Backpack Hut to Hut Between Icefields, Peaks and Fjords in Remote Eastern Iceland

Photo journey for the Viknaslodir:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/weLaudX8GEidmmSx9 

GaiaGPS folder containing the actual tracks we followed on the Viknaslodir (there are many trail options and we also went off-trail quite a bit).  (Credit to Andy Cahn for the tracks)

The group gathered on August 29 in Egilsstadir in the lounge at the excellent, economical Tehusid Hostel, where we enjoyed dinner and snacks.  This location is central, economical and highly recommended (as long as you're willing to sleep in 4-person bunk rooms), and there is a campground with washers and driers right next door.    The next day we took a day trip to the Studlafoss waterfall and Studlagil basalt cliffs (use the trailhead on the east side of the river marked for the waterfall.   The walk to the cliffs is about 3 miles round trip with the waterfall along the way.  A parking fee is required.) and then used the afternoon to shop for groceries at the handy Netto grocery store just around the corner from the hostel.

Then on the morning of the 31st we were picked up in a hired van and drove over a high plateau and down to Seydisfjordur (at the end of a lovely fjord) and a couple of miles along the north side of the fjord to a trailhead heading uphill from the road.  Each night we climbed up and over one or more ridges and down to another fjord to a hut (night 1 was the Loðmundarfjörður hut, night 2 the Húsavík hut, and night 3 the Breiðavík hut.  More on our outfitter and booking info for these huts later...)    These routes were unforested with thick moss and grass, allowing easy off-trail travel though sometimes the grass hid somewhat treacherous holes.   In a few places we had very steep descents, though it was mostly on soft squishy moss that made the descent fairly easy.  The wind was VERY strong, sometimes sending us skittering sideways  or laboring hard with a headwind.  The first two huts were well up from the beach (extended walk to get to the beach) while the third was near the beach.  We chose a route on the fourth day that gave us more high views but also ended with an hour long road walk along the fjord to our hotel, Blabjorg resort, in the little town of Bakkagerdi (a nice place right on the fjord with private rooms, a spa and lovely but expensive - 32-euro - hot tubs overlooking the water).  We had arranged for our bags to be transported from Egilsstadir to Blabjorg to meet us, though this was expensive (50,000 ISK).  There was one river crossing requiring water shoes.

These huts slept 30-plus people and on the first and third nights they were full, one time with a group of volunteers who were helping the locals bring their sheep down from the highlands, and another time with a group of people from Germany doing the trek in the opposite direction.  Most of the beds were upstairs, usually in a couple of rooms, and the downstairs was a kitchen and common area.  The kitchens were pretty spacious with a 4 burner stove, cold running water and counter space for meal prep plus pots, pans, plates, mugs and utensils, and there were tables and benches to seat approximately 3 people in close quarters.  In the sleeping areas there were thick comfortable mattresses - we didn't need to use our sleeping pads.  No bedding was provided.   There were showers and toilets in a separate building, nice flush toilets and sinks with cold running water.  Mostly the showers were 500 ISK and we paid the hut warden to use them.  We hoped to see the northern lights but mosty there was too much cloud cover - on one night we had an opening but there was only a modest colorful glow.

These huts are run by Ferðafélag Íslands (FI), The Iceland Touring Association, and they can be booked from the website https://www.fi.is/en/mountain-huts/all-mountain-huts.

Photo journey for the Lonsoraefi:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/eUbdj48gV1hqyVkGA

GaiaGPS folder containing the actual tracks we followed on the  Lonsoraefi (there is a fairly direct trail but we went off-trail quite a bit in order to get close-up views of the glacier and of the huge canyon that paralleled the main trail - highly recommended!).  (Credit to Andy Cahn for the tracks)

This segment started with an hour's drive on good roads to the excellent Laugarfell hostel, where we had two-person rooms with bath and hot shower down the hall, great home-cooked meals (cost extra) and two outdoor hot pools.  The driver carried our town bags too.   The afternoon of our arrival a subset of us did the waterfall loop trail which started and ended right at Laugarfell and followed two rivers with several amazing waterfalls (see these photos in the photo album).  Highly worthwhile!

The next morning (Sept 5) we were met at Laugarfell by our van from the previous day and transported another 45 minutes on somewhat more rough roads to the trailhead marked 'Geldingafell'.  This first day was mostly barren rocky volcanic highland with dramatic views of Mt Snaefell, the third-highest peak in Iceland.  Another extremely windy day with a headwind for most of the day.  Toward the end of the day the terrain got more dramatic, fording a river and climbing to a high point where the Geldingafell hut was located with views of Snaefell  and an outflow glacier of Vatnajokull which is the huge icefield that we would be traversing for the rest of this route.  The next day Sept 6) was very dramatic terrain close to the glacier (off trail on this day to allow us closer views of the glacier) - we ended this day next to a beautiful lake at Egilssel hut.   Sept 7 started with low clouds as we retraced some of our steps back west and then south along an amazing deep gorge with dramatic rock formations along the side and another outlet glacier in the distance - highly recommended!  This day ended with a VERY steep descent to the riverbank (dirt and rolling rocks with a fixed rope to aid the descent) and then a traverse right along the river on a steep sliding slope with very sketchy eroding footing.  Those who aren't comfortable with exposure won't like this section!  But the last hut for the night of Sept 7, Mulaskali, was delightful, right along the river with hot showers in an adjacent building.  Finally on Sept 8 we continued south through continuing dramatic scenery to a high point with stunning views south along a 20-mile-long estuary to the ocean,  From there we headed a bit west to meet two "monster trucks" which transported us right through the estuary (two deep swift water crossings in the trucks - don't try this without this kind of vehicle and experience!) and on to our hotel in Hofn.  (There is a more direct route to the road end at Eskifell farm but this skipped some dramatic terrain.)  We stayed at Hotel Jokull which was very comfortable and convenient.

The Geldingafell and Egilssel huts can also be booked through the FI link above.    The Mulaskali hut is more popular (not far from an accessible road) and can be booked from https://nat.is/mulaskali/

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Our outfitter for arranging this trip was Bertrand Jouanne from Ferdakompaniid Ehf., "The Icelandic Travel Company".  Note that this company specializes in pretty bare-bones backpacking trips in Iceland, and they didn't handle food or luggage transfers so I had to arrange these outside of our main contract, and luggage transport was VERY challenging to arrange in east Iceland!  Be sure to be very explicit in your initial contacts with them about what arrangements you want.  It worked fine and saved a lot of money for us to purchase our own trail food at the grocery store rather than having the outfitter provide our trail food.  Icelandic Mountain Guides (who run the popular heavily-supported Laugavegur trek in the central highlands) offers the Viknaslodir and Lonsoraefi treks on their website but then generally don't actually run them because no one signs up for their group treks there.