Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

Burning Man fuelled by weariness and Snickers bars instead of hallucinogens and
ayahuasca.
The walk through the third section, Emstrur, feels like an acid trip unto itself, with
ribbons of red, ochre and fluorescent blue scarring the ground and hillside; a
reminder of the intense geological activity creeping up from below the planet’s
surface. As the path curls down into a valley shot through with fingers of glacial
melt, the final leg of the trek comes into view. While most of the journey has
followed a more subtle undulation of scorched stone, the rise up on to the volcanic
crest at Fimmvörduháls is markedly more dramatic. A series of steps hoists hikers up
on to a turfy plateau sprinkled with arctic flowers, and as the trail hugs the
mountain’s edge, cascading boulders hem the pass like flying buttresses,
clerestories, and other architectural elements of gothic brick.
“The Álftavatn hut and its summertime orbit of neon tents are like
some kind of Nordic Burning Man fuelled by Snickers bars instead of
hallucinogens”
Often thought of as an add-on, the trek through Fimmvörduháls can feel
especially challenging after several days on foot, but it’s also considered the most
rewarding part of the trip. While the walks through Álftavatn and Emstrur will have
you wondering what it might have been like to be the first person to find soothing
hot springs during Viking times, the basin of ash at the top of the pass is, quite
literally, history in the making.
When the slumbering volcano hidden under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier erupted in
2010 it created a mega-geyser that vaporised tonnes of frozen water and shot
mounds of tar-like, liquefied ash down both the sides of the peak. Born from the
embers were two brand new baby mountains, Magni and Módi, which both belch
plumes of steam for passers-by to admire. Once you clear the fields of desolation
caused by the recent eruption, a mossy carpet unfurls anew. Each step is slightly
lower than the last, passing a parade of waterfalls (22, to be exact) that
diminuendos down to a final chute – Skógarfoss, plunking you right back on to the
country’s main drag, the Ring Rd.