Iceland - Day 7

Emsur/Botnar to Langidalur - Bosnar + Glacier View hike

10 miles + 2 miles

After going to bed, I woke up to my lovely loud neighbours still discussing my tent and saying things like "Everyone is talking about it" :). I guess planting my mini tent in front of the best view had an impact. I might not be famous, but my tent definitely is now. I thought this would be the best time to try out my super snazzy earplugs. My GOD, they were amazing, the noise dropped by a good 90% which luckily included the wind. I really didn't want to know if my tent was being blown away and disturbing my sleep. I woke up a few times but managed to fall asleep almost instantly. My internal alarm clock went off like clockwork and at 3.30 a.m., I was ready to roll (again). The wind luckily died down during the night, but when I started packing up, one single gust was enough to chill me to the bone. I simply removed all my tent pegs and dragged the whole tent and all my belongings to the most sheltered area. In front of the bathroom facilities. While packing, I kept getting weird looks from early sleepy toilet visitors, which were totally ignored. Packing was easy, and I managed to warm up by the time I finished. Setting off just before 5 am. ensured the trail was all mine, every square inch of it.

Rock hopping the first three streams was easy, fording the first river luckily was the same. The first challenge of the day was descending a steep mountain that was pure pebbles. I never take something like this lightly, and I didn't dare look anywhere but my feet. Halfway down, however, I noticed the VIEW. And what a view: a canyon at the front, green mountains behind it, and a massive glacier at the back. This screamed breakfast time and a couple of thousand pictures.

Not 5 minutes after I set off, I got to my next challenge. Crossing a sturdy bridge across a roaring canyon followed by a narrow path hugging the mountainside. Let me tell you, not suffering from vertigo was definitely a plus. Luckily, there was a chain to hold onto, so all Goooood.

Once on the other side, the sun kindly made an appearance, and the day simply got better. A leisurely walk with stunning views in all directions. Few steep climbs, and few easy descents, but mostly, it was an easy trail. For a while. I left the canyon behind after the first hour, but the glacier was only getting larger and larger. That's when I met a few Highlanders, aka a small group of cute sheep. They kindly stopped and posed for some pictures, very considerate of them.

My day was perfect, I walked at a leisurely pace, stopped every time I saw something pretty (basically a lot), and enjoyed the silence and the scenery to my heart's content. My constant companions were the numbered waymarkers that I 'PING-ed every time I passed one. Getting to 100 was great. Getting to 50 was brilliant. But then they just disappeared.

I was worried I was going the wrong way and checked my guide a few times, but there was no mention of this anywhere. I've decided to follow the cairns that were sort of going the right way. I can't tell you the joy I felt when I found a waymarker. I actually kissed it and took a selfie with the cutie. This happy moment was followed by the last river crossing of the trail. My guide didn't mention depth or difficulty, so I prepared for the worst. Trousers off, trashbag out, and swimming shoes on. The widest part was weirdly where the cars usually cross, so I started a bit higher up and just went with the flow. No hiccups, no issues equalled a proud moment in my book.

This was followed by crossing a small forest with stunning views of the glacier. I was down to way marker number 20. That's when Langidalur, the endpoint of the Laugavegur trail, came into view. I may have gone slightly mad with pictures, but this was a big moment. Taking a selfie with waymarker NO# 1 was just cool and entering the campsite beyond amazing. I have now finished my 2nd trail and completed over 114 km/71 miles in the Icelandic Highlands. I was grinning from ear to ear.

I was planning to head to the next campsite to reduce tomorrow's trip but the guy at the information centre told me about a short but steep climb with stunning views. After leaving my big backpack, I set off to climb 450 meters for this said view. Well, the guy wasn't exaggerating. 360 view across the area that simply can't be described with words. Glaciers, mountains, canyons, rivers. WOW, times a thousand. Pictures of every kind and videos followed for the next 20 minutes.

After my descent, I met up with James again, who was heading back to Reykjavik, and slowly set off to Bosar. Crossing mobile bridges with ladders was a new experience but a fun one. Getting to Basar, and setting up camp was great and having a LONG hot shower was utter bliss.

I spent my evening bugging the guy at the information centre so I could learn some Icelandic. It was a shock to realise how many words are the same in English: mostly to do with weather, body parts, animals and landscape. I even learned how to count and say important things like Help and 'My name is'. He explained that the other side of the river is called Porsmork/Thorsmork (Land of Thor), while this side was called Godsmork (Land of the Gods). This became even cooler when he told me his and his dog's name: Odin and Loki respectively :) just brilliant. While I was enjoying my third cup of tea (anything warm), I browsed their selection and noticed a head net. Depending on the price, I wanted to buy one to avoid the experience from my first day. He looked, told me it's been sitting there for 3 years, and just to take it - I love Icelanders.

Another interesting fact he shared was that Icelanders have to learn 4 languages to graduate as nobody outside Iceland speaks the language. The rest of the evening was all about chilling, writing this blog, eating another meal so my backpack would be lighter and enjoying the sunshine. I feel rested and ready to tackle the hardest part of my trip. Climbing to 1.028 metres between 2 glaciers followed by a long ascent and passing 31 waterfalls. Hmm, let's say it will be an experience