Highland Adventured cont. to Landmannalaugar (Day5)
The weather situation in Iceland during our trip was literally going through all seasons. That morning we woke up early to watch the sunrise but it was very foggy and we could not see the sun rise. So we packed up and got ready to go on with the day. The main highlight for the day was snowmobiling on Langjökull glacier.
After having breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we drove towards the Hveradalir area and stopped at the scenic “horseshoe bend”, made famous by Instagram.
Then we started driving back on the gravelly F roads once again, stopping at various points enjoying the black and green landscape and finally reaching the Skjol basecamp . We booked the guided tour from Arctic Adventures who are partners with “Amazing Tours” for snowmobiling on Langjökull. Our trip was scheduled for 10.30, when we got to the basecamp we immediately started getting outfitted with jackets , shoes, goggles and hardhats. Oh what excitement! Getting on a bus with others who were a part of the group that morning, we were dropped off at the point where the guides were waiting for us with the snowmobiles. Since it was the end of summer, the starting point was about 30 minutes farther compared to the usual starting point which is at the intersection of the glacier and the road.
On the glacier it was quite cloudy, but S enjoyed it more because she was riding and could see both sides while R was driving and kind of had to concentrate. Moreover, it was our first time with the snowmobile but R was fast to learn the tricks of driving on the glacier. We stopped at two places and walked around for a bit, learning and chatting to the guides about the geology and ecology of the glaciers. Two hours went by way too fast!
It was about 1.30 pm when we got back to Skjol basecamp, we changed out of our ice gear and started our most exciting drive for the day towards the destination that these adventurers were most looking forward to. Before hitting the F roads that would take us to Landmannalaugar, we filled up the tank in the city of Geysir. Initially we drove on paved roads lined with vast majestic farmlands where we finally got to see the grand Icelandic horses. They were such curious ones, that as soon as R went close to the fence the whole herd came close and everyone of them posed for the photographer. S really wanted to reach and pet those beauties. We were later told that these horses are the softest to ride.
Eventually the paved roads died down and it was the expected gravelly with lava rocks and black sands. Finally, we were experiencing the “real” charm of the F roads. The forecast for the next 36 hours at Landmannalaugar was rain and we realized that we might not get to do any hikes there, we just took it slow and easy and thoroughly enjoyed the drive. There were several rivers along the way that we had to cross ; we were at first a little apprehensive - for the first one we followed a car in front of us, taking the exact turn they did but after crossing about 3 or 4 of them R became a pro. We had to cross over a dozen along the way and doing it was a lot of fun. Thankfully we did not get stuck. There were two wide river crossings that we had to go past because there was no other way to get to the campsite. At first we tried to search for a different way but there was none. Had we been a biker though ( a guy just ahead of us on a bike), would have just walked across!
We were really looking forward to camping that night especially because we had not camped in a very long time and sleeping under the stars is absolutely one of our favorite things to do. It was just to pitch our tent at Landmannalaugar, we carried our tent all the way from Chicago. We parked, paid the camp fees and set up our tent. We noticed another big group had come in - they were going to leave the next day for their hike to Thorsmork. It is one of Iceland’s most popular hiking destinations and a prime location for photographers and nature lovers - since this was our scouting trip, we are planning to do that hike next time. Landmannalaugar campsite has a nice tented area where one can light a fire and have their meals - that's exactly what we did. We already had bought bread, ham and skyr for dinner, so we relaxed in the tented area as we ate and chatted with other campers. Eventually, we rolled out our sleeping bags once inside our small tent and dozed off to one that we call “the best sleep ever”!
