July 26, 2010
Day One of the Laugavegurinn trek.
I woke up at about 6:30 a.m., extremely nervous and anxious about the trek. Did I have the right equipment? Was I in good enough shape? Would I get along with the guide? Would the weather be bad? Eva drove me to the BSI bus station to meet the guide (Dori), and I was immediately intimidated by the looks of the other people waiting for the same bus to Landmannalaugar (the start of the trek). They had better backpacks on, none of them were wearing shorts (I was), they looked serious, and comfortable with the idea of a long trek in the wilderness. Dori showed up at 8 a.m. (when I called the touring company to ask what he looked like, the girl on the phone said "like Shrek"), and we got on the bus with the other tour groups (and individual travelers) -- by the end of the trek I became fairly friendly with many of them, and began the several hour journey, first through lava fields, through Selfoss, onto the dirt mountain roads, past the volcana Hekla, through the highland mountains where the vegetation became extremely sparse (little bits of grass, mosss, etc.) and the only animals I could see were the occasional sheep (they are left to graze freely during this time of year before being rounded up for the slaughter). It was raining, and when I stepped out of the bus for a photo opportunity near Hekla, very cold and windy.
We arrived at Landmannalaugar at around 2, rain still coming down, and had lunch under an overhang -- lamb liver pate and salmon egg paste with butter on bread and instant coffee. Probably the most famous feature of Landmannalaugar are the natural hot spring baths, so despite the freezing, rainy, windy weather, I had to try. Changed into a bathsuit (unpleasant) and got into the hot water, and sat there for probably 20 minutes, watching the steam rise, and checking out the landscape (extremely pleasant).
Apparently, my aggressive attempts to get on a group tour with this company had become known among the employees. When I met D, the guide of the 16 person group, she looked at me and laughed and made a comment about me being the "stubborn tourist", but this was actually encouraging.
We started the walk very slow (I later learned this was to help build confidence), and Dori explained to me how to use the poles. As I do with many things, I have trouble explaining why the landscape in this part of the world is so appealing -- mostly black gravel, with little to no plant life, steep hills carved by glacial water, unexpected valleys and gorges. But as I started the hike, I knew I would likely be very happy with my decision to go. Especially when we walked past some spots with steam coming out of the ground (smells like sulfer), which I think are just so cool. We passed D´s group, as well as many others, mostly gaining in elevation. The rain stopped and we had a few hours of pleasant, cool, weather (in the 50s?) and I opened up my rain jacket and relaxed a bit.
We crossed a few small streams by jumping over the rocks, climbed up and over small hills, and hiked across fields of frozen snow, now gaining more elevation. Towards the end of the 4-5 hour hike, we walked into a cloud of fog, which obscured much of the landscape, wandering across black gravel, pelted with rain.
The location of the hut had some of the worst weather of the trip, and we set up the tents (or Dori taught me how to set up a tent, while mostly doing it himself), with rain coming hard horizontally. Finally, we got to go inside, and eat dinner with the 16 person group, which was pleasant, and a good introduction to some of the dynamics of the other travelers on the same path. That night, I met a Dutch guy, probably in his 50s and his wife, who gave me some advice on travel to Netherlands, a Canadian couple from Alberta, all of whom I would stay in touch with over the trip. After eating cod and salad, I sat in the common area trying to dry off my soaked clothes, while the guides joked amongst themselves in Icelandic.
I dreaded leaving the hut to go to the tent where I was sleeping, but amazingly, all was dry inside, it was not so cold, and I slept more soundly than I have in a long time. ´
Bob Dylan -- A Hard Rain´s Gonna Fall
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