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| LEAVING HUSADALUR FOR LANDMANNALAUGER |
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| CROSSING THE THRONGA RIVER |
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| CHAINS DOWN TO BRIDGE OVER EMSTRUR RIVER |
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| CAMPING AT EMSTRUR REFUGE |
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| ASH-COVERED PLAIN |
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| FOOTPRINTS IN THE ASH - MOSTLY GOING THE OTHER WAY |
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| WADING THE BLAFJALLAKVISI RIVER |
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| ALFTAVATN REFUGE |
Sunday's weather looks OK! My feet had recovered from the previous day's bashing so I was looking forward to today's walk along the Laugavegur Trail to Emstrur.
Saying farewell to Volcano Huts I headed north-east away from Thorsmork. After an hour I reached the Thronga river which would be the first of several I would have to wade across. There were people at the crossing point in the process of doing the same, but in the other direction. I removed my boots and socks, put on some plastic sandles I'd brought with me, and proceeded to cross. The glacial water was cold and it actually hurt as it went half way up to my calves. Safely on the other side, I dried my feet, put my boots back on and kept walking.
For some considerable time after that I found myself walking along a flat-ish plain covered in volcanic rock which had the appearance of aero, and fine sand. It was like walking on a black beach, and quite tiring. On my left, the Markarfljot river ran in a deep gorge parallel to the trail.
Eventually the route deviated and I crossed a bridged gorge with the fast-running Emstrur river below. Getting access to the bridge was interesting though, with chains to help me get down to it and ropes to pull me back up on the other side.
Next was a short, steep hill, but from the top I could see the Emstrur refuge. It started to rain lightly, so I walked quickly to the refuge and decided to pitch my tent there. The only facilities for campers were toilets and the supply of water. There was certainly no food, electicity or radio contact. It wasn't even 6.00pm when I arrived but I decided to get to sleep early and make an early start next morning.
It rained during the evening and overnight, and as there wasn't much else to do so I did some blog writing before going to sleep. In all, I spent over 12 hours tentbound.
In the morning I packed my still-wet tent and headed north along a sandy desert-like path lined with emerald green hills. After about an hour I came to an unbridged stream just east of the Hattafell mountain, but was able to cross by hopping from rock to rock.
A further two hours of desert walking followed until I reached the roaring Innri-Emstrura river which, fortunately, was bridged. It was another hour before I reached the Blafjallakvisl river where I did finally have to remove my shoes and socks.
Half an hour later I came to the Havanngil refuge hut. The warden kindly boiled some water for me so I could eat a packet of noodles whilst chatting to a Dutch couple who were also taking a break there.
The last hour of the day's walk involved yet another shoes-off river crossing, this time of the Bratthaskvisl river, before finally arriving at the Alftavatn hut where I would camp for the night.
The hut is named after the Alftavatn lake which it sits beside. The warden told me that the view from the hut across the lake to the snow-covered mountains beyond was one of the most beautiful she knew. I wouldn't have argued with her. It reminded me of the view over Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada.
I wasn't even 3 o'clock yet so, after pitching my tent, I decided to take a walk around the lake. The warden told me this would take an hour, and the sun had just come out so I didn't take anything with me other than my jacket. Oh, how I wished I had taken my waterproof overtrousers, because half way around the sun disappeared and it started to to rain!
The rain was persistent, so I whiled away the rest of the afternoon and evening in my tent blog writing and looking at the map in preparation for the following day. I have been progressing well, so if the weather holds out it should only take one further day to get to Landmannalaugar at the northern end of the trail.
