September 14, 2008 - Not done yet.. work in progress.
Robert Connolly

Laugavegurinn Trek - Description and Preparation Guild

This is not a step by step manual. Read the whole thing before trekking.

These pages describe the 55km 'walk' between Landmannalaugar and Þórsmörk, in
Iceland. This trek is also known as "Laugavegur", but I'm not sure why.
"Laugavegurinn" means "The Hot Spring Route", in Icelandic.

I write this guild because I could not find a single English web site that
describes this trek in a realistic way. In Iceland I could not find any books
or additional information about this trek. All the information I found makes
this trek sound like a walk in the park, and it's not. I'm writing this to
help prepare others for this journey. My suggestions are realistic. I'm not
going to suggest bringing too much food, too many blankets, an arctic sleeping
bag, etc, because they will just make your backpack heavier and slow you down.

After two weeks in Iceland, I only met one person who had English as a first
language. This is probably the reason why English information about this trek
is missing.

Stuff about you:
This trek is not for everyone. This trek is for people who enjoy challenges.
If you complain when it rains, when it's cold, or when your environment is not
ideal, then you will not enjoy this trek. You need to have the personality
that looks for solutions to problems, and doesn't complain about them. You will
almost certainly be cold and wet for part of the trek. You should have
tolerance for cold weather. You should also be in good health, reasonably
athletic, and able to walk for 15km with a 25kg backpack, for 5 days in a row.

Stuff about me:
Like everything I write, I am my target audience. I'm sharing these notes for
the benefit of the public, but you may find that they do not work for your
situation. I'm not allergic to any food, so the diet I suggest may not work
for you. I'm Canadian, which means I have been hardened against bad weather.
This is the first trek I have ever done, and the longest I have ever walked.
This trek was the most difficult thing I have ever done. I'm 29 years old,
male, and a heavy smoker (I smoked a lot less during the trek).

Although you can get four or five days of clear skies and sunshine, it's
unlikely. You need to be prepared for rain and cold. This trek is no place for
small children. Everyone needs to carry their share and cooperate.

This is a serious undertaking. People have died on this trek because they were
not prepared for it. However, it is a beautiful place, with drastic changes in
landscape over a short distance.

Prerequisites:
First of all, I do not recommend this trek to anyone, and seriously discourage
anyone doing this as their first trek. That said, I'm planning to do it again
next year. You should do a multiple day trek in your native country to get
accustomed to the lifestyle, and carrying a backpack. Find a 30-40km trek, in
decent weather, and try that first. Get familiar with your equipment, such as
your backpack, stove, tent, sleeping bag, and boots. The highlands of Iceland
is no place to be adjusting your backpack, or reading the instructions for
your tent. Test your equipment and learn to trust it. You can expect 60km/h
winds with rain, and this is not a good time for your tent to break. Practice
setting up your tent in a rain storm. Don't buy cheap equipment. You don't
need a gore-tex tent, but you do need a gore-tex rain suit because you can't
walk for 15km in a rubber suit without suffocating or overheating.

You should beef up before the trek, unless you want to lose weight. For my
weight I needed 3100 calories per day, and I simply can't eat that much. For
a week, or more, before the trek, drink one liter of whole milk per day, and
eat as much as you can in rich foods; don't skip any meals.

Clothing:
Wool will stay warm when wet, allows your skin to breath, and dries fast. Use
wool thermal underwear, socks, gloves, and hat. Gore-tex rain suit and boots.
Boots should be broken in for a few weeks in advance, have ankle protection,
and dry fast.

People should have dry bags, with a towel and complete change of cloths and
sweater, easily available while they cross the rivers. A drybag helmet full of
cloths would be a good idea for crossing rivers. At all times you should have
clean dry cloths available in this special bag.

I think everyone would agree that changing underwear is very comfortable and
has an improvement on moral. Wear underwear under your thermal underwear
pants... bring four pairs of boxers and socks, two pairs of light thermal
underwear pants, one trouser or sweat pants, one pair of beach shorts, three
t-shirts, plus the set you walked in with. Cloths can be washed at huts (by
hand in a sink, with cold water), but they won't dry in the rain, so its hard
to judge when you can do laundry. If you camp at Landmannalaugar, wear the
same cloths the next day and you'll be doing yourself a favor later in the
trek. Try not to look and smell like a pig when returning to the city. Bring
your own cloths pegs if you want to use the clothsline at some of the huts.

