BEFORE GOING:​

​

• Check the weather. This advice will be on every hike report for Iceland, especially those during winter time. Mother nature is particularly powerful and unpredictable, you can find more informations on this website : https://en.vedur.is/

• In Iceland people are used to snow and well prepared for it, what about you? The first question you should ask yourself is if you're ready to drive on snow and ice, as well as against strong winds, snowstorms...basically in extreme weather. There's an essential website to monitor road conditions in - almost - real time: http://www.road.is/..I can understand that you'd prefer to avoid that kind of situation but then you shouldn't go to Iceland during the winter or just don't drive.

• For this hike you'll have to leave the ring road and take a more remote one, so remember that even if you can call emergency numbers it might take them time to reach. I suggest to always have in your car: a thermos flask with hot tea/beverage, a shovel, water and some blankets...in case it takes a lot of time. Again, there's a website that will give you advices and actual alerts on weather hazards : https://safetravel.is/

• MICROspikes are essential if you want to walk around and hike in Iceland during winter time. Without them it could be complicated for you to even leave the car as everything is frozen at some places, included roads (cf. pictures). Also, there's always an icy area close to falls (foss). It is well known that you have to wear multiple layers, but for winter I will recommend focusing on good quality cloth that will protect you from the biting cold and blizzard.

• This is a hike and road trip you have to be prepared for. As you can see, Iceland offers a lot of informations through different websites so there's no excuses! This country's weather is stronger than you.  

​

START - ROUTE 933 

​

You'll start from a parking lot along the 933 route (see map) which is easy to find. In the beginning it is pretty straight forward as the trail is well marked, but remember that it can change a lot depending on the season and it will need some analyse on your end to know if you can go or not. The first part is steep but there was no snow nor ice when we went so it was like normal hiking besides the cold blizzard in our faces. You could be exposed to strong winds when gaining altitude so yeah, you'll need warm clothes and please do not forget your gloves. 

​

After 35 minutes you'll reach Litlanesfoss which is absolutely stunning!  After this point it started to get more complicated to progress on the trail as it was pure ice at some places, especially because most of the rivers were frozen. We made a discovery when we had no other choice than to walk on ice and realised that it was not as slippery as we expected. I still can't explain why, but If anyone reading this knows please feel free to write to me I would be interested in having an explanation. Still, one of us managed to fall (I will not name this person), we didn't have our Micro Spikes on.

​