Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.06.2012, Page 36

Words
Alessio Tummolillo
photography
Atli Arnarson
36
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 7 — 2012
Travel | Mountains
You have one more day in Reykjavík. Later in
the night you plan on going out and getting
drinks. You’ve seen the Golden Circle, and
you’re all foss’d out. However, you still want
to get one more nature trek in. But there’s so
little time. If only there was a hike you could
complete in under four hours and be ready to
go out and dance your pants off…
GO TO HAFNARFJÖRðUR
Helgafell, or “Holy Mountain,” is a mountain just
outside the town of Hafnarfjörður, a half hour
drive from Reykjavík’s city centre. It’s a climb that
doesn’t take long to hike, yet the view from the top
is spectacular. Locals will walk their dogs up this
mountain, go for a light walk, or even go mountain
running, an exercise which is growing in popular-
ity in Iceland. This makes a hike up Helgafell the
perfect trip if you don’t want to spend an entire
day hiking, or just take a break from the city for
a few hours.
To get to Helgafell, you pass through Haf-
narfjörður, a town also known as “Lava Town”
because it was built on lava and there are lava
boulders and the like found all around town. It is
also known as the “Town of the Hidden People,”
because of all the elf sightings, having to do with
the fact that lava boulders are a known home for
the hidden people.
ANCIENT WATERS
After the drive through the town, we arrived out-
side the fences of Helgafell. Just outside the fence,
there is a body of water that looks more like a pond
or a stream than anything else. It runs 1.1 km long,
making it the smallest river in Iceland.
The water’s also over 1000 years old, which
made me think it must be extremely unsanitary.
Helga, the tour guide, handed me a cup and an-
nounced we’d be starting the tour by drinking this
water. I walked over to the small river and dipped
my cup in andtook a hesitant sip. I was pleasantly
surprised to find that the water was crisp and
clean tasting and I didn’t keel over and die imme-
diately.
Newly refreshed, we began our hike. We went
through the opening of the fence, which is there
to keep out folks on All Terrain Vehicles, and be-
gan walking through the lava fields to the foot of
the mountain. On the way there, off to the left on
a high peak, there are three stone figure-looking
objects in a line. These are night trolls.
According to legend, night trolls once roamed
the area and one night they heard through the
grapevine that there was a beached whale at the
nearby shore. Craving some whale meat, they
made their way to the location of the whale, where
many other night trolls were already arguing over
the foodstuff.
Long story short, the arguments went on a little
too long, because as these three guys were head-
ing back to their dwellings, whale meat in hand,
the sun started to come up. And we all know what
happens to night trolls stuck in the sun (hint: they
turn to stone). Gluttony truly is a deadly sin, it
seems.
GUEST BOOKS & REFRESHMENTS
On our way up, once we left the lava field and were
onto Helgafell, at each step of the way there was
a noticeable difference in the rock. The rock to-
wards the bottom of the mountain was black and
very edgy, where as when we moved towards the
top of the mountain, the rock took on a golden
colour and had cracks through it, bringing to mind
what I thought the back of a very large dinosaur
would look like.
This difference in rock is due to the rock to-
wards the bottom being much older than the
smooth rock near the top, into which people were
able to carve their names and testaments of love,
something usually seen in tree bark in really bad
romances.
When we reached the very top, in a metal con-
tainer to protect from wind and rain, there lay a
guestbook where all the participants signed their
name. And the view from the top of Helgafell is
stunning. Being only 352 m high, our expectations
weren’t high, but again we were pleased with the
breathtaking view.
AND BACK AGAIN
While taking in the panoramic of Hafnarfjörður
and the other mountains that surround the area,
we were treated to home-brewed tea and kleinur.
Once we were warmed and refreshed, we began
hiking down the south side of the mountain.
We reached the bottom and made our way
back to the car where there were more refresh-
ments waiting. We got back in the vehicle and
were handed certificates of completion. This was
a nice way to make us feel accomplished for com-
pleting a fun hike. And, when you go downtown,
you can take it with you to show your mates that
you accomplished something aside from hitting all
the bars in 101 Reykjavík!
The Holy _____ Hike
Mountain is the blank
To book this trip or for more information, you can either call +354 891
7074 or e-mail ghs@mountainclimbing.is or mountainclimbing@moun-
tainclimbing.is.
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ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
AKUREYRI
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