Fimmvörðuháls
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 14.59 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,885 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 3,150 ft
- Max elevation
- 3,410 ft
- TrailRank
-
33
5
- Min elevation
- 112 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- 10 hours 30 minutes
- Coordinates
- 991
- Uploaded
- January 14, 2008
- Recorded
- June 2007
near Eyvindarhólar, Rangarvallasysla (Ísland)
Viewed 17405 times, downloaded 978 times
Itinerary description
Fimmvörðuháls ("5 Cairn Pass") is one of the most popular hiking routes in Iceland. There's a long-standing tradition to do this hike overnight at summer solstice - I've participated since 1996. In addition I've led a number of groups across the pass, both with and without overnight stops at the top, where Útivist operates an excellent lodge.
Having done this hike so often I've got more pictures than you can shake a stick at - the ones pointed to by the title were taken in 2006, there's a bunch from last June (2007) at http://leifur.smugmug.com/gallery/3072242
Having done this hike so often I've got more pictures than you can shake a stick at - the ones pointed to by the title were taken in 2006, there's a bunch from last June (2007) at http://leifur.smugmug.com/gallery/3072242
Waypoints
Waypoint
0 ft
Baldvinsskáli
Waypoint
0 ft
Bridge
Waypoint
810 ft
Campsite
23-JUN-07 8:08:15 - 23-JUN-07 8:08:15
Waypoint
0 ft
Fimmvörðuskáli
Comments (4)
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Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Moderate
Wonderful scenery! Great route.
Amazing hiking! I did half of it last year...we had to go back due to bad weather conditions...and we're expecting to do it again next July...wonderful lovely country Iceland!
You seem very familiar with this area, so I hope you don't mind if I ask you a question about a variation on this hike.
I'm planning on doing it backwards with my wife, as a quasi continuation of Laugavegur, and I figured after 3 days of hiking and a moderately sized bag, we might need to rest for a night at the halfway hut.
Nevertheless it seems to generally be an 8-10 hour hike depending on the weather, so to keep busy I thought we'd sleep at langidalur, then walk to stakkholtsgjá to start the day and then go up Hvannárgil instead of the regular path because I heard it was prettier, albeit more technical. My question was, some maps show that it's possible to start the Hvannárgil path by river Hvanná itself, while others show that you have to walk past Vestrihattur to the north and cut back southeast once you reach Básar.
Do you know if there is a path coming from the east? I think I can see a track at 63° 40.352'N, 19° 29.974'W on https://en.ja.is/kort, but I know how fragile the ground can be in iceland and I can't tell if it's a "real" path or a path a few people took that just caused some slowly healing damage.
Secondarily I was curious if Hvannárgil adds time, or is actually shorter if you're comfortable on cliff-side terrain.
Thanks!
Sorry I didn't spot your post earlier - I guess you may already be in Iceland. I would actually not recommend adding Stakkholtsgjá to the day when you intend to hike up to the hut - I would instead keep open the possiblity of continuing to Skogar and, if you don't want to do that, perhaps dawdle at the crates formed in the 2010 eruption - they are right on the track.
As fot the route - I have done Votupallar, the trail from the Hut at Basar and then cutting right of the mountain Útigönguhöfði. I found it a bit airy - but propably mostly because the weather was absolutely horrible, very windy and gusty as well as wet.. I know of people hiking up the course of thge river but it is a typical braided glacier stream, I am sure you end up wading in ice cold water quite a few times.
I recommend adding the stretch to Basar to the last day of the Laugavegur hike and start off from there.