Showing posts with label Landmannalaugar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Landmannalaugar. Show all posts

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Þórsmörk


Þórsmörk is a valley in Iceland that was named after the Germanic god Thor (Þór). It is situated in the south of Iceland between the glaciers Tindfjallajökull and Eyjafjallajökull.
Here, the river Krossá winds between the mountains. In the protected valley, there is green vegetation of moss, fern and birchwood.
The Krossá is a very cold river coming down from glaciers. It is a bit dangerous to cross the river, but for pedestrians, a bridge has been installed.
The valley is closed in between glaciers, Mýrdalsjökull being at the rear end of the valley. This leads to an especially warm climate, better than in the rest of south Iceland.
Þórsmörk is also very popular amongst hikers. A lot of different tours are possible, from hiking on the glaciers to trekking (i.e., Laugavegur up to Landmannalaugar) or smaller excursions, such as to the canyon Stakkholtsgjá with its waterfall.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Landmannalaugar

The Landmannalaugar area is famous for its incredible natural beauty. The area consists of more geological elements than you can count, but more obvious are the rhyolite mountains and vast lava fields, rising up right by the mountain hut. The many mountains around come in all the world's colours; pink, brown, green, yellow, blue, purple, black, white and more, the most notable mountains being Bláhnjúkur (Blue peak) and Brennisteinsalda (Sulphur dune).
Right by the hut and the lava field there is a hot natural pool, which is in fact a naturally heated stream, blocked with rocks and wood so that it forms a pool. People can bathe here and are there showers and
toilets nearby, as well as a place to leave your towel right by the pool.
In Landmannalaugar you can also ride an
Icelandic horse, for shorter or longer rides. The horse riding trips takes you places which can often be difficult to access on foot and not permitted by car as there are no official roads, as an example into Jökulgil. From late June and through the summer, a couple from the Westfjords come and serve food and coffee to travelers in their green bus-shop, Fjallafang, as well as selling other things useful to travelers. Landmannalaugar is the usual starting point for the famous 4 day long hiking trail aptly called Laugavegur.