Iceland 2b: Laugavegur Logistics

Myrdalsjokull glacier (4th largest in Iceland) on sunny Day 5

Our Google research ahead of doing the Laugavegur trail proved very helpful, with quite a few good, recent blogs (and thanks Jo S-B!) - so here are a few notes for our perspective in case you’re considering it.

Firstly - it’s pronounced Loy-gav-aiger
Secondly - the 56km is perfectly achievable in the 4 days. None of it is particularly tricky - as long as the weather is kind to you! Pack light, eat well, and it’ll be fun!

Reserving Huts
We booked with Icelandic Mountain Guides in May. This is very late - and we had to try several companies to find space. Apparently accommodation booking start in October the year before (trail only open June-Sept, with dates variable pending snow conditions). If you’re considering camping (there is still a charge, and only permitted at the huts) you need to be quite hardcore in my view, and experienced unless you can guarantee sunshine. Also - stating the obvious, but it’s a load of extra kit to carry. We carried all of our clothes and 5 days of food which was a fair weight. There is an option to have your kit transferred between huts if you book early enough, however, for four of us this would have been an additional £1,000; ouch - forget that option!!

Hrafntinnusker hut: bedroom 1

Botnar Hut, Emstrur: support teams for Ultra-Marathon setting up in the fog!

Hut tips:
- you don’t need to carry -5degC sleeping bags as the huts are toasty warm; go light weight!
- take a pack of playing cards for getting to know people/ passing the time if it’s raining!
- take good ear plugs. Some used eye-masks too but we didn’t bother.
- purchase good battery packs to recharge kit. We have used Anker Powercore 10000 (£22 Amazon) for our travels; will do 4 i-phone charges. Apparently you can rent a plug socket in the huts - but we didn’t see this/ need it.
- 3/4G: variable during the 5 days. Don’t rely on it!
- all except Hrafntinnusker had good hot showers: ISK500 for 5 minutes. Buy QRCode ticket from wardens.

Navigation
We were given a route description and a detailed map - but we didn’t need these as the trail is well marked. However - do carry a compass and map: if fog hits apparently it can be bad, and very easy to get disorientated on the more desolate sections. You can do the trail as we did North - South (prevailing wind seemed to be behind us, handy when raining!), or the other way. The Langidalur hut at Porsmork (there are 3 to chose from) was a beautiful place to finish, and there are superb half-day walks there, so staying 5th day was ideal in our view (can depart day 4 evening on 18.00 bus).

Some people cut out Hrafntinnusker hut and do a super-long Day 1 (or Day4); depends how much you want to push and what the weather’s like. We felt 5 days was perfect. Having energy to do walks from each hut in the afternoon/ evening is lovely.

Weather
This was the worst Icelandic summer in 100 years, but we were relatively lucky with the weather. We met someone today who did it a few years ago and had heavy snow! We did get a day of rain, but it wasn’t really cold. Definitely need proper waterproofs: jackets and overtrousers. Also waterproof gloves; probably take spare gloves too. And layers so can adjust as go along. The huts are hot, so stuff dries well overnight; I carried slightly too many spare items (as usual!). Suncream, and also perhaps a sun hat if forecast warm.

Boots, sticks & rivers
No debate: you need proper walking boots with decent tread. Gaiters wouldn’t have helped at any point - but if deeper snow, might want to take them. Walking poles are of course personal preference, but three out of four of us had them and swear by them. Sticks very useful for river-crossings, which weren’t as severe as all the forums/ books lead us to believe. Yes, the water’s damned cold, but you’re not in for long. Three of us used old trainers. I had Teva “Jesus” (according to the kids) sandals which are ideal. Some people used wetsuit boots which are a neat, lightweight option.

Food
We carried all of our food for five days, with exception of the delish dinner on night 2 in Alftavatn, which is definitely worth booking in advance (www.volcanohuts.com/alftavatn/)

Absolutely buy all trail food in UK before you arrive; the hiking food here costs a bomb. The hut kitchens are all well equipped, so it’s worth bringing some fresh items & veg to bolster/ improve the meals; five days on freeze-dried rations would be a bit dull! Jess added red peppers, onions, tinned sweet corn, pasta & chorizo to a selection of dried packets (risotto, rice, bulgar wheat, quinoa etc) to keep us all well fed - but plan on maximum “2-pan” meals (as hut kitchens will be busy) . We had porridge every morning - with chocolate powder, and even peanut butter to flavour at the end! Powdered milk for tea & coffee. We did use Camelpacks; need 1 litre+ per person daily - and can fill from rivers but we didn’t ever need to. Little Robinson concentrate cordials are a neat trick if you don’t like “camel” flavour! We made pack-lunch daily using pitta bread, cheese etc, plus half a tonne of Snickers, energy bars and DIY trail-mix. Again, worth planning food carefully in advance; don’t want to carry too much.

Icelandic Vehicles
These guys know how to do “macho” when it comes to jeeps and buses; even the buses are 4x4!
Our bus transfers were booked via the tour company, but could easily DIY. One bus out to Landmannalaugar, two to come back from Porsmork as the bus has to cross several rivers (see video below!)