Andy Cahn
"Why would anyone go hiking in Iceland? If you want to see wind, rain, and basalt, just wait until November and go to central Washington. It's closer and cheaper." I am so glad I rejected this advice. Iceland was an amazing place to hike (as long as you love basalt and don't mind wind and rain).
In August, I joined 11 other Mountaineers for a Global Adventure tour that included two, four-day wilderness treks in eastern Iceland. The first trek, the Viknaslóðir trail, traversed the eastern fjords. Each day we would hike out of one fjord, up and over the mountains, and down into the next fjord. For the second trek, we traversed the Lónsöræfi mountain range along the edge of the huge Vatnajökull ice cap. The Vatnajökull is the largest ice cap in Europe.
Here is a short photo essay tracing our trip, with a brief caption before many of the photographs.
Our trip started when the twelve of us (plus our gregarious guide Arnaud) met up in the town of Egilsstadir.
On the first day, while recovering from jet-lag, we went on a short day hike to a gorgeous columnar basalt flow, featuring the gorgeous Stuðlafoss waterfall and canyon. We immediately felt far removed from Central Washington.
Cheryl, our amazing leader. 
The next day, we started our fjord to fjord trek. Here we are heading upward, out of our first fjord.
And here we are heading down to our second fjord.
The huts that we stayed in were pleasant but spartan. They usually consisted of two rooms - a dining room (with a small kitchen), and a sleeping room covered with mattresses. There was no electricity and no running water. Outhouses were located about 100 feet from the huts and water was drawn from nearby streams.
Our second day was much like the first – up and over a mountain and down into a fjord.
We passed numerous waterfalls and tarns.
At the end of the day, we came across this abandoned church.
And then Arnaud offered us a taste of an Icelandic delicacy: fermented shark meat. Only the bravest amongst us tried it. 
That night, some of us got our first glimpse of the aurora borealis (northern lights). (Most of us would get better views later.)
On our third day, we discovered that not all rocks in Iceland are black basalt. We climbed a mountain of multi-hued rhyolite.
At the pass, acting like tourists, we posed for a stereotypic group photo.
I loved the contrast between the lush, verdant lowlands (with abundant Arctic cotton) and the desolate barren uplands, well illustrated in this photograph.
After a great hike, the group descended down into the fog. 
The day ended with a glowing sunset.
Our shadows accompanied us at the start of the last day.
Another day, another climb into the mountains before descending to the next fjord.
Always stylish, Jo modeled for us her raincoat that matched the early autumn foliage.
We descended to this beach for a quiet lunch. It was the only part of the trail on which we encountered any other hikers.
Then we made one last climb past a waterfall before descending to the final fjord.
Carolyn at the pass.
Finally, we descended to our final fjord, where a hot tub and a nice dinner awaited.
Read about the second half of this Icelandic adventure - including walks lined with waterfalls, relaxing dips in hot springs, and views of icefields - in A Global Adventures Tour of Eastern Iceland, Part 2.
