The Voice of Travel, Adventure and Arizona Mountain Biking
Landmannalaugar isn’t so much a place. It’s more of a rip in the space-time continuum.
Consider its summer: It’s hard to tell 3 a.m. from 3 p.m. It can wrap you in the warmth of geothermal vents, chill you with wind, hose you down with rain – all in the span of 30 minutes. You can hike for hours without seeing a solitary living creature. It can even dispatch a lethal blizzard – yes, even in June.
Night doesn’t fall. The often-overcast skies will keep you in a permanent state of twilight. The terrain and scenery changes drastically from mile to mile. The colors of the rhyolite mountains will make you want to get your eyes checked.
In June of 2010, I arrived at Landmannalaugar with my wife. We read about it in guidebooks and blogs. Nothing even remotely prepared us for this place. Oh, we had the equipment we needed. But the scenery! You can look at these photos all you want, and you will still not believe your eyes when you get off the bus from Reykjavik.
There just is no other place like this.
Here’s what to expect on this amazing, one-of-a-kind, 12-kilometer trip from Landmannalauger to the Hrafntinnusker camp site.
If you’ve been thinking about visiting a national park, I’ve got a tip for you: Do it during National Park Week April 17-25. The U.S. government is waiving fees at more than $100 national parks. At Grand Canyon National Park, that’ll save you the $25 per car entrance fee. At Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico (which always rocks my socks off), you can keep $6 per person (who’s 15 or older) in your pocket. At Lassen Volcanic Park in California, that’ll put $10 per car back in your pocket. (NOTE: Not all national parks charge entrance fees)
Lassen, by the way, sounds like a real sleeper of a national park. I mean, 150 miles of hiking trails, ACTIVE goethermal areas, lava domes and cinder cones? Sounds like a bit of New Zealand plunked down right in the States. I really need to get there.
I know our federal government can give us a few things to complain about. But let me tell you, the national parks are not one of them. There are national parks for just about everybody – all abilities and interests. Find yours at the U.S. National Parks Web site!
Dont want to go to the cinema? Watch Movies.
