I have added a new Iceland gallery after just come back from a family trip to Iceland. There were eight of us in total ranging from 15 years to 61 years. Most people are capable of doing this trek, but you just need good outdoor kit and a bit of determination.

The plan was to trek through an area known as Landmannalaugar. This was essentially five days of trekking and included four overnight stops at the mountain huts on the way.

It is a 55km hike across Iceland’s southern interior, between the natural hot springs and volcanic wastelands of Landmannalaugar and the beautiful highland valley of Pórsmörk. However, the weather, which routinely drives foul, wind, rain, snow, ice and fog can push you to the limits on some of the days. On two of the days, we burst into the huts desperate to get near the fireplace to get dry and warm again. - This was the summer!

The only time of the year the weather is good enough to do this trail is for 2 ½ months in the summer. The rest of the year, I believe the route could be very difficult to cross unless part of an organised expedition.

This is a link to the route description

https://www.ultimategearlists.com/destinations/laugavegur-trail-iceland

To be fair the weather was not much worse than one of the worst Scottish Highland treks we have done…but it was worse. I could see it being a major struggle out of season, and there are a couple of shrines to those who have perished on the trail over recent years. The trail is well marked and trodden. I took a Viewranger app with my mobile and downloaded a GPS map and route as a backup, however, I hardly needed to use it. (Beware there is no phone signal for some of the walk and the teenager found this particularly frustrating). A compass is essential and if you get lost…..keep heading South.

Although the navigation was quite easy on our trip, I could see an issue with this in dense fog. Fog is probably quite common as the trip frequently involves walking above 1000 meters.

We had to carry our food, sleeping bags and everything else for the trip. That’s not too bad without a tent, and would normally be about 7 kilos. if like myself, you insist on taking most of your camera kit for the trip, this could add another 7 kilos. So, in reality, I was walking with a 14-kilo pack. I do not mind this, but it is a pain to keep taking off and putting back on when seeing a photo opportunity.

Interestingly the most problematic issue throughout the trek was the clothing. Last Christmas I had asked the wife for a pair of Rab Kinetic Alpine trousers (to go with the same jacket I already had). When she found out the cost (only £100), she told me it was not a justifiable purchase. Unperturbed by this swipe, I secretly brought a pair in the January sales. Sometimes in life, you just come out a winner. The look on the wife’s face each day told me that I was the only dry person on the trek. I could see the remorse in every sodden step she took. Everyone else in the group became extremely jealous of my consistent “dry at the end of the day” credentials. So much so, that most of the group have now purchased a pair of the Kinetic Alpine trousers…including the wife.

The camera kit suffered on the route. Constant rain and fog made it a struggle to get the shots. The weather and clouds add to the interest but at a cost to the kit. At one point I trashed a lens I had rented from Lenses for Hire https://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/ I did this whilst changing a filter with cold hands, and I dropped it onto the sharp lava rocks which were unforgiving. (lensesforhire were excellent about the damage and the kit was insured.) Condensation on the lenses and camera were also a pain to deal with. – My advice is to take plenty of lens cloths.

Taking the family on a trip as a keen photographer is always a compromise. That’s why I like to do my photo trips alone normally. But each day I would lag behind to get the shots and then catch up later during a break. It seemed to work fine.

I was struck by the small details within the landscape, as well as the vast sweeping vistas. You can see from the photos I took, that I tried to pay attention to both those wide panoramas and the stuff under my feet.

Highlights from the trip:

1) Finding cans of beer for sale at one of the huts.

2) Numerous river crossings in bare feet through glacial melt water. (Opposite of walking on hot coals!)

3) The weird and limited plant life on show.

4) A feeling that we were on another planet or in a prehistoric landscape. Some parts could have been Mars.

5) Walking between steaming geothermal springs.

6) Stunning views from the mountains.

The kit I took:

Canon EOS-R full frame camera body

Canon RF 24-105 L4 lens

Canon RF 15-35 L2.8 lens

Canon 200m L2.8 prime lens

Tripod

Lee graduated, polariser, and ND filters.

Map used for the trek – Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/8361155651/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My main purchase since coming back from Iceland was a back-opening camera bag (Lowepro Powder 500AW). I brought this to cope with similar wet and cold weather conditions if I go to Iceland again. This seems to be the best camera bag for trekking and holding my camera kit in bad weather. With the external attachment system, I can carry enough for an overnight winter mountain top wild camp in the UK along with my camera kit.

Bottom line is that I now have some stunning Iceland prints and a love of Iceland that could rival that of the Scottish Highlands.

Iceland Trek - Landmannalaugar August 2020

The Chilterns 2022 Calendar

Kimmeridge Dorset