Hiking the Laugavegur - Day 4
It was still raining when we woke up. We therefore had to pack in a light drizzle. When we were ready to leave for yet another day on the Laugavegur, we saw many people wearing full rain gear. However, because we already felt rather warm and didn't believe it would continue raining for very long, we took the risk to leave without putting our rain gear on. And that was a wise decision: we had not even left de campsite when the rain stopped. Nonetheless, there was almost no visibility. Where we had a clear view on the Mýrdalsjökull glacier the day before, we couldn't see anything today. However, according to an information sign, it should be somewhere right in front of us, with under the icecap one of the most active volcano's of Iceland: the Katla. It erupts every fifty to one-hundred years. And when it erupts, the large icecap is especially a danger for hikers: it is estimated that a volcanic eruption can melt the icecap within an hour, causing massive flash floods. When an eruption is imminent, hut wardens will fire flash bangs, that should warn hikers to go to higher grounds as soon as possible. Hmm... we were not sure if we were happy reading this information at the start of yet another day hiking.
However, we continued our way. After just a few kilometers, we reached the Emstrur bridge. To get to the bridge, we first had to descend via some fixed cables. The bridge itself isn't very spectacular, as long as you are not afraid of heights, because you constantly see the wild glacial river meters below you.
Once we made it across, we followed the path with views at the Markarfljót canyon. A canyon that was created many centuries ago by a massive flash flood. Hmm...
Around lunch time, the sun appeared for a while. Not for long though. When we are nearing Porsmork, it started to rain again. This time, we even had to put on our rain gear. It is often said that everybody will experience one day of rain when hiking the Laugavegur, luckily we have only had very light rain so far. Just before Porsmork, there was one more river to cross. Not a very deep one, but a rather wide river with various streams. Not diffifult to cross, but still cold.
After changing our shoes again, there was one more hill to be climbed before reaching Langidalur. We had to pitch our tent in pouring rain, and for most of the day we stayed in our tent because of the rain. What an end to this awesome hike. But we made it: we hiked the Laugavegur!
