Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Mount Rinjani (Indonesian: Gunung Rinjani, Sasak: Gunong Rinjani) is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok.
It rises to 3,726 metres (12,224 ft).
Adjacent to the volcano is a 6-by-8.5-kilometre (3.7 by 5.3 mi) caldera, which is filled partially by the crater lake known as Segara Anak or Anak Laut (Child of the Sea), due to the color of its water.
I’m very keen to climb it myself, perhaps with India Hikes.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
My latest experiment in video editing is software called Audio Sound Design.
Not inexpensive, but I did get 50% off a perpetual license during Black Friday.
Audio Design Desk comes with 70,000+ royalty free sounds, loops and music cues.
Adding them to your video is a breeze. All audio in this short edit of stock video was added with the software.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’m happy my edit shows the MAGIC and CHALLENGES of Iceland’s best volcanic hike in just 4 minutes.
I did it twice in September.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
A few hours after I posted that video, one of my favourite hiking vloggers — Harmen Hoek — posted his own.
He was there a few weeks before me. In August.
Harmen hiked in the opposite direction. And added the spectacular Fimmvörðuháls hike.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Shortly after packing up the tent Sept. 16th, the rain began. 💧
I put away the camera and took not one photo nor video for the entire day.
It was head down. One foot after the other for about 34 tough kms.
I was only able to get shelter from constant rain and high winds for late lunch at Emstrur / Botnar. It was still open as the American guided group was there that night — and provided a cook tent.
Hiking Laugevagur leaves you almost entirely unprotected from the elements. There is no place to hide.
I’d seen the monument to Ido Keinan who died, lost 1 kilometre away from the hut in Hrafntinnusker. Exposure during a late June storm.
I used the free Maps.me app offline to confirm I was on the trail. This works in the dark or the middle of dense cloud.
… After about 11 hours with very few breaks, I made it to Langidalur hut in Þórsmörk.
In fact, I HAD to keep walking all day to stay warm!
I marched past, trying to cross the river to Basar campsite, closest to the start of next day’s Fimmvörðuháls hike. I’d heard the hut had been closed most of the summer, but that the campground was open.
The wardens were having dinner. Called me over. And explained that they’d taken out the bridges due to the continuous rain. The river was impassable.
I had a choice to be a wet rat in a wet tent for the night. Or check in to the hut at a cost of about $90.
Another fun guided group convinced me to join them inside. Gave me $5 hot shower tokens. And offered me dinner and wine. It was perhaps the best $90 I ever spent.
I was still hopeful the rain would break and I’d somehow be able to cross the river. And continue to the coast.
BUT the wardens and tour group offered me a chance to get a lift with them back to Reykjavik. I couldn’t say no.
Morning did arrive with better weather.
We did some day hiking.
Þórsmörk (Thorsmork – the Valley of Thor) is an area where trees are protected. And there are some surprisingly large trees.
Our bus did get stuck crossing the river for rendezvous. But the wardens have a tractor for flattening the river bed and even towing the bus, if needed.
The driver did not look worried. This is situation normal for him.
I enjoyed the ride back to Reykjavik with the tour group. Weather mixed, but improving.
Overall I was thrilled with the hike. Happy to have done the YOYO. Happy to have had only one day of bad weather in September.
This was a win.
Check our Laugevagur Trail information page for how to organize this adventure for yourself.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Wow. Weather continues to be fantastic for September.
My PLAN was to leave the tent behind. Hike to the hot springs at Landmannalaugar and YOYO back before dark.
For me it was 5 hours to Landmannalaugar. 1 hour lunch and hot springs. 6 hours back.
Around 40 tough kms.
I left in the dark.
It did turn out to be one of the greatest days hiking of my life.
I’ll let the photos explain. 😀
I had 9 hours with vistas like this.
It’s a gorgeous area of the world. Part snow and ice. Part volcanic landscape.
There is real risk of stepping into boiling mud accidentally.
All sorts of weird snow caves and tunnels.
Of the plants here, I liked cottongrass best.
It’s in this high section in a snow storm where people might most easily lose the trail. Therefore it’s better marked with cairns and posts than anywhere else on the trail.
I had lunch at Hrafntinnusker. Met a fun American guided group who I would bump into several more times over the next 2 days.
As you approach the end, there’s more and more volcanic activity.
Landmannalaugar came into sight. My half way point for the day.
In August, the hot springs at Landmannalaugar are typically crowded.
But in mid-September there were only a few people enjoying a huge pool.
It’s hot. You can easily get scalded so positioning yourself carefully is critical. This was my best spot.
I had lunch. Then started back the way I had come. STILL confident I could get to my tent before dark. 😀
The return trip was equally good. But different in that you are facing the opposite direction with much different light.
Happily, no rain the rest of the day.
There’s the lake. One more descent and I’ll make it.
