Thank you! I’m sorry to hear that you couldn’t make it. Icelandic weather is so unpredictable and we were super lucky last year! I hope you can make it back to Iceland someday to hike this gorgeous trail.
This video is so helpful omg thank you!! I'm hoping to hike the trail in June this summer and heard that it typically opens around mid-June, but I'm wondering if there's anywhere I can go to check when exactly the trail will open? Thank you!
Thank you so much! 😁 the trail is accessible starting June 15- so exactly mid June. The busses won’t go any sooner than that. You can check that on the trex , and highland bus website. I hope you’ll have a great time! It’s truly the most wonderful trail 😍 we are also thinking about going again this summer, because we can’t get the beauty of it out of our head 😍
Thanks for sharing. All great items . I’ll be doing this hike plus fimmvorduhals trek end of August . Going to wild camp . Definitely gonna bring some Microspikes . Looking forward to seeing Iceland 🇮🇸
Thank you! Have a wonderful hike! You’ll love it! We definitely wanna go back one day and do the extended version as well. Icelands beauty is out of this world 😍
You won't need microspikes in August. I did the same (plus Hellimannsleid) nobo with a start late July 2021, and could easily walk in Altra trail runners. Would not have used microspikes. - Please do not do dispersed camping! - but keep to the rules, there are enough huts where you can set up your tent aside.
I do not fully agree. I did the same trail as part of a nobo hike on Fimmvörduhals, Laugavegur and Hellimansleid about 5 weeks after you, in late July 2021, in my own tent. Four days for Laugavegur. Hot shower: it is important to buy the 5 100-kronor coins you need for it already in the evening because the reception often opens late in the morning. Trekking poles: useful (I always hike with them as a senior) Microspikes: not needed, I wouldn't have used them even if I had taken with me, nor on Fimmvörduhals which is higher, steeper and has more snow than Laugavegur. No steep icy slopes in the real summer. - BTW I used the same shoes, Altra Lone Peak 4.0 Waterproof socks: never. Let your feet dry quickly after fording (in shoes and socks) Gaiters: not needed Bug net: not needed, no bugs River crossing/fording: never up to my hip. Had much worse crossings in the Californian Sierra. It is about the time of the year. - Isn't it obvious that if you hike in June, at the earliest time the trail is legally open, at the time of the year when the 25 year old Ido Keinan passed away of hypothermia on this trail in a blizzard in 2004, you have to expect quite a lot of snow? - melting water in the streams - and bugs where the snow has just melted? "Someone should have told me that ....": no, you should have done your homework. So my suggestions: - do not hike there before July, better in the 2nd half only - do it on a 4-5 day schedule, take your time, you may escape the worst weather waiting it out, and there are beautiful day hikes around Landmannalaugar - I would prefer to go northbound again, with the greatest views at the end - take a GPS device or smartphone app with the exact trail with you - I needed it in the area south of Hrafntinusker when I could NO MORE see the next pole from the previous because of thick fog - prepare better than Mia
I appreciate your insight into hiking as a senior, at a later point throughout the summer. I made this video purely based on my own experience and preferences. I thought I did enough research before, but nothing can ever truly prepare you as much as having the actual experience of hiking the trail. By filming this video I just wanted to help people be better prepared than I was. I put myself in a vulnerable position for others to profit from my mistakes. Besides, others have agreed that this was an usual amount of snow and ice melt, so even if I had found more information on it, then I would have found myself in an unexpected situation. I am by no means an expert hiker (and never claimed to be either), but a very passionate one. At 22 years (21 when I hiked the Laugavegur trail) old I am just starting to make my own experiences and figuring out what gear I need for different types of hikes. You’re very privileged to have had so many years of hiking experience in different parts of the world. Throughout the years I’m sure you have been able to acquire great gear and knowledge. I’m sure your wisdom can help many people who are just starting on their hiking journey, who have found a new passion in it. You also probably had lots of time to prepare for this hike. We planned everything 2 weeks in advance because of the limited time we could get off work and the short notice for our vacation approval. Your superior hiking expertise doesn’t justify diminishing another’s hiking experience and choice of hiking at a certain time. Your comment : „prepare better than Mia“ is very rude and unnecessary. Again, I was being vulnerable for the benefit of others and remarks like that don’t benefit anyone but your own ego. If you are passionate about helping people (as I believe you are, given the lengthy comment you took the time to write under my video) then be nice about it, or keep your opinions to yourself.
Get off your soapbox Henning, gee whiz. Your experience was obviously different than hers, but it's no reason to be a know-it-all jerk. You've been backpacking a whole 3 years!? That doesn't make you an expert homie. Thanks Mia, for all the tips and sharing your experience. Ignore this fool.
