Inside the Picture: the Laugavegur Trail - Day 5

Tindfjöll Circuit: 15.3km

Reveille was at the relatively late hour of 7:30.  The weather was set to improve so there was no rush.  Once more we grouped up with the other Artic Adventurers for breakfast.  From the magical food crates our guides conjured up, not just porridge, but bacon, scrambled eggs and pancakes.  Luxury!  HD explained his alternative plan, following the ‘orange route’ round the valley, plus some ‘HD specials’.  The other group said that they did the same route the day before and had loved it.  I hadn’t been entirely sure how I felt about not doing our original plan up to Fimmvörðuháls.  In one sense I had been feeling some relief at not having another long, hard day – the longest and hardest of the trek – when I was already feeling the effort of the previous days; on the other hand, it was a disappointment not to complete the schedule and not to visit the site of the infamous 2010 eruption.  This morning, I was quite happy to have an easier day and leave the big walk for another time, perhaps (maybe walking in from Skógar in the south).

Nadine had been suffering from a sore foot, so we set off at a more gentle pace than on the previous days, walking along by the river for a short period.  We soon turned off and started a steep ascent up a ridge of the jagged hill, Tindfjöll.  There was more botany to be seen amongst the birch, like forget-me-knots, grass of Parnassus and mushrooms.  On one section I was amazed to see a common spotted orchid, though its pink was looking distinctly jaded.  I had had no idea they grew so far north.

It was heavy work but the views were incredible.  There were great gouges and scoops taken out of the hillside, revealing the black soil beneath the trees; the many-branched Krossá lay below; the pointed hills climbed upwards into the clouds covering the tops of Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull.  There were waterfalls and twisted spikes of rock, one of which provided a place for us to sit and admire the views up the valley to the channels carved by rivers, and the tongues of glaciers dripping off the mountains like icing on a cake.  Perhaps I was getting used to the landscape, but I started to feel I could look at it without being overwhelmed now.  Perhaps it was just because we were taking our time.

We didn’t summit Tindfjöll but left the ‘orange route’ to traverse over a shoulder into a narrow valley, eventually dropping into a glade in a meander with an ‘elf church’ hill.  HD said it felt very much like somewhere the ‘hidden folk’ would come.  It was beautiful and peaceful so we sat down on the mossy ground for a quick snack, but mostly we were just absorbing the tranquillity.  After that we pushed on up to a wide, stony moorland with views far out to the north, as far as the hills by Álftavatn and those surrounding Tindfjallajökull (no relation).  Nearer at hand was the impressive cone of Rjúpnafell, a great looking peak with, HD told us, a bit of a scramble to the top and a narrow ridge between its two summits.  It was too much of an undertaking for us that day and instead we dropped into another flower-filled valley with a waterfall and a cave.

Our return route took us along a narrow, somewhat sketchy path at the side of a fearsome, jaggedly ruined valley at the back of Tindfjöll and then into the more genteel Slyppugil valley, full of trees including some quite tall spruce.  I casually asked about the sign for ‘Glugguhellir’.  ‘It means Window Cave,’ said HD, ‘Do you want to have a look?’  We had time and energy, so we dropped our packs and set off up an extremely steep set of steps.  A quick reward for this was another orchid, this time showing no signs of pink in its flowers.  My Flora Incognita app told me it was a northern green orchid (say what you see), which fitted perfectly with the description and distribution.  I was well chuffed with the find.

Glugguhellir

The path climbed on and on, feeling more like a bad idea with every gasping step.  However, we did arrive at the cave and enjoyed poking around inside and looking through the (natural) ‘windows’ formed by holes in its side.  HD thought the path was circular, though he hadn’t come that way since childhood.  We were game for an investigation and so we carried on, up and up, and across some excitingly narrow sections.  It became clear in the end that it wasn’t going to drop us back down into Slyppugil so we turned around and went back the way we had come.  Jæja.

It was turning into a beautiful evening so we sat outside for coffee and biscuits when we got back to the hut.  The Arctic Adventures group a day behind us had arrived, led by a Finnish bloke called Mikko, and again we joined forces for the evening (David et al having left).  The magic boxes this time revealed two legs of lamb that HD proposed we barbecue for the six of us (Mikko had two clients).  What a treat.  I had a shower, bought some beer off Simon, read my book and listened to the gossip, most of which revolved around crossing the river.  A big Australian woman, whom we had last seen at Landmannalaugar, was brusquely interrogating everyone.  ‘You, Aussie,’ she said to a girl travelling with her father; ‘Hey, America!’; ‘Guy with a book!’ (this was me).  The Australian girl, a tall, good-looking blonde, said she could hitch a lift on the bus, ‘If I bat my eyelids at the driver and show him my tits.’

Dinner was a proper feast.  Mikko produced a bottle of red wine, cooked up a mushroom sauce, found a jar of red cabbage and festooned the table with tealights.  The lamb, which had been seasoned and studded with garlic, was very well done but incredibly tasty – moist and tender.  Nadine and I shared the table with an Australian girl (another), Sarah, and a bloke from Seattle, though originally from Hong Kong, whose name I immediately forgot (Horace?)  After dessert of blackcurrant cheesecake we set to washing up, taken care of in no time, then retired to the settees to chat with the other guests over more drinks.  I had a quick look out for aurora before heading for bed about 10:30, this time following Nadine’s example and spreading myself across four mattresses, given we still had the room to ourselves.

HD and Nadine carving the lamb