of time and some effort put into this part of the adventure and I feel like we got everything out of it I had hoped.

As I type this blog. I am sitting outside at 8:00 PM. There is a steady breeze that certainly has a chill to it but I am still feeling the warmth of the sun and staring at nothing but azure blue skies. They say it will rain all day tomorrow; it’s OK if it does. I can not, for even a second, begrudge Mother Nature, especially after what she delivered to us today.