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.

Fossabrekkur Falls

After a rocky start stopping the bus at Rjúpnavellir, we started our six-day trek heading north-east along the Ranga River under cloudy skies and 12 degrees C. Until the wind picked up clouds of midges invaded our eyes, ears and mouth. An hour after our first picnic lunch in a ravine after the bridge crossing to the barren side of the river, we saw these majestic Fossabrekkur falls from the ridge above the Ranga.

I sat down (beside Chris and his camera), propped my backpack against a rock and took four vertical-format pictures on Av at 100m and f/16 that I stitched together today using PS Elements to achieve this panoramic effect.

Although the lighting is rather flat, I think the photo is still interesting because of the width of this fan-shaped series of small falls separated by dark green vegetation. Certainly it was one of the highlights of our Day One 21 km on the Landmannahellir trail.

PS I ran down the trail you see in the right corner of the photo and filled my boots with volcanic scree! Should have put on my gaiters or taken a more sedate pace down!