Landmannahellir

Beautiful, warm, sunny day with clouds, variable winds and sometimes annoying flies.

Immediate climb up from Afangagil along a trail deeply-rutted by horse traffic and down to traverse a flat plain of volcanic sand. Several more passes come and go. We take two long lunch breaks to consume sandwiches of cold cuts and cheese and to snooze in the warm sunshine. We cross a 1913 lava field at its narrowest, skirt a bright red/green crater and make a final climb to a ridge overlooking the lake Herbjarnarfellsvatn.

At this point Paulette's heal blister cries out for attention. From experience on the Camino de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, we are well equipped with blister first-aid treatment (including needle and thread for draining a blister) and various cushioned band-aids. So all was well.

A short climb to the final ridge and we see the Landmannahellir huts on the green valley below. A cozy, bright, fully-equipped hut with adjacent hot showers is most welcome after our ten-hour day on the trail.