74 FIRE AND ICE
Ghostly bodies of sulphuric steam materialise in slo-mo and levitate above the lava field. White ground in one area warns walkers of a thin crust. A screen of mist rises from behind a hillside where fluorescent green moss clings to black earth like some worn-out rug. There are entirely bare slopes the colour of rust. At ‘big hot’ spring, Stóri hver, Inga whips out a lightweight tarp and we gather underneath for a communal steam bath.
Tales of witches and trolls we’re told while guided on Laugavegur for four days of walking don’t seem far-fetched up in this otherworldly landscape of Iceland’s south highlands. The country’s most popular multiday hiking trail – considered by many as one of the world’s most beautiful – is a place of exaggerated features and colours, geothermal drama, changeable weather conditions and indiscriminate fairy activity. It also rains a lot.
“The weather in the mountains is a little bit shitty today,” Inga said after introductions at Reykjavik’s central bus station earlier that morning. Veteran Icelandic guide Ingibjörg Gudjónsdóttir, of small stature and commanding presence, always leads this last trek of the season as summer gives way to autumn. There are 13 in the group – solo travellers, siblings, friends and couples in their early-20s to late-60s from six different countries. Our driver, who
