Landmannalaugar - Thorsmörk trail closed?

Why ?, what´s wrong with ,,Laugavegurinn" (Landmannalaugar - Thorsmork) trail ??
B-)

When are you travelling?

It seems that, if things don't take an entirely new direction (new or worse eruption), the route might be opened in JUNE.

[http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0_a_id=361774] [http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0_a_id=361732]</strong>

The trai ,,Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork" is NOT through the eruption area, but closer to mount Hekla, which hasn´t erupted yet.
The end of the trail is in Thorsmork, which will be open for tourists this summer, and the approach is from the north, rater than from the south, where the eruption is.
It is the trail ,,Thorsmork - Skogar, that is through the eruption area, and is more questionable than before, but it will probably be reopened this summer.

But in the case of the trail not being accessable, there are alternatives:
http://www.nat.is/gonguleidireng/gonguleidir_allt_landid.htm
http://www.hikinginiceland.com/
http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/search.do?all=yes&from=0&to=50&res=on&activity=hiking&pictogram=1&country=IS&near=Iceland
http://www.travelnet.is/Tours/Hiking/
These are just few, of what came up, when I ,,googled" hiking in Iceland.
B-)

Thanks. That is helpful. We are going soon, so we are looking for possible alternatives.

Patrick

We are going soon

L-T can be very challenging if you go in the pre-season, which is any time before about mid-June, depending exactly upon the progress of the snowmelt that year. Not least the logistics of getting to the trailheads. This year buses run to L and T from 15 June (which is actually a bit earlier than usual), and you can't expect the road to L to be open to private traffic much before that. Also the earlier you go the more extensive are the patches of snow still covering parts of the path. And also the lower the passing hiking traffic to put you right or rescue you in case of difficulty. It tends to be in the pre-season that fatal accidents are most likely to occur.

Similarly you should be aware that there are not any other long-distance paths of remotely the quality of waymarking and visibility on the ground of L-T in Iceland. Earlier in the year, you can find good longer-distance walking in the Eastfjords, and there are some good maps (by Icelandic standards) you can find of this linked via nat.is when I last checked. But don't expect too much in the way of waymarking, footbridges or visible paths on the ground.

The Dettifoss-Jokulsargljufur trek is often open rather earlier than the roads to L, sometimes even in late May. This one is quite well marked, and is an easy 3 days (50km or so), but west bank road to Dettifoss you need to access it isn't open yet (not even the east bank yet, so it could be a while). Likewise the trek from Hveravellir on the Kjolur route (similar distance), but you can't expect the road to Hveravellir to be open until some time into June. There is also an approx 5 day trek from Askja going west (and there is also a walking route from Herdubreidarlindir to Askja if you want to lengthen it): this one is quite rough and tricky: you see a signpost pointing in an approx direction over a rough lava-field, find the next one in a few km, that sort of thing. It is also quite a challenge getting back out from the end of the trek. Although the access roads to this area often tend to open earlyish in June, again there will be no public transport and little passing traffic until later. The Lon-Snaefell trek, another tough one, is probably not for very early in the season. Hornstrandir is probably walkable early in the season, but the boats to get you there probably won't run until late June or early July.

Keep in mind that much of the area around Eyjafjallajökull is more or less covered in ash. Hiking without breething masks and protective glasses it not recommended. To give you an idea of how it looks, look at this photo taken on June 5th, 2010.

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thorsmork_covered_in_volcanic_ash.jpg

Edited by: boaworm