Don't bring jeans. Jeans are heavy, take a lot of space, and are completely
useless when it rains. While trekking you will lose weight and sweat, so while
you get smaller the jeans will stretch bigger with the moisture.

Bring a bathing suit if you want to use the hot spring at Landmannalaugar.

Water:
The first 5km, south, from Landmannalaugar has no water source, and includes a
470m elevation increase. A water source existed in 2008 from a snow field
just below the highest point in the trek, but it may not exist in 2009. The
next water source is about 7km from Landmannalaugar, in a valley. I think the
ideal way to set off from Landmannalaugar is to wake fairly early so there is
time for both breakfast and brunch. For breakfast eat eggs, milk, and toast.
Only bring eggs for this particular meal, because eggs are too fragile to trek
with, and cooked eggs don't last long outside of a refrigerator. For brunch (2
hours later), eat two large fruits and a liter of water. The fruit will keep
you hydrated longer. Also bring 500ml of water, or more.

Some people prefer to be dehydrated than carry a liter (kilogram) of water.
I don't think this is a great idea. In general water is easy to find along
this trek, just look for grass.

Don't drink water from hot springs. The warm temperature increases the
likelyhood of bacteria. I never purified my water. If you are paranoid you can
boil the water. Most of the fresh water in Iceland is from ancient glaciers
and is not polluted, so boiling is more than enough to decontaminate the
water. I asked the Landmannalaugar warden if any water in Iceland is unsafe to
drink, which is a good idea, because things happen. In general, Iceland has
the cleanest water in the world.

Food:
Get as many calories as possible from food rich in protein and complex
carbohydrates. This means animal products (meat, milk, eggs), peanut butter,
and whole wheat bread. Meals should include at least two sources of protein
(milk and meat), and carbohydrates with vitamins (vegetables and fruit).

Example Breakfast:
Whole wheat toast with peanut butter, one liter of milk, and three dried
apricots.

Snack:
Mixed nuts or seeds, and smoked lamb or beef jerky.

Dinner:
Bean or pea, vegetable or chicken, soup, a can of tuna or dried fish, bread,
and two dried apricots.

Eat chocolate, in moderation, when situations are not ideal. Chocolate is good
for moral.

I toasted my bread slightly in advance. This made the bread lighter, and last
longer, but it gets pretty stiff after a few days. This also has the side
effect of making me drink a lot of water with the bread.

Military MRE's (meal ready to eat) are available. They are usually three
course meals, plus a beverage powder or tea/coffee. They are fairly balanced
and are about 1000-2000 calories each. I have never tried them. I have a
feeling that they taste okay, and the food in them is probably fortified with
vitamins. Dehydrated MRE's are probably available, to make them lighter.
MRE's are not cheap.

There is no store available during the trek. The store at Þórsmörk sells
Pepsi, sandwiches, and maps, not much more. Most huts have some free food
that people leave behind. If you run out of food, or it becomes damaged
somehow (rivers), every hut should have something for you to eat. Bring your
own salt and spices (adding salt to food will mean we need to drink more
water, so I don't add salt).

Food is heavy, be carefull not to bring too much. Dry beans can be soaked in
a water bottle (wide mouth) during the day to reduce cooking time. Soaking 24
hours is ideal. Remember that they will double in size. Split peas and beans,
or lentils, will need less soaking and cooking than large whole beans. It's
better to waste stove fuel than to undercook beans, because they will expand
in our stomach.

Rivers:
fiord = narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial
activity.
fjord= A long, narrow, deep inlet from the sea between steep slopes of a
mountainous coast. Fjords usually occur where ocean water flows into valleys
formed near the coast by glaciers. - Norwegian

I call fiord's rivers, because from my perspective that's what they are. Icy
cold rivers born from a melting glacier a couple kilometers away. They're
lowest in the morning at sunrise, when it doesn't rain, at the widest point,
and as far upstream as possible. It is better to go upstream, if it's
practical, and cross two rivers, than to cross the one river that they join
into. They're always cold, I think close to 5 Celsius. Rain is the most
significant factor, from day to day, for a rise of the river's level.