Unfortunately, It WAS dark before I got home. Days are already getting short in Iceland in September.
Even with a good headlamp it was easy to lose the trail. I had to rely on the GPS via Maps.me in order not to get lost.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
A lovely, quiet evening at Botnar.
More gorgeous weather. I was feeling very lucky for mid-September.
Quite early in the day I stopped to shoot a lot of drone footage near this scenic, stark peak.
There were some bridges.
And we waded some rivers. All quite easy late in the season with no recent rain.
I had lunch at Hvanngil camp. Still open.
Continued on to Álftavatn camp which was closed for the season.
Often open until Sept. 17th, it depends somewhat on how many hikers book in advance.
I spoke with wardens at another camp who didn’t yet know what would be their last day.
The sit-down toilets were locked up for the winter, as well. But each camp seems to have one long drop toilet open year round.
Weather still good, I did some day hiking until dark.
Getting up and away from the main trail is easy and fun.
I couldn’t decide which of these next 2 photos to include. 😀
There are 3 main huts / camping areas at Þórsmörk:
The bus delivered us to Volcano hut.
We did NOT get stuck in the rivers.
Volcano hut offers these luxurious rental tents. Glamping. 😀
I dropped my pack and — as the weather was good — hiked up the closest viewpoint with most everyone who had arrived with me.
Wow. This is the Iceland I remember.
I planned to cross this river on foot when I returned.
We took a different trail down to Langidalur camp. Then hiked around the mountain back to Volcano.
It was only 13.5km to the first official campsite Emstrur / Botnar so I was in no rush.
I took a lot of photos. Shot plenty of video.
The most dangerous part of hiking Laugevagur are the river crossings. Plan carefully what footwear you want for wading slippery stones in (potentially) a thigh high. strong current.
I hiked in approach shoes. Used trail runners with neoprene booties for the river crossings and around camp.
Once in a while you have the luxury of a bridge.
Most available bridges are across gorges too steep to wade.
The trail is fairly well signed.
IF you have good visibility, it’s not easy to wander off trail.
Weather changes frequently. Sometimes drastically.
I love the bleak, treeless landscapes when the sun is low.
I’d camped at Emstrur Botnar 5 years earlier and liked the tent sites, somewhat protected from the wind.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Fantastic. But challenging. You need to be organized.
Do your research well in advance.
Click PLAY or watch my hike on YouTube. (4min)
After this page, check out TMB Complete Guide to the Laugavegur Trail.
I was probably making a mistake going so late in the season. Laugevagur could shut down any time after Sept. 11th due to weather.
All agree that Laugavegur is the best hike in Iceland. It’s fairly close to Reykjavik. There are a number of transportation options to get to the trailheads.
For me as a tourist, Iceland has been by far the most expensive nation. And I’ve been to over 90 nations.
You probably don’t need any Icelandic currency as they accept credit card almost everywhere. The notable exception is local buses that only take cash or payment by their own app.
Knowing that food is expensive and limited in variety, I brought quite a bit of camping grub with me on the plane.
I bought the rest in Reykjavik. And bought a small canister of very expenisve fuel.
Of course there are hundreds of partial containers at the trailheads, but I didn’t want to risk not having fuel.
Deciding on this adventure last minute, I was excited to do it late in the season when there would be fewer hikers. Of course, bad weather is a greater risk.
What I didn’t realize until arrival is that bus service to the trailheads started shutting down Sept. 11, 2023.
Last bus to Landmannalaugar was Sept. 11, 2023.
Buses to Þórsmörk (Thórsmörk) ended Sept. 15, 2023.
There are 3 main bus companies:
I decided to take the Reykjavik Excursions bus to Þórsmörk on Sept 13.
I’d YOYO the Laugavegur — hiking it both ways back to my starting point. Then continue over the Fimmvörðuháls pass to Skógar on the coastal highway. From there it would be easy to find transportation back to Reykjavík.
I’d done Landmannalaugar to Skógar, August 2018, so knew what I was facing.
I did carry a paper map as back-up, but mostly used the free Maps.me app offline whenever I wanted to check that I was on track. It’s excellent for Laugevagur and most major hikes worldwide.
The one time I really needed Maps.me was coming in to camp in the dark with headlamp. It’s very easy to get confused when you can’t see the next post in the distance.
There’s no access to power on the trail. In order to keep your devices working, bring enough power bank batteries. I brought two 20000mah batteries on my hike.
Be sure to carefully store your electronics in waterproof ways. It’s difficult to keep the rain out.
Harmen Hoek is one of my favourite hiking videographers.
In July 2023 he spent 5 days hiking over 110km on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. At the time the most volcanically active area of Iceland.
Litli-Hrutur crater eruption started on July 10, 2023 around 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Iceland’s capital Reykjavik.
I’m headed to Iceland in September — but this particular eruption has been declared OVER.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (22min)
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