Icelandtrailteam | Thórsmörk Trail Volunteers

Jan 9

Preparations for our 10th season

It is difficult to know where all the time has gone, but this year we will be returning to Thórsmörk for our tenth season on the trails. A small pilot project back in 2012 led to the creation of our Trailteam.is programme… and after 10 years, we are still going strong.

Recent weeks have been filled with planning tasks, reading applications and arranging interviews. January is always an exciting time for us as we discuss preparations for the season, meet our new teammates and also reconnect to old friends who will be joining us again. Despite the ongoing uncertainty over travel planning for the summer, we have received a huge response to our call for volunteers and the teams are now taking shape.

Full details about our summer plans including project outlines, placement dates and application forms can be found on our website. The groups are already starting to fill up, so if you would like to apply for a place this season, don’t delay.

https://trailteam.is/opportunities/
Applications close on January 31st.

Nov 20

Video from the Laugavegur Trail

Opportunities for hiking have always been an important part of our volunteer programme and our location in Thórsmörk, at the southern end of the Laugavegur Trail, means that many of our volunteers have the opportunity to complete the famous multi-day hike. For many participants, the Laugavegur hike is the highlight of their visit.

Liam Corcoran, one of our talented Trailteam volunteers, made a short video of the experience last summer and we would like to share it with you here…

Nov 10

Our summer in Thórsmörk

We would like to thank all our volunteers for another amazing season out on the trails in Thórsmörk and Goðaland.

Despite the challenge of ongoing travel restrictions this summer, we were able to go ahead with our volunteer projects as planned. This season we hosted 30 international volunteers and together our teams completed more than 170 weeks of practical work. As usual, our activities were focused on trail maintenance tasks and conservation projects in the area but our volunteers were also involved in practical projects at Tumastaðir Forestry Station where they worked with staff on tasks in the tree nursery and also helped with tree planting projects.

Once again our trail work in Thórsmörk focused on the busy paths on Valahnúkur where the teams returned to face the last few remaining difficult sections. As well as repairs to stone steps, the teams used forest timber to build several new sections of steps on both the east and west trails. In Goðaland, work centred on the Fimmvörðuháls trail with the main work sites close to Morinsheiði where work included repairing winter damage and improving drainage. This was particularly challenging as the sites are quite remote and a long walk out from our Básar volunteer camp.

We hope the teams enjoyed their time with us and would like to thank everyone for their hard work and support. Preparations for next season have now begun and 2022 placement details, including dates and application forms, will be available here on December 15^th.

https://trailteam.is/opportunities/

Dec 30

11 weeks with the Trailteams

We are now gathering our teams for 2021 and are looking for volunteers to join us for an 11-week adventure.

These placements with our ‘Operations team’ combine hands-on practical work with organisational and team leadership tasks. Although the focus of our work remains trail management projects in Thórsmörk, the 11-week placements also include tree planting tasks with our Forest Service colleagues on other sites in south Iceland. The establishment of these longer placements has helped us to reduce the number of flights associated with the programme.

These placements are challenging and particularly suitable for volunteers who have worked with us in Thórsmörk before or experienced similar programmes with volunteer teams. The 11-week placements start in May and June and further details are now available on our website.

Applications for our 2021 placements will be open until January 31st.
https://trailteam.is/operations-team/

Oct 11

October in Langidalur

We have been enjoying excellent autumn weather conditions in Thórsmörk as we complete our final trail work projects and make preparations to close the Langidalur camp for the end of the season.

As well as finishing the practical tasks and reviewing this year’s work sites, the extended good weather has allowed us to get started on survey work and planning for next season.

Since our last volunteers left in the middle of September, there have been few visitors in the area and it’s possible to spend whole days hiking without meeting anyone. The bright cold days, autumn colours and the quietness make this a very special time to be working in Thórsmörk.