Iceland | FindPenguins

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Trip start
August 16, 2018
Iceland Traveler
Let's go!
August 16, 2018 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Bagpacks are packed, food for ~14 Days and gear for each weather condition! we are starting with 13-16kg each backpack
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Iceland Traveler
Reykjavik
August 16, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Orientation time: Where is our campsite?
We booked 1 night at the famous campsite from where every hiker starts in iceland. the vibe is very international, we love it.
Little downside: We have a spot besides 2 spanish dudes which are partying the whole night, our bus departs at 5:00 tomorrow morning :(Read more
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Iceland Traveler
Landmannalaugar, Island
August 17, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Drive to Landmannalaugar was aleady exciting. Drove through rivers with the bus - we are looking forward for the landscape and the hike!
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Iceland Traveler
Hrafntinnusker
August 17, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 4 °C
The first hiking day was exhausting. the whole landscape of landmanalauger is stunning. We are facing a snail race with a japanese family on the same trail as us. We try to pass by but its a back and forth :D

At the highest altitutde we are facing snowfields and a snowstorm. hello iceland!
Arriving at the hut we need to find a spot for our tent. it costs quite a fortune for a rock-circle at mordor. Its a unreal landscape. Black rocks, snowfields and steaming dwells of sulfur. Thats for sure mordor.

We are happy and cold, cooking some food and starting to fall asleep.Read more
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Iceland Traveler
Alftavatn Hut
August 18, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ 🌙 11 °C
Getting up is hard. everything starts to hurt already and its freezing cold outside!

The hike to alftavatn is amazing. Lots of ups and downs and this crazy landscape all the time. It is so different to norway where we couldnt place on foot in front of the other. The hiking paths are really easy and nice to walk. sometimes there is an exhausting snowfield or a bigger steep to pass but overall great!

The last part is for sure exhausting, just a steep way down into the vally on very loose rocky ground.

Arriving at alftavatn is gorgeous! a campside in front of a huge lake and at the horizon a pointy mountain. what a view!Read more
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Iceland Traveler
Hvanngil Hut
August 19, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Starting from alftavatn to the point where we want to leave the main hike.
A group of elderly hikers is in front of us and we try to pass them to walk our own pace and enjoy the nature on our own.

We are walking through a dreamy landcape of woolgrass and little streams. Beautiful it is!

At the point where we left the main path its getting lonley! We are comletely on our own, no one in sight. After we crossed the first ridge we enter a huge swampland. Our neoprene socks where bought for this occasion to prevent wet shoes and prevent getting in touch with the cold water barefeet.

The main problem is: There are streams each 5-10meter. We tried to not put on the socks all the time but the water is so cold it hurts too much. So we decided to walk in the neoprene socks till the swamp is passed.

That results in some pain in my feet :(

Shortly after we passed the swamps we enter a desert out of black sand, at the horizon the huge glacier is visible. what a unreal scene.

We decide to stop quite soon and put up the tent because rain will start soonRead more
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Iceland Traveler
Camp1
August 19, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Our camp is build on soft moss and we cook some food. the night is ok but we figured that we build the tent on a whole so it felt like sleeping in a chair.
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Iceland Traveler
Strutur Hut
August 20, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
Strutur hut is not a planed destination. We hike by GPS so we dont really know the exact path. We are again passing the black desert and at some point we meet one person! a quick „heyhey“ and we are alone again.
We discover a small hut which looks really nice, and we try to reach it. turns out its the strutur hut.
We enter the hut and enjoy the warmth and some coffee you can make yourself if you leave some money. After some days rain, cold and exhausting hikes it feels like a little oasis.
We meet a ranger at the hut who care for tourists and he says the hut will be fully booked today, so we can‘t stay. But he recommends to hike a few more kilometers to a hot dwell where we could also camp.Read more
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Iceland Traveler
Camp2 - Hot tubs
August 20, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 7 °C
After we did the more kilometers than expected hike to the hot dwells we were relieved. we are alone, completely. There are two pools with hot water besides a huge glacier water filled river. the first pool is round about 40 degrees, the second round about 30.
We decide to stay here to reacharge a little. We spend hours in the pools like these little snow monkeys and just stare into the never ending lanscape with cold water, black mountains and green gras. its again surreal that we are here and taking a bath.Read more
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Iceland Traveler
Álftavötn hut
August 22, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
Leaving the hot dwells was hard. it was like a little save space from the unforgiving nature with all the rain and wind.