The size and depth of Icelandic rivers can change dramatically, over a short
period of time. Don't camp next to them... camp on soil two meters above the
river's surface to avoid suprize floods. Camping is prohibited except at
camp sites, to reduce the amount of garbage (toilet paper) in this national
park, but you may need to camp in the wild if you can't make it to the camp
site.

The normal way to cross the rivers is to walk across with your socks or
sandals. Unbuckle your backpack (people have drown in a few centimeters of
water). Be prepared to go to your waist, turn back before you get to where
your legs end... at the hips the current will take you. Don't carry anything
in your hands or around your neck, and remove any sweater or jacket. Minimize
what can get wet when crossing a river. If you wear your socks in the river,
then you will be carrying wet dirty socks (quarter kilo).

Cross the river by walking sideways, facing the current. Our legs are most
narrow from the front, and this causes less water resistance. If you're in
a group it is best to cross as a train... the most adept person is in front
and everyone else is behind; everyone has their hands on the shoulders of the
person in front of them, and if one person should lose balance the person
behind them can push them back up. This train would also walk sideways and
facing the river.

Don't tie rope on other people, this will only make the group fall in
together. Generally the water is not deep, or strong, enough to drown someone
who is in good health. If you fall in a river the first priority is changing
into dry cloths, before tending to any injuries or anything else. It is more
instinctive to treat injuries before tending to comfort, but when you're at
risk of hypothermia, warmth and comfort comes first. Educate your brain to
change cloths before anything else, because if your brain gets cold your logic
and memory will be effected. You may forget what you're doing if you're
getting hypothermia, and having dry cloths in your hands will help you
remember.

Using a tube raft, like the kind at waterparks, with a very abrasion
resistant bottom glued on (find whitewater rapids supply store and find out
how to get the raft bottom material attached to a waterpark tube, or maybe
they sell a ready-made tube for whitewater), a very long rope tied in a
loop and hooked on the tube, a friend, and a paddle, the friend controls the
rope while you paddle sideways and the loop in the rope allows both of you to
control the empty raft to move it back across. With two people, both bags
would go across, tied down to the raft, and the last person goes last and
paddles across. Depending how much force the river has to fight your
paddling, everything that crosses the river will end up down stream
somewhere. The raft has to be armored well enough that you're positive it
won't rip, and have a patch kit, otherwise if it has a hole it becomes a
large, expensive, three kilo paperweight. This raft is only an idea, and have
no idea if anyone has done this.

Equipment:
Everything needs redundant waterproofing. This means a rain cover over a
waterproof backpack stuffed with plastic/rubber bags of cloths and food.
Proper dry bags are much better than ziplock bags. Water will find a way in
to anything, as if it has a will of its own.

Cookwear (except the stove), can be tied on outside the backpack. Two large
stainless steel camping coffee cups should be enough to make most meals for
one person (find cups that fit inside eachother, with milliliter marks), plus
a water bottle (with milliliter marks). Plastic fork/spoon/knife (at 66
north), or metal if you can find it. Avoid teflon, and don't leave the plastic
spoon in the pot while it cooked. Teflon becomes toxic at 230C (446F), and is
not very durable. Aluminum eventually develops pin-holes from heat stress,
over years, and the pot eventually starts to leak. I think stainless steel is
the best choice for health and durability.

Everyone says to brings a knife, but in the mountains of Iceland a knife
doesn't have a lot of uses, so keep it simple. A single swiss army knife (any
model), is plenty. Have the knife as sharp as possible, and oil it, so it's
more usefull.

Bring a blister kit with a needle. I cut open blisters with a razor blade,
and needles are better. Large non-stick compresses, gauze, and elastic gauze,
for scratches. Some typical bandages for cuts, adhesion strips (temporary
stitches), and iodine detergent. The iodine detergent (aka providine) is safe
to use on any injury, unless you're allergic to iodine. Read the directions;
it should be lathered up like soap. Iodine detergent is the only disinfectant
you need. Ibuprophen (bring this from home because it's very expensive in
Iceland) for headaches or pain; aspirin will make you bleed more, so avoid it.
A dozen cotton swabs, to help clean cuts or whatever.

