When the departure day arrived, the weather forecast for the area was pretty bleak with high winds and rain. We decided to go anyway, and instead of hiking on the first day, just spent some quality time playing card games and chatting. It was nice after the very bumpy ride on the road leading to the area.
On the Saturday we drove into the “Highland Base” area of Kerlingarfjöll, and set out on a hike. Mid-way we ran into people coming the other way, who told us that the pass we were heading for had zero visibility, was snowy and muddy, and not a good use of our time and energy.
We thus turned around, just as a massive rain-bank hit us, and ended up just lounging in the new “natural baths” at the new-ish fancy hotel, before heading back to our cabin. As the weather remained rather miserable, no other guests joined us in the cabin, which is set up for horse riders.
Friday 12 July 2024
After a seeming eternity on a bumpy road, we made it to our cabin in the Highlands.
With the weather forecast predicting high winds, I hid our plants in the patio-nook for some added shelter, before heading out.
Being eternally optimistic, we squeezed 10 women and all their luggage into two cars!
Next pit stop was at the Geysir area about and hour and a half later. We grabbed a lunch, before heading onwards.
Real Icelanders don’t spend time checking out the active geyser… been there, done that.
The rivers were full of rain water already.
Driving past the Gullfoss (“Golden waterfall”) parking lot without stopping. It’s grown in size these past few years.
If you squint you can see all the people walking along the paths to see the big waterfall. The spray cloud from it is visible on the left.
We soon left the asphalt behind, and set out on our approximate 1.5 hour ride on an unpaved road.
Our trusty driver did a great job!
A relatively smooth section ahead.
Not much manages to survive up there.
After much shaking, we arrived at Gíslaskáli, located in an unexpected oasis in the otherwise lifeless landscape.
Looking out the back, the oasis was explained: a river runs through there!
With 10 hardy women on hand, getting settled took no time at all.
We were the only ones there when we arrived, and claimed this big room on the ground floor for ourselves.
There were more rooms upstairs, one even sharing my name!
The smaller sleeping rooms.
We had hoped that the winds would die down, but no such luck. As this cabin is mostly for people on horse-back, there aren’t really any actual hiking trails around.
The WC hallway was dubbed “Fúlakvísl” or “Foul-branch”.
Wanting a bit of fresh air, I went outside, and confirmed that winds were indeed high.
All the paths were for horseback riders, meaning nasty river crossings.
Maps are helpful. The mountains referred to as “Kerlingarfjöll” are that mass on the lower right side.
Close to dinner time, a car pulled up with travelers from Italy.
Suddenly it was dinner time!
Chocolate cake being prepped, while I hand-whipped some cream.
Yum!
At some point it began raining heavily in addition to the wind, but the house was solid. This was the view out the window at midnight (animated gif with rain coming down the window).
Saturday 13 July 2024
The following day the winds were somewhat lower, but still high enough that car-doors had to be held open.
Ready to depart to Kerlingarfjöll proper at 10:30 in the morning. By that time the Italians had already left.
We drove past this pretty waterfall, but decided to stop and check it out later.
We parked the cars and went to check out the maps and signage.
Travel at your own risk and don’t damage the pretty nature!
Our plan was to hike up from where we were to the “Hveradalir” area, and back. We began hiking the route on the right, and turned around about mid-way through, before attempting the snowy covered pass.
We used the toilets in the swanky hotel before heading out.
Off we went!
The path goes straight up on that ridge on the other side of the river.
At the base of the ridge.
Where we came from.
Looking further along the riverbed. There is a natural hot-tub there by that house down there.
The path was uneventful, but much to my dismay my right Achilles tendon was already unhappy.
The riverbed even further up.
It’s hard to see from this image, but there was a steep hill down, and then an equally steep hill up and into the snowy areas. Those two people that are visible on the bottom came our way and told us that the visibility up there had been zero, and the ground a mix of snow, sludge, and mud. They did not recommend continuing onwards.
After a quick huddle, we decided to turn back around.
A quick selfie just as it was beginning to rain.
Before long, the rain began pouring, pushed by considerable wind.
Where did that large stone come from?!
The sensible ones hid behind another large rock to put on better rain gear. I decided to follow suit.
The stone sheltered us from the wind, and I got my rain-pants on.
Rain-proofed!
We almost blew back to the base.
Back at base!
Selfie with pretty river and the ridge. The weather was a lot better in the base area.
Pretty bridge.
Interesting rock formations and colors.
We ate our refreshments in this service center by the campsite.
Heading to the swanky hotel to visit the “nature baths”.
The “nature baths” had an interesting color… something to do with minerals.
Mild chaos in the reception, but we all got entry-armbands.
This hotel is run by the same people that run the Blue Lagoon, and the gym I go to. The locker mechanism is the same everywhere, except in this case somebody forgot to make a space for the computer parts… so they were just inside one of the cubbies!
Interesting…
A group photo taken by a random person.
The views were gorgeous.
The other direction.
By 4 in the afternoon it was time to drive back to our cabin.
Everything was wet!
We broke out Skyjo and Hi-Lo (they’re almost identical games).
Dinner being made. No other visitors arrived that day.
