[texasbb]

I spent about two and a half weeks playing around in Iceland, 21 July through 7 August 2018, including hikes of the Laugavegur and Fimmvorduhals trails, climbing (walk-up) Snaefell, the tallest mountain in Iceland apart from the ice caps, and several short dayhikes. A small sample: Glymur Falls is the tallest waterfall in Iceland. I only got to see the very bottom of it because of the fog, but...who cares:

Glymur Falls The Laugavegur and Fimmvorduhals trails are the most popular backpacks in the country. Laugavegur is maybe 32 miles, Fimmvorduhals maybe 15? Day 1 on the Laugavegur was beautifully clear; the rest of the trip was more "normal."

Lava flows and colors (Laugavegur Trail)

Hot pool in the distance (Laugavegur Trail)

Colors! (Laugavegur Trail)

Alftavatn Lake, 1st night's camp (Laugavegur Trail) A lot of day 2 traverses long, flat, black, sandy, lava fields:

Gorgeous, stark, barren, black lava field (Laugavegur Trail)

More stark, barren...beautiful lava fields (Laugavegur Trail) Because of a bad weather forcast, we were urged to go all the way to Thorsmork (finishing that trail) on day 2, which we did. We then spent an extra day there to do a little dayhiking.

Thorsmork (end of Laugavegur Trail, beginning of Fimmvorduhals Trail)

Glacier view near Thorsmork

Krossa River, Thorsmork The warden recommended we not hike, due to forecasted winds in the 30 to 50 mph range, followed by rain. We hiked. The forecast was right, but we made it to Skogar (end of the Fimmvorduhals Trail).

Morning light and color to ford by (Fimmvorduhals Trail)

Sawed off mountain that we crossed (Fimmvorduhals Trail)

Land of fire and ice (Fimmvorduhals Trail) The last half of Fimmvorduhals follows the river and views something like 23 waterfalls. It was raining, so I didn't get pictures of all of them, but here are a few.

Falls (Fimmvorduhals Trail)

Falls (Fimmvorduhals Trail)

Falls (Fimmvorduhals Trail)

Falls (Fimmvorduhals Trail) On the east side, a little north of the big Vatnajokull Glacier, sits 6000-ft Snaefell, Iceland's tallest non-ice cap mountain. It's a relatively easy walk-up, at least when the snow/ice fields are soft.

Snaefell

Lava flow on the way up Snaefell

View to Vatnajokull Glacier, which covers 9% of Iceland

Looking south from Snaefell's peak (Vatnajokull in the distance)

Looking north from Snaefell's peak For a short dayhike of only about 2000 feet of vertical gain, you get some incredible views of the Skaftafellsjokull outlet tongue of Vatnajokull Glacier.

Yours Truly at the foot of the Skaftafellsjokull outlet tongue

Looking up

A nice day in Iceland I could go on and on (I guess I have!), but that's enough for now. Lots more pics here if you've got time and interest.

[awilsondc]

Very nice! Iceland is a bucket list destination for me. I'm jealous!

[RichP]

Excellent! I'm looking at a trip there in the next couple of years too.

[Pyrites]

Uh oh. Are 2019 photos restricted to NW origin? Best. Pyrites

[geyer]

I get jealous every time I see pictures from Iceland. Looks amazing! Great photos But I did find some of those volcanic colors this weekend in the goat rocks, which was pretty neat.

[texasbb]

[Ski]

fabulous!