Grand Canyons

After an early pickup in Reykjavik, we head to the remote farm of Kaldbakur close to the Laxárgljúfur Canyon, where we meet the horses and the guides that will be with us on the tour. The drive from Reykjavik is just over an hour. We mount our horses and ride across the heaths of Hrunaheiðar to a pen at Búðará river. From there we will go by car about 15km to a cozy mountain hut in Svínárnes where we stay the night.

We drive back to the pen at Búðará and ride very nice trails west of the mountain Búrfell with the view of the glacier Langjökull to the west. After about a 15km, we arrive at the hut in Svínárnes where we have our lunchbreak. After lunch, we saddle our horses again and ride along the Grjótá river to a newly built hut called Fosslækur. This hut is built like the old icelandic “turf houses” with the roof and walls covered with grass.

We ride towards the impressive Kerlingarfjöll mountain range. While we approach it, we will see the rock Kerling which is believed to have been a huge female troll that turned to stone when she was caught by the morning sun. The mountain range is named after her. We arrive at the hut in Ásgarður where we spend the night.

This day is the crux of the tour. We ride east to Kisubotnar and along Kisugljúfur canyon to the slopes of Draugafell (The mountain of Ghosts) up to the elevation of over 1000m (3000ft). The view from there is absolutely breathtaking. We follow the beautiful Kerlingargljúfur canyon down to the hut Leppistungur. This area is very remote and almost like a country within the country. It has even a climate of its own. This is the longest day of the tour, but we will be rewarded with the most spectatular views and an incomparable experience of nature and wilderness.

We ride about 15km from Leppistungur to Mikluöldubotnar where we change horses. Somehow the horses are sensing that we are now on the way home and this first stint is commonly ridden at high speed tölt as the herd is in good spirits. We continue along the slopes of Geldingafell down to Helgaskáli. We are likely to see large flocks of geese preparing for their flight overseas to the British Isles. The arctic fox is also common in this area. This is a reasonably long day, but we will enjoy nice smooth riding trails. Since this is our last day in the mountains, we will celebrate that evening.

From Helgaskáli we follow the impressive Laxárgljúfur canyon. Laxárgljúfur is up to 600ft (ca. 180m) deep and the trail will lead us at times quite close to the canyon. Vertigo anyone? We follow the canyon down to the deserted farm of Hrunakrókur and end the tour at Kaldbakur. On the last stint of the tour, we select our favorite horses and ride like the wind, since the horses certainly feel the call of home.

After a hearty breakfast, we head out for Reykjavík. We will most certainly take the scenic route and drop by the Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir geothermal area and Þingvellir where Iceland’s parliament was founded in 930 A.D.