Hengill is a mountain range not that far from Reykjavik and Vörduskeggi is the highest peak in Hengill. Not far from the Hellisheidi powerplant you find the starting point of a nice loop. The loop is not possible in the winter without the right gear and even the winter detour is not always available for regular hikers.
We started clockwise from the parking lot in the direction of the peak. It’s a nice hike and the views are endless. You can see the sea, different colors on the mountains and at regular intervals you have 360 panoramas. When you get closer to the top the trails gets a little trickier, but we categorise the track as safe.
Near the top we started to cross some areas with snow but we could continue our trail and still counted to be able to make the loop. We knew the winter route was not accessible for us but did count on the detour. Just at the most far point of the loop we got stuck. On a steep mountainside that we had to cross there was snow over the track for about roughly 80 meters. Without adapted shoes it was not safe to pass. 1 single mistake would have made us slide down several hunderd of meters. We tried to find still another alternative, but none were possible, so we had to turn back.
When we were getting closer to the start we decided to make the loop in the other direction as well. We went till the hot springs and the cabin (you can’t miss this one) but decided to turn back. Our hike was close to 19 km in the end and that was more than enough. We also think that we have spotted the most highlights of the hike. At the bottom of the page you can find a video showing a 360 degree panorama.
Strava track (18 km, 811 elevation meters)