A couple of times per month fortune smiles upon me and I get the chance to guide one of the best hiking trails in all of Iceland. This trail is commonly known as Thórsmörk [Icelandic: Þórsmörk] – which is an area in southern Iceland which takes its name from everyone’s favourite Norse god Thor. The route takes you up from a secluded camping ground, through one of the oldest forests in Iceland, across some very sketchy mountain ridges and finally to the summit of the world’s youngest mountains. This trek is also a popular route that many avid hikers like to include when they are doing the famous Laugavegur and Landmannalaugar hikes, which are also located here in southern Iceland.
The views offered from the various plateaus and ridges throughout this trail are without equal. There are countless sections of this track which evoke the feeling of exploring an alien world. You could even make the argument that NASA filmed the moon landing here…
To one side of you is the fourth largest ice cap on Iceland, Mýrdalsjökull, under which Katla lies waiting to erupt after a 99 year period of inactivity (as of the date of writing). Some people say that when Katla finally decides to unleash her fury on Iceland and the rest of the world; the Thórsmörk trail would be the best seat in the house. On a clear day you get a fantastic view of the ice cap and are at a safe enough distance from the caldera (about 35km) if anything were to happen. Just pray to the gods that the wind doesn’t change direction! Upon reaching the plateau Morinsheiði, you are able to fully realise the size and scope of Mýrdalsjökull. There are three glaciers flowing off the western side of the ice cap into the valleys below. Most of the rocky and sandy sediment at the bottom of these valleys is moraine formed by these 3 glaciers.
To your other side is Eyjafjallajökull, another ice cap which is home to the volcano of the same name. This is the very same volcano which wreaked havoc with air travel back in 2010. Before the big eruption kicked off, many people visited the two smaller eruptions that spawned the craters Magni and Móði. Back then, many people hiked this trail to view the fireworks themselves, but if you had the money you could hire a helicopter and view the eruptions from the sky, landing on the Morinsheiði plateau to take some close ups before flying back out. In Norse mythology Magni and Móði were the sons of Thor, so it was only fitting that these two new mountains were named as such.
If one were to continue their hike in a southerly direction after reaching the summit of Magni and Móði, there is a trail that continues further onto the spectacular Skógafoss. However that is a post for another time!
Please enjoy some of the photos I’ve taken over a couple of hikes on this trail.
My Nordic Life 
Hi Josh, so happy to read about your life and experiences in marvellous Iceland!Im Letizia Marziali from Italy, I was one of your clients on July 27th on Solheimajokull, such a spectacular hiking and wonderful experience. I really want to say Thank You for being such a great and patient guide, specially with me, a total washout at glacier hiking *_* I took some pictures of you and our group and put a couple of them on Arctic AdventuresTripadvisor reviews 🙂 I read you worked in Norway with sleddogs, whom I totally love. Sleddog is one of my major interests, but unfortunately I live in a country where it is not that popular. Not as football 😦 DearJosh, so happy for having you as our glacier guide and, who knows, should I come back to Iceland, I would be glad to be your glacier client again! 🙂 Next time I promise I will train more before the hike..maybe 🙂 Wishing you all the very best in that magnificent country that Im missing in my heart. Ciao Josh! 🙂 Letizia
Hi Letizia!
Thanks for your wonderful comment! I am sorry to reply to you so late.
I am so glad you enjoyed your time on the glacier and also in Iceland. Thanks for the wonderful review on TripAdvisor, it seems many people were impressed!
I did enjoy my time working with sleddogs and I do plan on working with them again soon as I planning to start my own touring company either here in Iceland or perhaps Norway, so keep an eye out on my blog for any updates!
So where in Italy do you come from? My father is originally from Italy – in the northern parts of Udine so I like to visit Italy when I can 🙂
Take care of yourself!
Best regards,
Josh
Can’t wait to go trekking with you through Thor’s domain and around Iceland!
Dearest Josh, so sorry for this late reply but it seems that when at work, in the school, I lose the sense of time (being often forced to work even at night for tests corrections and other stuff😞). So your Dad is from near Udine in Friuli, wow!! First time I went there I was just 5 months, my parents put my little travel cot in the car and drove me near Udine, exactly in Spilimbergo, where part of my family on my dad’s side lives😃 What a nice coincidence to meet a half Friulanian as our best guide on an Icelandic glacier! So, Friuli, Udine, Spilimbergo,Pordenone and all the towns and villages of this beautiful region are like our second home in Italia 😃 Anyways, as soon as I read your surname I was quite sure it was from Friuli region 🙂 So nice to hear you are going to start your own touring company, great, we would really like you to be our guide on another adventure in that amazing far north! Sleddog is really my passion and hope to take a ride on one of your sleds some day in the future! In the meanwhile Im planning my next trip to Iceland and I will be there again at the end of July 2018 for some trekking in Snaefellsnes peninsula, Reynisfjara area, Jokulsarlon and maybe another glacier hike, this time on Skaftafell. It would be so nice to have you as our glacier guide again, but I guess you have your”headquarters” in Solheimajokull 😦 Also,I would like to visid Dogsledding Iceland kennel near Selfoss, I would really like to meet those beautiful huskies, specially a black and white one who is similar to Balto, the famous Serum Run Alaskan Hero☺️ Really hope to see you again this summer in the that incredibly beautiful land of Saga! Ah yes, before I forget, Im from Marche region, Central Italia, exactly from Fermo, a small city few kms from Adriatic Sea 🙂 From this side of Italy to Iceland my very best regards and wishes for an amazing and Joyful New Year!😃 Ciao ciao and take care! Letizia
Hello again Letizia!
So good to hear from you once more. Sorry again for being so late in replying to you! Much like yourself I do also lose track of the time during the working week. But now I’ve had some days off and I’ve been catching up on some blog work.
Great to hear that you will be back here in Iceland in the summer month, I hope that you enjoy your time again. Please let me know when you’re back and perhaps I can make a private tour for you around some nice hidden places here on the south coast of Iceland!
Definitely worth checking out the dogsledding place outside of Selfoss, though I am unsure if you will be able to do any sledding, but you might be able to take some kart rides with the dogs.
I hope you are doing well at work and looking after yourself, one day I hope to visit the northern parts of Italia again so maybe I’ll see you there!
Having said that though, my parents are looking at buying some property in the Abruzzo region so I think I’ll be visiting Italia more and more often in the future.
Can you recommend some nice areas in Abruzzo that are worth checking out? I’ll pass the information onto my parents!
Best regards,
Josh