People often ask me when is the right time to visit Iceland. I assume they are really asking when one can guarantee decent weather. I used to answer that the best time was 2020 — when global warming has started to kick in for real. However, the real answer is that one should not visit Iceland for the weather. There are millions of better reasons for visiting the island — the mountains, the glaciers, the volcanoes, the black sand, the dense forests (a.k.a. a few shrubs here and there) — a nature completely different from most other places. As for the weather — it is and will be unpredictable.

It can be tricky to try to use the weather forecast to plan a hiking trip in Iceland. The long term forecast said it would be raining. The short term forecast said it would be dry. When my sisters and I drove from our summer house in Skorradalur towards Uxahryggir it was raining. When we started our hike to the top of Kvígindisfell (783 m) it was dry. When we returned it was raining.

I cannot blame the weather forecasters for being inaccurate. The weather in Iceland is in itself rather inaccurate. During our four hour hike we got fairly traditional Icelandic summer weather. A varied mixture of weather conditions. A cold wind blew from the west — from the Greenland Sea. From time to time we had periods of fog, hail and rain. Most of the time it was however dry and even short periods of sun. We had to continuously adjust our clothing to the changing weather.

Skjaldbreiður	barbwire and mountains
moss	lambagras

As with the weather, the terrain was varied. We started hiking through moss and shallow bog. At higher altitudes the terrain changed to gravel and moss with occasional cover of the leftovers of the winter snow. It was refreshing to walk through snow after a snow-free winter in Barcelona. I love the sound of crushing snow under the sole of my boot and it is a great fun to run down snow covered slopes.

Despite the cold, cloudy and partially foggy weather the hike to the top was very pleasant and we got nice view of the neighboring mountains, glaciers and lakes.

approaching the top	on the top
Hvalfell	stairs