Iceland Mountaineering Trip
Our guides at Climb Higher ground just finished a spectacular trip to Iceland for some moderate mountaineering objectives from June 6 - June 18. In total, we were 4 people and we rented an awesome campervan from GO Campers. We spent a ton of time in the hot springs as well, in addition to visiting some famous waterfalls and beaches. Iceland is an awesome place to combine sightseeing and climbing… Especially if you like alpine environments and long days!
Van life!
We were blessed with beautiful weather and conditions. Here are a few of the mountains we managed to climb with some pictures:
Esja: A nice day mountain near Reykjavik. Seemed quite popular. After we got our campervan, we went straight to the trailhead and completed this hike. We went straight to Reykjadalur hot river after this and had the whole place to ourselves, because it was 'night'.
Eyjafjallajökull: Famous Volcano/smaller ice cap on the south coast. This is a straightforward glacier and climb. There are one or two moderately steep and short sections. We stepped into one crevasse, but otherwise there was good snow coverage. Beautiful mountain and there is a nice hot pool close by (Seljalandsfoss)
Approaching the glacier.
Heading up the glacier. Nice views towards the coast with some cloud coverage.
Nearing the summit, this is one of the only steep sections on this mountain. It’s a brief step of 45degrees.
Hatta: A grassy peak that overlooks the town of Vik. It's a nice hike and was a great rest day activity after a few long days.
Kristinartindar: One of my favorite hikes or trail runs of the trip. We did a very fun 11 mile loop. You are running above a large glacier to a rocky ridgeline. The scrambling was loose 3rd class with some scree as well. Nothing crazy, but VERY scenic.
An amazing trail running loop overlooking the glacier.
Cool looking volcanic ridgeline.
Looking towards the highlands at our highpoint of Kristinartindar.
Classic iceland views on our trail run.
Hvannadalshnúkur: Iceland Highpoint. This was a long and straightforward glacier climb. We had bluebird weather and no wind....Magical! The final summit is steep snow, but probably only 40degrees at maximum. We saw a few crevasses, but snow coverage was good. We broke trail the entire way after passing one party at the start of the glacier.
On the icecap just below the final summit bump. It’s a short climb of moderate angle snow from here.
Klifatindur: 4th class scramble on the Southeast coast. This is the highest peak in the Vestrahorn region. Admittidely, this peak was a bit involved. It required ascending a 300' patch of very steep and thin snow to the ridgeline. Luckily we carried our aluminum crampons after viewing the snowpatch from the car. It is just scree in late June. From the ridgeline, it was a loose 4th class scramble to the summit. Amazing views.
Heading up the ridgeline on steep snow.
Cool ridgeline lookng towards the south coast.
Kaldbakur: An easy trail run to a scenic summit on the North coast. There is a great waterfall hot spring near this mountain.
Above the fjords.
Summit of Kaldbakur with a nice looking fjord below.
Kirkjufell: Not sure if this mountain needs much of an introduction... It is just a hike/moss scramble with old ropes to the summit. We climbed at 11PM after a marathon drive from the North Coast because we saw a great weather window. We stayed on the windless summit for 2 hours watching the sunset. One of the best sunsets of our lives.
The iconic Kirkjufell!
Climbing up the cliffs. There are a few old fixed lines on the scramble route.
Snæfellsjökull: An interesting and famous volcano on the Snæfellsnes penninsula. This was mostly an easy glacier walk with a steep summit climb. There was a snowcat shuttling tourists up the glacier, which was weird. We met another friendly guide and guided party who shared some whiskey with us below the summit block.
Heading up the glacier with the main summit popping out the clouds on the left.
Heading to the summit.
Final summit climb. It was steep here.
Grimannfell: Easy peak near Reykjavik to stretch our legs from driving.
Bláfell: A prominent mountain off the 35 gravel road. We didn't have too much information on this mountain, but it was an easy approach and hike from the west side at a nice pull-out. Very enjoyable and mellow peak with good views.
Asgardsfjall: A really easy hike near Kerlingarfjall. It offers great views of the area. It's only 2 miles in length, but we were tired and wanted to do something easy. There is a great natural hot spring near the resort that goes through a beautiful valley and then a nice canyon.
Syðstasúla: An awesome class 3-4 scramble near the Geysir Geothermal area on the Golden Circle. Did not seem like a popular mountain, despite it's proximity to the golden circle.
Akrafjall: Our favorite trail run/day hike near Reykjavik. Easy access, a great trail and beautiful views.
