I’d arrived at Landmannalaugar the night before and after setting up my tent spent the rest of the evening stumbling around in complete awe of the place. Golden light fell into the valley as the sun was setting beyond the ridgeline of distant mountains, casting everything in brilliant yellows, oranges and then reds.

The beauty of Landmannalaugur is well known and the campsite I was at was very full. Most of the day’s traffic would be along the path known as the Laugavegur, a very popular 50km hike south to Þórsmörk. I would head that way eventually as well but Landmannalaugur had made such an impression the night I arrived, that I didn’t want to leave just yet.

I was up early so that I could have the hills as much to myself as possible and set out just after sunrise at around 5am. I found a path leading up into the old lava field that formed the boundary to the northern side of the wide valley the campsite was in and followed it for a few kilometers…

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