The Fimmvörðuháls Trail is said to be one of the most beautiful day hikes in Iceland and is located in the Southern Highlands. The trail follows the Fimmvörðuháls Pass, which runs between two glaciers from Skogar to Thorsmork (or the other way around). Besides the two glaciers, along the way, you will also pass a total of 26 mesmerizing waterfalls, 1 volcano, and a diversity of unique and breathtaking landscapes. The trail has a total length of 25km/15.5 miles and can be hiked within one day. The trail requires a bit of preparation due to it being remote, and we can't wait to share Todd's tips. 

We are excited that Todd agreed to share his experience on the trail with us! Let’s dive into it to explore more of the Fimmvörðuháls Trail and what you can expect along the way.

To start, would you be able to tell us a bit about yourself?

My wife Holly and I live in Poulsbo, Washington in the USA, and enjoy all the outdoor activities in this area that are so easily available to us.  We’re avid hikers, kayakers and cyclists, plus we get up on the slopes for skiing when we can fit that in!  When we get the chance to travel, we tend to lean toward experiencing the outdoors and the out-of-the-way places.  It always seems that the memories that stick in my mind from a trip are those from walking on new dirt, smelling the smells of different trees and plants and just feeling nature in a different place.  Toss in a good meal and drinks at a random establishment and meeting a few strangers, and it’s an awesome trip!

How did your passion for hiking and the outdoors start?

My Dad was a log truck driver who spent most of his days working and driving in the Cascade Mountains of Northwest Washington.  Often, a weekend activity for our family would be to go up to a viewpoint or a waterfall that Dad had discovered during the week and do a picnic.  Beyond that, I rode my bike everywhere, often because I liked to go fishing.  If I wanted to hit sunrise for the good fishing when I was 11 years old, I had to get there myself, as Mom wasn’t into driving me to the lake at 4:30am in June…

You hiked the Fimmvörðuháls Trail; what a fantastic achievement! It is said to be one of Iceland’s most beautiful hikes and we would love to hear how your experience was on the trail? 

We did the section of the Fimmvörðuháls Trail from Skógafoss to Thórsmörk and it was simply amazing!  The “opening waterfall” is a sight to see itself, and just the hike up to the top of it brings one to realize that most people don’t do that first climb up and experience that view.  Armed with a couple of small backpacks, water, plus a couple of sandwiches and extra snacks, we left the first waterfall with a “Let’s do this!”  For the next couple of hours, it’s one beautiful waterfall after another as you climb higher and higher.

Eventually, it becomes other-worldly, as it truly feels like you’re in some sort of moonscape.  You get beyond all the green and up into the volcanic rock, a high-altitude bridge crossing over a river, and a cabin at the top of the pass. Between the volcanic peaks, the “fresher” lava flows from recent years, then the start of the descent down, I remember us saying that it was like being in some movie scene on another planet. There’s a slightly intimidating (visually, but safe) section with a safety cable on which to hold, as you make your way toward this huge plateau with this oddly eerie looking trail bisecting it off into the distance.  Once across that, the landscape changed again as we made our way down into the lush green of the valley.  

Arriving in the camp at Thórsmörk, we quickly discovered you don’t “just catch a bus” and “no, you can’t hike it with the dangerous water crossings”.  Once or twice a day (and already gone for this day) a bus, quite capable of handling water crossings, gets people back to civilization.  Suddenly we were facing an overnight stay (looked like some basic options in a lodge), or a $500 “taxi”.  

We took a chance and flagged down a friendly face in a big, badass rig, mentioning were dumb Americans who maybe didn’t plan that well, and “...is there any chance we could hitchhike a ride back to the highway if you’re going there?”  Luckily we got another smile and a thumbs up. That’s where my Holly and I met Leví and Ásdís, our “rescuers”.  Ásdís was there for Search and Rescue training, and Leví, being an accomplished photographer and videographer, was taking pictures and filming with a drone.  They had to say goodbye to some colleagues at their camp on the other side of the river but told us to meet them about a mile down the river where they’d pick us up.  They did, and we shared an amazing ride that included fording multiple rivers, then once on the highway, they insisted on taking us (the wrong direction for them) all the way to our car.  We’re still friends with these wonderful people and plan not only to visit them again, but to have them visit us here in Poulsbo someday!

An additional note:  Here’s our Strava from that day! https://www.strava.com/activities/2628263725

How did you discover the Fimmvörðuháls Trail and what was the reason to hike this specific trail?

We were there in Iceland for just 3-4 days in 2019, taking advantage of one of those Icelandair “free layovers” in conjunction with a trip to Amsterdam.  We were staying at the Blue View Cabins (they’re great!) near Reykvolt, about 90 minutes East of Reykjavik, and we got up in the morning with the plan to “do a good hike”.  We’d looked up this trail the night before and then decided over breakfast to do it.  It looked like an amazing, challenging, full-day hike, and it also looked like we could park at Skógafoss, hike the trail, then “catch a bus” back to the rental car. I’ll leave that in the quotes as a bit of foreshadowing of things to come.

The Fimmvörðuháls Trail is in the southern Highlands of Iceland, and it traverses two glaciers. It seems that some snow coverage is inevitable, and the weather can pose a major challenge for the trail. How did you deal with these conditions on the trail and how did you prepare for the hike?

We did this hike around the third weekend of August, and although we hiked on a bit of snow, there wasn’t much.  It was hard-packed and there was an obvious trail route through any of it.  Funny enough, we didn’t really prepare for much, other than the 20-mile day hike. We had good footwear, some layers of clothing (temps ranged from maybe 45 degrees to 60 degrees F), and enough food and water!

Even though you prepared well for the trail, did you come across any (major) challenges that you would never have thought of beforehand? And how did you tackle these challenges?

Just what we already mentioned in the story of the entire hike.  The hike is challenging with the distance and the elevation, but it was physically like others we’ve done (like the Enchantments Loop in Washington!).  The major challenge was arriving in Thórsmörk and having our miscalculation/misunderstanding of what’s there for both busses and roads.  We’ll do this one again someday, with our only change being pre-planning and reserving our spot on one of those big-wheeled busses (and getting there in time to catch it!).  Or we may just reach out to Leví and Ásdís again for old times’ sake…….

What is your best memory of the trail?

It’s a combo of being blown away by the beauty and sound of the series of waterfalls on the climb up, then the other-worldly (only words that come to mind!) scenes up top as you crest the pass.

Before starting on the hike, you must have probably gone through your gear checklist a dozen times. In the end, did you take any gear with you that you eventually felt you could have done without? Or was there any specific gear that you wished you had with you on the trail? 

Haha!  A specific memory was having breakfast at our cabin and saying, “Let’s make a few sandwiches and go do this hike!”  We had just the basics of food, water and a few layers.  If anything, we could have used a couple of beanies and a pair of gloves for about an hour or two of the hike up top around the glaciers.  We caught a bit of a breeze there and had some cold ears and fingertips for a bit.

After this amazing achievement and crossing the Fimmvörðuháls Trail off your bucket list, do you have any other trails on your bucket list which you plan to hike in the (near) future?

I’d love to do the Pacific Crest Trail in “sections”.  I want to do Oregon-to-Canada in Washington, then do the California-to-Washington section in Oregon.  

For all those inspired by your story and experience on the trail, what is the one tip you would like to give them? 

Arrange transportation from Thórsmörk to Skógafoss!

Lastly, when our hiking-lovers want to know more and follow your adventures, where can they find you on social media?

https://www.instagram.com/toddcowles/
https://www.facebook.com/todd.cowles

Todd, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with us, it was an absolute pleasure!

Happy Trails,
Jay & Maud

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