Super helpful tips! Thanks very much. I wanted to quit watching it at the beginning though due to the low quality of the recorded voice But I'm happy that I didn't 😍
This has been so helpful thank you! I’m hiking it in august this year, when did you go? And how did you go about finding the bus / booking tickets to get there?? Thank you!
Hi! I’m glad the video was helpful for you! I went the end of June / beginning of July in 2021. I booked our bus tickets through Trex: trex.is/tour/hikers-bus-pass/?lang=de
Thank you for the video! These are very precious information. I will definitely put a raincover on my backpack to the bus. :-D May I ask you If the bus makes a stop along the way where you possibly could use toilet, or is it 4 hours ride without a stop? And just one tip: The accoustic of the room is pretty bad which makes hard to understand you. If the music was turned off, It would be much better. :-)
Thank you for your feedback! And to answer your question: yes, the bus stops at a gas station where you can use the restroom and get food and beverages. (-:
Danke! But please consider using some other microphone. It's hard to listen to (due to the "echo" in the room and generally the mic doesn't sound too well) and the background music doesn't make it better. It's partially really hard to understand you. (you could either use your phone or a headset and record the audio separately and sync it with the camera in "post production" - that's why many youtubers "clap" at the beginning of the video, it makes it easier to line up sound and video; or maybe use a different camera? E.g. even the newer GoPros have a much better sound than this. Or at least come closer to the camera and thus the mic, it will help a lot). Also I think this video could have been just 10 minutes and that would have been enough to put the same amount of info into it :) Nonetheless, great video and cool content! A lot of great information in there! Going to Iceland this Saturday, starting the Laugavegur + Fimmvörðuháls trail on Sunday - I'm really excited! BTW: I read that there is still unusually much snow in the highlands. Obviously that snow also melts at some point which means the rivers are probably a bit deeper this season than in past years. EDIT: Laugavegur is pronounced more like "Läugavegur" (au roughly = ä) and þórsmörk -> the þ is basically a "th". "Thorsmörk". (and a double "ll" is pronounced like a "tl", so e.g. Þingvellir -> thingvetlir). Of course all with a "rolling r". Knowing these three rules doesn't mean at all that one has mastered the Icelandic pronouncation but it makes you feel less "stupid" while trying to pronounce these weird place names. And now go and try to pronounce the infamous "Eyjafjallajökull". And that makes me confident I never want to actually learn Icelandic :D
I agree first thing I thought when I caught a glimpse of the sports style shoe! Really need ankle support and decent stiffer sole in that type of walking, poles are still good for descents though to stop a fall if the ground moves away.
My sister has NEVER been hiking or slept in a tent before... She is also significantly overweight... She is 5'4* and 217 pounds amd has a history of asthma... But she is planning on going on this hike in July of 2022, through a university program, with 4 or 5 other people that she has never met,.....Would you recommend that she go on this hike? Can a novice and beginner hiker do this trail?
Especially the first day of this hike is very challenging! It’s hours of just hiking up a steep mountain. Going down was hard as well. My husband and I are very athletic and found it physically challenging too. The second half of the hike is much more doable, but you can’t exactly skip parts of it. The camping side of things is easy and enjoyable. Iceland doesn’t have any insects crawling on you or animals scaring you at night. The campsite are nice as well. Hiking with strangers is never a good idea though, as everyone has their own pace. Icelandic weather is also known to change drastically- we just got very lucky. There are a total of four campsites along the way. I think it does require a good level of fitness to hike this trail. Asthma is definitely a big hurdle. As beautiful as this hike is, I would not recommend it as a beginner hike.
appreciate the video -- but based on my experience I disagree with most of your items. I understand that some of this may be based on time of year and weather -- I did this July 4, 2022. While there were many snow fields (some as long as a quarter mile long), there was no time where I was walking on a snow field "for an hour". There was no need for microspikes. The snow was generally soft so no type of spike would have helped, and many of the snow fields were flat. There was no need for trekking poles at all, none of the terrain is steep. While I had sunscreen, I on long pants and sleeves, so aside from maybe some of my face, I wouldn't call this essential (and i had a hat on). Definitely no need for gators -- I rarely find a need for gators unless I'm in desert sand for long periods at a time and running an ultra (I live in Arizona). Even then, they aren't really needed. I didn't encounter any bugs but you may have. I have a relatively new hiking channle, mostly with Western US hikes, but here is my Laugavegur Trail video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0F8oN-V970E.htmlsi=BkjkEh_Juu5V1pP0
