Rivers, Rhyolite & Hvanngil 🇮🇸
- Day 2 Hike – Friday 21st August 2026
- Hrafntinnusker – Hvanngil
- Distance 12km
After a surprisingly decent night’s sleep at Hrafntinnusker, we woke up feeling pretty good. We’d wrapped ourselves up in layers during the night, but considering we’d spent the night camping at high altitude in the Icelandic Highlands, we really couldn’t complain.
There was certainly no five-star luxury, but we were warm enough, relatively comfortable and most importantly, still speaking to each other.
After breakfast (porridge and coffee) we packed up camp, shouldered our now very familiar backpacks and set off for Day 2.
And today, the direction was mostly down. Which sounded excellent. Our legs were very much on board with that plan.
The trail began its descent through the rugged landscape around Reykjafjöll and Kaldaklofsfjöll, winding through valleys that were still filled with snow.
It was another completely different landscape from the day before.
The bright colours of Landmannalaugar were gradually replaced by vast snow-covered valleys, dark volcanic terrain and enormous mountain ranges stretching out in every direction.
There was something incredibly wild about walking through it.
And despite knowing we were technically heading downhill, Iceland seemed to have conveniently forgotten that downhill occasionally requires a little bit of uphill first.
The View from Jökultungur
Then we reached Jökultungur. And wow. This was one of those moments when you just stop.
In front of us was one of the most spectacular panoramas of the entire trail.
The visibility was fantastic, allowing us to see three glaciers stretching across the horizon – Mýrdalsjökull, Eyjafjallajökull and Tindfjallajökull.
Three glaciers. One viewpoint. And absolutely nothing but wilderness between us and them.
We stood there for a while just taking it all in.
It’s moments like this that make carrying a ridiculously heavy backpack for kilometre after kilometre seem like a perfectly sensible idea. For about five minutes anyway.
River Crossing
Eventually, of course, we had to leave the view behind and continue towards Álftavatn on a very steep and long downwards.
The trail eventually brought us to several river crossings and these were moments where you have to embrace the fact that you’re not on an ordinary walking holiday. There was no convenient little bridge waiting for us. We were going in.
Boots off, trousers up and carefully wading across the rivers, hoping that our balance would hold and our belongings would remain considerably drier than our feet. And then, thankfully, we reached the other side with numb legs and feet!
Álftavatn
The landscape changed once again. The trail levelled out and suddenly we were surrounded by green-clad hills and mountains, with craggy peaks rising dramatically behind them. The contrast was incredible.
After the black volcanic landscapes and snowfields we’d been walking through earlier, the vibrant greens around Álftavatn felt almost lush.
It was another reminder of just how quickly the landscape changes along this trail. Every few kilometres seemed to bring something completely different.
We continued on towards Hvanngil, our home for the night.
By now, we’d had snow-filled valleys, three glaciers, huge mountain panoramas and a river crossing and somehow we were only halfway through our second day.
Hvanngil
We arrived at Hvanngil, found our spot and got the tent up before settling in for another night under Iceland’s big skies.
Two days down. The backpacks were still coming with us. The legs were still functioning. And tomorrow we’d be heading towards Emstrur, with plenty more Icelandic wilderness still to come.
At this point, we were starting to realise that Iceland really wasn’t going to run out of spectacular scenery anytime soon.
Day 2 verdict:
Mood: Still loving it
Landscape: Snowfields to lush green valleys
Best moment: The three-glacier panorama from Jökultungur
River crossing: Successfully survived
Backpack: Definitely getting heavier
Legs: Beginning negotiations
Tonight’s address: Hvanngil
Regrets: Still none
Check out Day 2’s video below 👇
Mary's Outdoor Adventure's 