Hike in Thakgil

The weather was awesome… the sky was blue and no clouds were on the horizon. We therefore decided to spend time to explore the area around Þakgil, as there were many hiking trails around the campsite. We chose the yellow path: a 17 km long trail with elevation gain/loss of 600 m, for the duration of 6 hours.

We started climbing the majestic green valley at around 09:00… on top of the ridge, the landscapes completely changed and became rockier. The wind suddenly became stronger and colder, a clear sign that we were approaching the ice sheet covering the Katla Volcano.

Suddenly, the glacier appeared in front of us… we were speachless… it was huge and the contrast between the white of the ice and the black of the lava was out of this world!

We witnessed something incredibly amazing along the ridge, as we noticed tiny water droplets elegantly flying in front of us. Apparently, below the ridge, there was a waterfall that we couldn’t see and the wind was blowing the drops upwards in random directions… gravity seemed non-existent. The tiny droplets were reflecting the light of the sun and seemed like magical colorful glitters, like Spice on Arrakis (from the book “Dune”). We felt so lucky to have noticed it!

At the northern edge of the yellow path, we decided to keep walking off-trail to get as close as possible to the glacier.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see a glacier edge so close, with a huge waterfall flowing out of it, and blocks of ice detaching and falling down for meters, making a very loud noise.

As we returned to the campsite of Þakgil, a long roadtrip was awaiting us, as we were going to drive until the Vestrahorn Camping.

Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon

We took some short breaks on the way. We quickly checked out the Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon… a magical place, which seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale.

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

We then also visited the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon… it was very cool to see the floating icebergs on their journey towards the open sea.

Skeiðarárjökull

We also stopped for taking pictures on the road, and admired the glacier of Skeiðarárjökull. This glacier was so huge… it really seemed never-ending, as we were driving next to it for hours and hours!

Drive to Vestrahorn

When we finally arrived to our destination, the campsite at Vestrahorn was packed, but we were lucky enough to find a spot, squeezed between other tents. I was KO, so tired from the day we just spent, but happy to be with my love and to live such a special adventure with him :)