The second stretch of our hike on the Laugavegurinn trail went from Alftavatn to Emstrur-Botnar and was about 16 km long.

Campsite at Alftavatn

 

Packing before departure. We got super efficient at getting the tent up and down during this trip actually, we even got a praise from a French couple we met.

The trail lead us over the ridge “Brattháls” and into the “Hvanngil” ravine.

After only about 200 meters we came to the first river crossing for the day.

Green and beautiful landscape.

The next river we reached was “Kaldaklovskvísl”.

Luckily there is a suspension-bridge.

The sign tells us we have reached Katla Geopark, and instantly we know that we have several kilometers ahead of us consisting of what is called the “black arctic desert”.

Eventually we reach the glacier river “Nyrðri Emstruá”. Martine enjoys the view.

Still some way to go through the “black arctic desert”. We also got the chance to enjoy the view of Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers. After some time we got around the mountain “Botnar” and the campsite for the night came into sight.

Pictures taken on July 17th 2016

Read part 1 here.