We start our hike, and the GPS tells us we need to go up the mountains again.
A long day some rain awaited us. the exhaustion sometimes let you forget what insane nature you are hiking through!

We arrive at a huge river which we somehow need to cross and at the same time it starts to rain again. So we are in our underwear hiking through a freaking cold river with water up to the hip. it hurts. yep thats our vacation :D

eventually we arrived at the hut where we like to put up the tent and figure out we wouldnt have to cross the river. funnily there is a party at the hut from some iceland teens which drove up here with the giant jeeps.Read more
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Iceland Traveler
Hólaskjól - Decision Day
August 23, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Leaving a hut is always hard, because you know you will be on your own against all odds of iceland again. the start of the hike is already interesting because after a few kilometers we need to cross a very heavy river with a waterfall at the end. the existement of not falling is real. so again getting off trousers and shoes and use the hiking sticks as walking helps to avoid falling. we are in the water of the heavy stream up to the hip. it burns and hurts. but we cant move faster to avoid falling. after we did the crossing we have to laugh. maybe it was the thrill maybe the ridiculous situation of standing half naked in the middle of no-where at 15°C and calling it vacation.

The next kilometers are challenging us. not from a strenght perspective but from a psycological one.
We are in the highlands, we are hiking on old jeep tracks. the surrounding is green, everywhere. After we reached the horizon walking on jeep tracks we see again jeep tracks till the horizon. this repeats a few times. our brains are borded, we cant pause because it starts raining. we just walk, and walk, and walk.

since a few days i need to take painkillers against some heavy foot pain. maybe coming from walking for a lot of kilometers in neoprene socks, thats not helpful for sure.

We arrive at the highlands expedition camp, we ask for a room so we can recover 1 day. unfortunatly all rooms are booked. After we told the lady that we plan to hike further into the highlands she gives us a warning of really bad weather and storms with live danger in the coming days.

we are torn:
we came so far, we planed a lot, we managed to work around challenges. but now the body and the weather fights against us. this place is the last point where we could take a bus to our starting point. if we cross this point we are the next 8 days in the wild without an exit point.

We decide to set up the tent and see whats happening tomorrow regards our bodies and the uprising storm.Read more
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Iceland Traveler
Landmannalaugar - Happy faces
August 24, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
We decided to turn around and take the bus. Sometimes its not worth to pull through. especially if you are hiking in the highlands and are facing dangerous weather.
it feels good. the bus is warm, the rain and the wind is beating the bus. we are safe and we enjoy the ride.

Arriving at landmannalaugar we discover the camp supermarket. its an old schoolbus where you can buy everything for your hike. you even get warm chocolate and soup. thats perfect for us. there is a second bus to sit and eat. the bus is full of people, everybody is talking and eating. everyone is just at the beginning of his hike and they are excited and talk about what they want to see. we are just happy, we are done. we survived iceland.

we exchange a little with the people and give some tips. it must be a funny contrast to see these two roughed up people in the middle of these motivated fresh people 😂Read more
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Iceland Traveler
Reykjavik - Simple things
August 24, 2018 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
we are back in reykjavik earlier than planed. we take a hotel room for one day. its expensive and simple, but we need at bed and a shower - thats the luxury we need right now.

next days we go back to the campsite where we started at. we discover the city, some traditional food some local cafes and enjoy the internation vibe at the campsite.Read more
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Trip end
August 30, 2018