3 days, 46 km.
Day 1
Ásgarður - Efri-Kisubotnar
After arriving at Ásgarður by bus from Akureyri, we started hiking right away, leaving the huts and campsite behind us. The trail climbed up to the road to Hveradalir and we then chose to hike over trail-less terrain to reach another gravel road (Gljúfurleit) to the east.
We had a constant view on Hofsjökull until we turned right as our GPS told us to go there and two red sticks told us this was the place. There was no path nor tracks visible, we were walking on moss (which I don’t like, as it grows very slow and therefore takes a long time to recover). From there we followed a small river and walked next to a big lava field. A snow bunting followed us. I like these birds as they gather in groups during winter in the lower altitudes and cheer up the dark season with their twittering, and also because they are called ‘snjótittlingur’ in winter in Icelandic, which can be translated as ‘snow penis’.
After climbing a bit and finding the trail again, we crossed a river (no need to take of shoes for us, but in wetter conditions definitely necessary) and saw the hut. We carried our own tent, so we pitched a little further by a small stream. We had carried a beer with us, so it was time to drink it to reduce the weight of our backpacks a bit. But it was also a good (Icelandic) beer.
The photos below are all taken on 120 mm film. I developed the black-and-white photos myself with a caffenol recipe.
Day 2
Efri-Kisubotnar - Klakkskvísl
We started this day by following the river we crossed the day before just before the campsite. Everywhere where water seeped out of the rocks into the river, green algae and mosses coloured the landscape bright green. The river valley joined a broader valley and it was unclear where we had to go. After walking in different directions, we found a stick that we decided to follow. The track went up and up until arriving on a black sandy plain. Before turning west, we came by a beautiful canyon with otherworldly coloured rock formations. Black sandy plains without vegetation make estimating distances very difficult. To me it always seems to take forever to get to the next landscape formation. When we climbed the next hill, we suddenly had a fantastic view over a green valley and river with an amazingly cone-shaped mountain in the background. We were going to cross this valley and walk towards a mountain hut, where we decided to have a long break. We felt good and walked further until a river crossing. We were going to stop here for the day. We took a bath in the ice cold river (Klakkskvísl) and walked around to enjoy the landscape. Not much later it started to rain and we saw two people coming from the other direction. They were soaked and were going to stay the night in the hut.
Later that evening it became dry again and we could see fresh snow on the mountain tops. My Dutch hiking guide already warned me for this. It can snow in the middle of summer. We were prepared for this though.
Day 3
Klaksskvísl - Ásgarður
In the early morning, the mountains around us still had a white top. We first had to cross Klakkskvísl to follow the track over another black sandy plain. The day started dry and even sunny sometimes. After 5 kilometer or so, we had to cross a bigger river. After this crossing, the trail started to climb up in a valley with some old snow. The track was easy to find here. When we reached the mountain pass, the weather changed, first rain and on the higher elevations snow. The descend into the next valley was quite difficult as the track - as far as there was one - went over a blockfield. There was no choice but to balance from one stone to the other. The last part of the descend went over a snow field, so we could just slide down. It hadn’t stopped raining, but the landscape was beautiful and very diverse. The track went by some hotsprings and climbed up over clay-rich slopes.
Just before descending into the beautiful geothermally active valley Hveradalir, the track went over a snowfield (which, according to the map merges into a small glacier (Mænisjökull)). A cloud came up and we couldn’t see more than 5 m in front of us. No track was visible because of the fresh snow. These are moments when I start to feel light panic coming up. I wanted to just pitch the tent in the snow and wait until the weather would clear up. But because we had a GPS (or a phone with OsmAnd), we knew in which direction we had to go. So within five minutes of wading through knee-deep snow, we saw the next pole. It was just 200 m of bad visibility. At the other side of the snowfield, the clouds disappeared and we got a great view of the geothermal valley and the snow-capped mountains around.
The track follows the valley and we took a lot of time to walk around the hotsprings. Then, it’s possible to take the gravel road back to Ásgarður, but we took the hiking trail that has a bit more elevation. Now we had a view to the north and we could see parts of Langjökull. The last kilometers of the day sometimes take more time than the first do. The last day of this trek is the longest, toughest, but also the most beautiful and varied.
Practical information
Since the summer of 2020, Kerlingarfjöll is declared landscape protection area. For trekking with a tent, this means that throughout the protected area, outside the special rule in Zones 1 and 2, hikers are permitted to camp but at least 100 meters away from the footpath. A group with five or more tents needs a permit from the Environment Agency to pitch a tent.
Otherwise there are two huts on the route which can be rented.
Transportation
In ‘normal’ times, SBA used to have a scheduled bus to Kerlingarfjöll from Reykjavík and Akureyri during summer. In 2020 this bus was not scheduled. Otherwise it is possible to drive there with a 4x4.
Maps and more info
3-day-circle-route
Map and other trails
Island Sérkort 3, Kjölur Langjökull Kerlingarfjöll, including 1:50.000 hiking map for Kerlingarfjöll