Grimka has a Blow: Backpacking in Iceland

Leaving Landmannalaugar

As was often the case, Oolav was angry. He was the high priest of the elves living around Landmannalaugar in the heart of the Icelandic backcountry, and he was tired of all the human activity in the area. He had elves redirect rivers across the road, but the humans kept coming in buses and trucks big enough to manage the crossings. They came to bathe in the elves hot springs, they came to hike the Laugavegur Trail through elfen lands and to sleep in huts on their lands.

With intense concentration, and seemingly permanent grimace, Oolav casts a spell to press Grimka into action. He moves the massive troll up onto the top of Vatnajokull [Vatna•yOkoot, water•ice covered mountain], the largest icefield in Iceland and sets him to blowing.

Colorful peaks; broad vista with lava fields and fumaroles

Grimka blew and blew. His sulfuric breath mixed with spitting rain intensified the effect of the harsh wind. Fewer vehicles arrived, the hot springs emptied, hikers encased themselves in rain gear and raced to huts where they hunkered down. Oolav almost smiled.

Other elves, however, were not happy. The winds were worse than the humans; elves needed to collect mosses to prepare for winter, but the storm was also forcing them to seek shelter.

Colorful moss topped mountains

Dranga, Oolav's wife, bore the brunt of the elves displeasure. Sure the humans were a nuisance: they walked through the elves colorful ryolite mountains in the north, through their sharp moss painted mountains further south, through the barren lands and finally through the brush forest at the southern edge of their lands at the base of Myrdalsjokull [Myrdals•yOkoot, ice covered mountain above the Myr valley] and Eyafjallajokull [Aya•fyatla•yOkoot, Aya•is a single peaked•ice covered mountain], two giant mountains encased in ice.

View from Hrafntinnusker hut

These mountains differ dramatically in form from the sharp peaks in my Montana home. Many of the peaks here were formed during past ice ages by subglacial volcanic eruptions. Lava spread out under a thick mantle of ice, often never breaking through. Broad, round top mountains resulted with cliff faces that mark the edge of the lava's flow. Ice fields still span these broad peaks; jumbles of glacial ice and waterfalls pour down the cliffs.

Most elves were used to the humans. Watching humans attempt to cross bitter cold, raging rivers was a source of merriment to the elves who, hidden among the rocks and mosses, placed bets on how the humans would fare.

Misty stormy world; Myrdalsjokull comes into view

Humans had a sense that elves and other fantastical creatures might be hidden about, but were never able to catch more than a glimpse in the periphery of their vision. "Was that an elf?" ran through the mind of many a hiker; most kept this thought to themselves lest they be considered a bit looney.

Humans kept their focus on seeing the stunning volcanic landscapes, on the tongues of ice that approach the trail and disgorge torrential flows that are challenging to cross, and on the comraderie inside the huts and along the trail to be too concerned about their magical cousins.

Peak bagging above Hvanngil hut

Icelandic lore refers to elves and their magical brethren as hidden people. When God asked to see Eve's children, she was embarrassed to show the children she hadn't yet washed, so she hid them. She told God that the children she showed him were her only children. God revealed that he knew of her unwashed children, and that since she refused to show them, they would forevermore be hidden.

To break Oolav's concentration, Dranga asked the fairy Princella and her troupe of sprites to dance for Oolav. Their enchanting moves slowly turned his grimace into a smile, then he slipped into a deep sleep. Free from Oolav's spell, Grimka was now hungry. It was time to descend from the mountain and find himself a sheep.

Life along the Laugavegur Trail went back to normal for both humans and hidden people. Hikers trekked casually, talking, marveling, taking lots of photos and hoping to catch an elf unaware. Elves continued to make preparations for winter and to play chicken--darting out of the shadows to put a rock in front of a hikers foot.

Hvanngil hut

The next day, Oolav is still in dreamland, but Grimka awakens well rested and satiated. He likes messing with the hikers even without Oolav's inducement. He climbs up on Myrdalsjokull and begins to blow. The hikers head for shelter. The word in the huts is that "Grimka is having a blow!"

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The Laugavegur Trail is 52 kilometers. I hiked it in three days; some runners do it in a day. Matt and George, two individual trekkers that I met along the way, both hiked it in two days while camping: they carried tents, sleeping pads and cooking gear in their packs, weight that those of us who stayed in the huts were spared, and they had no break from the weather.

The weather was challenging. Grimka blew long and hard on Day one of my trip. It was so bad, and the forecast so bleak, that at a meeting with all his guests that evening, the warden of Hrafntinnusker hut determined we should stay through the next morning until the storm was forecast to calm somewhat. With the enchantment of Oolav, the storm abated more quickly than expected and we were sent out into rainy, and windy, but improving weather.

Barren lands

Day two's hike to Hvanngil hut was shorter than anticipated, so I got to hike my first Icelandic peak that afternoon.

Wet weather returned on Day three. The first river crossing of that day was within sight of the tongue of a glacier and was painfully cold.

Day three included a long trek through barren lands among luminescent moss cloaked mountains before we started to descend to Thorsmork. The biggest obstacle on this day was the crossing of a large glacial outflow. During the spring melt from this outflow would have filled the valley spanning a few hundred meters in width; now the torrent of brown water split into channels. Crossing it was frightening to contemplate. I had been hiking with Matt and before him, with Louisa and John; I waited for them to arrive so that we could cross it together. The second of at least a half dozen channels was the most difficult: thigh deep and a strong enough flow to make us struggle to maintain our footing.

Colors returning; approaching Thorsmork

We reached Thorsmork hut after 28 kilometers. A stunning area that sits at the edge of another glacier outflow and at the base of Eyafjallajokull. The plan for Day 4 for me and others was to hike 27 kilometers on a trail that climbed to a pass between Eyafyallajokull and Myrdalsjokull reaching a height of 1100 meters, before dropping to the village of Skogar on the south coast. But Grimka had had other plans. He had moved atop Myrdalsjokull and was blowing at hurricane force at high elevations. The wardens strongly advised against the trek, and a day hike along the rim of a canyon above Thorsmork was substituted.

Day hike above Thorsmork

A ride through the unbridged glacial outflow and a number of smaller creeks descending from Eyafjallajokull on a bus designed for the task provided a last taste of adventure before we reached roads with bridges and made the trip back to Reykjavik.

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Once I reached Reykjavik, I met Terry and joined a tour. Touring is a different experience than backpacking: it's more casual, the food and accommodations are way better, and a good tour guide like we had can make the country come alive.

Four days later our tour reached Skogar and our guide gave me 3 hours 40 minutes to run as far as I could in the direction of Thorsmork and back. I ran 8.95 kilometers while climbing more than 750 meters before my time constraint bound and I had to turn back. This run took me along the rim of a moss coated basalt canyon with large waterfalls dropping off layers of rock laid down by successive volcanic events. I was almost at the level of the icefields of Eyafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull, but I came up a few kilometers short of the pass between these giants. Still, I came as close as I could to covering my planned trek from four days earlier. Close enough that maybe I can convince myself that this trek has been completed and I can take it off my bucket list.

Some waterfalls and canyon views on the climb above Skogar

Skogafoss

At the end of my trek above Skogar (photo courtesty of Janet McGovern); Grimka takes a day off and goes shopping at Keflavik airport--it's duty free!

A few more photos

Martine and Bart; a moss covered world

Glacial tongue pouring down from Myrdalsjokull; rainbow at Thorsmork

Approaching Mydalsjokull above Skogar; Eyafjallajokull above Thorsmork