Jen and Denny’s Icelandic Honeymoon

Day 1 – August 24, 2024 – Detroit MI to Reykjavik

Alexis drove Denny and I to Detroit, Michigan to catch an 8:30 pm overnight flight to Reykjavik.

We arrived early to make sure we had time to get through security. That was quick and uneventful.

We had time to have a nice dinner at Margaritaville before boarding our flight.

Day 2 – August 25, 2024 – Reykjavik, Iceland

On our taxi ride from the airport, we got to see an active lava flow (from afar).  The driver dropped us off at our hotel, but because it was so early, we checked our bags and explored town.  We ate a traditional Icelandic fish breakfast, did some grocery shopping, and explored two museums, The Culture House (an art museum) and The Icelandic Phallolgical Museum (well, a very interesting place!)

We had dinner at an “American” restaurant called Dirty Burgers and Ribs, as we wanted something familiar in our stomachs to start our adventure tomorrow.  We couldn’t resist gelato across the street from the hotel!  We went through our duffels one last time before bed.

Day 3 – August 26, 2024 – Laugavegur Start – Landmannalaugar

This morning started early at our hotel in Reykjavik.  We had a light breakfast and took a short cab ride to the meeting location, Hallgrimskirkja, the big cathedral in Reykjavik.  From there, we had a 3 hour bus ride, through many tight turns and gravel roads.  We met our guide for lunch at the Landmannalaugar hut.  We then took a 5-mile hike, much to my surprise, the first part was a challenging volcano summit, Mt. Bláhnjúkur (The Blue Peak).  It is 940 meters (3083 feet) above sea level.  When we got back, we soaked in hot springs and had pasta with smoked salmon for dinner.

Day 4 – August 27, 2024 – Álftavatn

Today was our longest scheduled hike, 14.9 miles.  We had breakfast call at 8:00 am.  We stepped off at about 9:00.  It was cold and windy for most of the day.  There was a shelter at the halfway point where we ate the sandwiches that we packed for lunch.  The scenery was amazing with so many colors and landscapes.  We were telling stories at the end, hoping someone had delivered hot food.  That dream came true!  The camp ranger had prepared a wonderful lamb soup!

Day 5 – August 28, 2024 – Botnar / Emstrur

We didn’t need to start off too early today as our trek was only 15 km / 10 miles.  We had two VERY cold river crossings.  Brunch was in a barn used for sheep in the winter.  Lunch was outside but by a beautiful waterfall.  The guide offered an additional hike to see a canyon, but we decided to head to the hut to rest.  We had foil-packet salmon for dinner, cooked on a charcoal grill.  Denny and I stayed up until dark to see a very light Northern Lights display.

Day 6 – August 29, 2024 – Þórsmörk – The Valley of Thor

Today was another relaxed start.  We had a simple breakfast followed by an “easy” 11.5-mile hike.  There was very little elevation change today.  The sights were beautiful, and the weather even more beautiful!  We wished we even had shorts!  We ate lunch outside near some sheep.  When we arrived at Þórsmörk, we celebrated finishing the Laugavegur Trail, some of our group had beers, and Denny and I had Pepsi.  Some of our group left us for other adventures, those of us staying had a yoga session on a nice grassy area.  We ended the day with the barbequed leg of lamb for dinner!

Day 7 – August 30, 2024 – Þórsmörk – Fimmvörðuháls Trail

The hike scheduled for today was 20 km / 12 miles, with a lot of elevation change (900 meters).  We got an early start to beat potential bad weather.  We made it about 5 kms, past a very narrow area called a “cat spine” (Kattarhryggur pass) before Denny and I and one of our group, Ursula from New Zealand, turned back.  I was just pretty scared and frankly tired.  We relaxed at our hut to wait for the others to return.  They made it to their goal, getting back about 5 hours after us.  We made pasta (spaghetti Bolognese) for dinner.

Day 8 – August 31, 2024 – Þórsmörk

Today’s schedule was a short hike to the Volcano Huts near Þórsmörk, a 35-minute hike.  We sat in a cute restaurant / gift shop with good access to the Internet for a couple of hours.  We walked back through severe rain and wind.  We watched as our bus back to Reykjavik came near the riverbed and turned around.  We were supposed to leave at 2:30.  The wardens announced at 2:15 that the river was not passable and the group would have to stay at least one more night.  Our group combined food with another from Artic Adventures and our guides cooked fried rice, leg of lamb, mashed potatoes, and salad.  Denny and I had to share a small bunk.  At least we were safe from the severe weather.  Two couples were reported to be missing along the trail.

Day 9 – September 1, 2024 – Þórsmörk to Reykjavik

We slept pretty poorly overnight, sharing a small bunk and 50+ mph winds.  Our guide told us that he was dreaming about what to do with us if the hut’s roof blew off!.  After breakfast, he announced that busses were trying to cross the river to get us out, but we would have to hike back to the Volcano Huts, 1 ½ miles, with our 50# duffels.  Somehow we did it and a bus was waiting.  It was a very difficult river crossing but we made it.  We traveled out of the difficult terrain and changed busses.  An hour of so later, we switched to a van run by Arctic Adventures, our guide company.  Denny had an Icelandic hot dog for a snack at a gas station.  We booked a nice hotel in Reykjavik and had the best shower of our lives!  We had a nice dinner and tried to organize our gear in the hotel.

Day 10 – September 2, 2024 Reykjavik to Detroit

The Icelandic hotel bed and pillows were better than mountain huts, but not like home.  The room was hot, but cracking a window made lots of noise from outside come in, plus cold.  We ate a yummy breakfast buffet at the hotel, then rested in our room until noon.  We walked about a block to a bus stop and took that to the airport to catch our 4:55 pm flight.  Denny had another Icelandic hotdog for a snack.  At the gate, we had to catch a bus to the plane, which was parked some distance away from the terminal on the runway.

The flight was uneventful.  Today is Labor Day, so Alexis didn’t have class.  She was able to drive to Detroit to pick us up and then drive us home.  That was a chance for us to tell her about our trip!