Thrainn Kolbeinsson
roam home: explore the local trails with CANON
forgotten trails of Reykjanes peninsula
The Reykjanes peninsula is not known for sunshine and rainbows. It’s a rough area of mountains, volcanic craters and lava fields as far as the eyes can see. However, it has some of the most underrated hiking trails in the south west corner of Iceland. Hiking beyond those mountains takes you to places you’d think only existed in fairytales. The last two years I have been researching and documenting these trails with my CANON EOS R. Now is the time to roam our local trails and capture the ever changing landscapes of our beautiful country… and quality matters.
I had already seen a lof of Reykjanes when I first started my researching, or so I thought. After going through some photo books, spent hours on Google Maps and searching the internet , I realized I had only seen the tip of the iceberg. One of the areas that struck my eyes first was one where a mountain range splits into a fork with three lakes. And if that’s not enough to get your attention, it’s all coloured like the great geothermal parts of the highlands. It turns out you don’t have to travel all the way to Landmannalaugar to get these unique looking landscapes.
To access the area you have a few options, each one adding a special flavour to the experience. The one we chose was hiking over the highest mountain in the area and coming down into the geothermal glory. After crossing fields of lava and navigating our way through a small but tight canyon we found ourselves in a little green oasis. There we caught our breath before we kept going. Like everywhere in Iceland, the weather was changing constantly as we kept moving.
After a few hours, we’re finally welcomed by the subtle scent of sulphur, telling us we were getting close. A few more ridges and then we see it, a geothermal valley in between two lakes (the third lake lies beyond the valley). The mood was rolling in and it was time to get to work. The area is very colourful and full of different hues, some that you rarely get in the same frame. So it’s important to have a camera that can really capture the whole spectrum with good detail.
The area offers endless routes to explore and every time you arrive at one spot, you see another juicy one you have to see. It’s easy to get carried away and just keep going, especially with days getting longer here in Iceland. This time, we both had another project we had to attend to in the evening so we left a few spots for our next visit.
After spending a few hours exploring the area, down into the valley and around the lakes, it was time to head home with our backs to the sun. Leaving the warm geothermal tones, our trail soon turned into lush green grass surrounded by mossy fields. Comfortably tired we went home, excited to see what we had captured. It’s a real privilege living in a country where you can literally drive for 30 minutes, hike a little bit and you’ve already forgot about all noise that often fills our daily lives. For more shots from around the area, check out the gallery below.