A compass, because the sun barely moves in Iceland, and the trek map from the
Landmannalaugar warden. In general you don't need the compass or map to do
the trek, unless you want to figure out where you are.

GPS's are no more usefull than a compass on this trek. Iceland is not
regularly mapped by satelite, and the GPS units can give incorrect
information, such as missings rivers. If you bring a GPS, don't rely on it.

A reliable waterproof watch. Most modern watches keep very good time, but I
noticed my cheap travelers alarm clock kept very poor time.

A headlamp flashlight, and one extra battery. July in Iceland is never really
dark, but inside a tent you may need a flashlight. I kept my lamp in my
jacket pocket, so it was always easy to find.

A 6 hour bottle of stove fuel is plenty. You might get away with a 3 hour
bottle. Don't be worried about running out of fuel. At most huts you can
pay 400-800kr to use their kitchen, and camp.

The huts closer to Þórsmörk allow you to leave garbage behind.

Goose down (down dries fast) sleeping bag rated for 0C, with a compression
sack. Its less weight to carry a 0C sleeping bag and wear long johns with a
wool hat and gloves, when it's cold, than to carry a -20C sleeping bag,
becuase you need the longjohns, hat, and gloves either way. Try to find a
water resistant compression sack.

A small camping pillow is nice.

I used an MSR Hubba single person tent, and noticed what other people had.
This tent used a "rain fly", that acts like an umbrella over the tent. This
protects the ground from getting wet around the footprint. Tents without
this umbrella are more vulnerable to having a wet floor. The rain fly should
also help with the aerodynamics of the tent, so there is less stress from the
wind. Use the footprint designed for your tent, because you want the footprint
to be exactly the same size (not bigger) than the usable floor of the tent.
There is more risk of pooling water if the footprint is larger than the tent.

I wished that my particular tent's rain fly would go all the way to the
ground, like a dome or pyramid, because I needed to use rocks (like everyone
else) to fill the gaps and block the rain from getting in. My rain fly uses
six nails in the ground, and twelve would have been better. Some air movement
is probably nescessary, so there's oxygen in the tent. My tent in general is
very small. It's just enough room to sleep, and sit up. I had no room for my
65 liter bag, which I propped up under the rain fly, outside the inner tent. A
two person tent would have been much better, but weighs twice as much. I
I thought about bringing a tent for a dog to store my bag, but a really good
cover would weigh less.

I suggest buying florecent colored tent, backpack, rain covers, etc, so search
and rescue can see it. The search and rescue helicopter is out every day, I
think, seeing if everything is okay, and who is lost off the path.

An all weather camera is the minimum, and a scuba camera is better. Scuba
cameras are not only waterproof, they're also armored. A submersable bag, or
box, for batteries and memory is also needed. I brought a 12 volt, 12 watt,
solar power panel, with a 5 volt converter, to recharge my camera batteries,
and it destroyed two batteries (they don't charge anymore). It looks like
lithium batteries have no tolerance for being poorly charged. Its better to
just bring a lot of batteries. Whatever a battery's number of photos is
marketed at, divide it in two; so if a battery is supposed to take 200
pictures, only depnd on it for 100. It's very easy to take 100 pictures a day
on this trek.

Everything is far away and big, so binoculars are not really needed.

I brought a book, but never found time to read it. I wrote in my journal
whenever I had time.

Try not to be the last one out of camp sites, this is bad. You want to be
found.

This should go without saying, but as a rule, if you're lost, and have spent
one hour off this trail after consulting your map, stop and camp. This trail
zig-zags between mountains and rivers. If you have been lost for an hour, then
you are lost beyond hope of finding the trail again... this is true whether
you have a gps, map, compass, or not. If you're lost, build your tent, then
spell HELP in stones near your tent, display brightly colored items near your
camp, and a helicopter will see you if you are reasonably close to the trail.
Stopping and camping when you're lost will conserve calories and keep you
closer to the trail.