Skógrækt ríkisins | Thórsmörk Trail Volunteers

Nov 29

With a lot of help from our friends…

One of the best things about working on the Thórsmörk and Goðaland trail programme, is the close cooperation and support that we receive from organisations and companies active in the area.

Reykjavik Excursions (Kynnisferðir) operate a summer bus service and have supported our work since we began in 2012. Last summer, as well as helping with the delivery of food, tools and equipment to our camps, they provided transport for volunteers who were traveling from Reykjavik. Volunteers make their own way to our meeting point at Langidalur in Thórsmörk, so this support was greatly appreciated.

Through their support, Reykjavik Excursions have played a very active role in the improvement of the hiking trails and protection of the area. On behalf of everyone in the team, we would like to thank the managers and staff at Reykjavik Excursions with special thanks to the drivers on Route 9.

Full details of our 2016 programme will be published here on December 19th.

Oct 21

Pictures from last summer…

We have just created a photo album of our favorite pictures of the teams from last summer…

Oct 4

Snow arrives in Thórsmörk…

As the first snow arrives in Thórsmörk, our season comes to an end. Just a few more days now until packing and closing are completed. Sadly, it is finally time for us to hang up our orange waterproofs and head home…

News about our 2016 programme will be published here on December 19th.

Sep 30

Our last team heads home…

Our last volunteer team has now left Thórsmörk and we begin to close down the base camp for the winter. During the last week we have been working with a team of 18 students from the International School of Zug and Luzern from Switzerland.

Despite heavy rain on 4 of their 5 work days, the team did not stop working and they completed a huge amount of tasks around the area. These included trail drainage and surfacing, tree planting, erosion repair work and bridge building.

Thank you all for your hard work! It was really good to work with your team and an excellent way to end our season. We hope that you have dried out by now and that you enjoyed your time with us and those rainy days (and rainbows) in Thórsmörk.

(Pictured: With work completed, there was just enough time for a campfire and a lesson in toasting the perfect marshmallow.)

Sep 20

Memories of the summer… hiking Laugavegurinn

A “hiking week” has been included in our 6-week projects since we began in 2013. The aim of this week is to provide an opportunity for the volunteer teams to complete the Laugavegurinn hike from Landmannalaugar to Thórsmörk and to hike through their work areas. This summer however, challenging weather conditions meant that things did not quite go to plan …

Because of the late snow in the highlands, the first team which was scheduled to hike in June, was redirected to Skaftafell where they were hosted by our friends at Vatnajökull National Park during their holiday week. The second team went in August but ended the hike at Botnar (Emstrur) because of stormy weather in the area. Luckily though, the team was able to return to Botnar to complete the hike during our final long-range project which included replacing 180 way-markers along 18km of the trail.

Picture of our second team setting off from Lanmannalaugar (August, 2015).