Day 1 / 4
The trail begins in Hólaskjól Highland Center. From there hikers start the tour as we hike along the river Syðri Ófæra. We will observe a breathtaking waterfall, that doesn’t have any name, as travel along the side of the river on our way to the shepherd hut in Álftavötn where we will have dinner and overnight accommodation.
Álftavötn is stunningly beautiful, fountains stream out from the lavafields and into the clear Álftavötn where vegetation reaches the water. There you can also find a natural stonebridge that goes over Syðri-Ófæra
Áður fyrr var fé geymt í hólmanum úti í vatninu enda var Álftavatnakofinn aðal afréttarkofi Skaftártungumanna þar til Hólaskjól var byggt rétt eftir 1970.
Velta má fyrir sér hvernig þetta fallega dalverpi myndaðist og er líklegasta skýringin sú að hér hafi verið vatn og jarðhræringar, jafnvel Eldgjárhraun frá 934 runnið í það og opnað dalinn svo runnið hafi úr því. Eftir varð því þessi dásamlegi dalur, jafnvel gamall vatnsbotn..
Active hiking time is 2 – 3 hours
Hiking distance is 7 km
Day 2 / 5
From Álftavötn we continue our exploration as we go off the beaten path. The path is unmarked and not visible and far from all roads. Álftavötn is wide valley loaded with lakes and rivers. Álftavötn means “Swan lakes” It is common to se birds there like swans and other birds depending on the time of the year we go through the area. We will hike through the Eldgjá fissure and along side with the (inn með hlíðum) vast Svartahnúksfjöll “black mountains” on our way to Strútslaug, Hólmsárbotna) that lies south of the glacier Torfajökull. Strútslaug is active geothermal area and there explorers have the opportunity to realax in fully natural geothermal hot spring. There are no dressing rooms there and we don’t expect to meet other trekkers on the this remote area that is not accessible by roads or tracks either. From Strútslaug are 1,5 hour hike to the Strútur hut where we overnight
væðið. Þess má geta að Rangvellingar nefndu Strútslaug Hólmsárbotnahver. Ofan við Strútslaug eru snarbrattar hlíðar og þar ofar er Torfajökull. Við erum því við jaðar eins stærsta háhitasvæðis landsins og um leið stærsta líparít (rhyolít) svæði landsins
Hiking distance 20 to 24 km
Active hiking time is 7 – 8 hours
Day 3 / 6
We leave Strútur hut as we hike to Slysaalda. We will see the glacier Mýrdalsjökul to the south and the glacier Torfajökul to the north. We hike on the black sand of Mælifellsand on our way to the mountain hut in Hvanngil. Our trail ends in Hvanngils. Hvanngil is on the middle of the well-known trekking trail Laugavegur. From Hvanngil we will travel with our 4×4 highland bus to Hólaskjól Highland Center where our tour ends. We will enjo different the landsscap as we travel back on the black Mælisfellssand with the black sand around us green hills in the background and good wiwve on the maignificend glacier Mýrdalsjökull where the volcano Katla is resting.
We end in Hólaskjól where some of the hikers might have left there cars. Other are hvernig á ég að koma fólki til baka??
Actice hiking time is 7 hours
Hiking distance is 18 km
