Good question. Glad you asked it. My understanding is this. A few years ago you used to be able to free camp anywhere. I am talking about when driving around Iceland. However that has stopped now and they (Icelanders) are wanting / trying to funnel people into camping areas. I believe this is due to the huge influx of visitors which is now over a million a year. So to be respectful to Icelanders I would stick to designated camping. Can you imagine 200k people trying to free camp each night. The trash over the country would be incredible. We took that philosophy on our hikes. Honestly in the West fjords there are not that many people as we camped by our selves every night except for one. There is not much at the sites either. I loved it. On the lanmammaulgar which is very popular I saw a few tents scattered outside camping areas. In the future I think that is going to be an issue. Enjoy and thanks for caring
Great videos, thank you. What are the laws/rules regarding camping there (in the Westfjords and even Iceland generally)? Can you set up wherever or are you limited to official campsites. There’s a ton of conflicting information and I want to be respectful of the land and of Icelanders.
Foggers I only had trekking poles on this walk as there is no wood around for the large river crossings so that is why I took them. I very rarely use poles. Fortunately my legs knees etc are in good condition and have never seen the need for them. It is another couple hundred grams I don’t need to carry.
Good question. Glad you asked it. My understanding is this. A few years ago you used to be able to free camp anywhere. I am talking about when driving around Iceland. However that has stopped now and they (Icelanders) are wanting / trying to funnel people into camping areas. I believe this is due to the huge influx of visitors which is now over a million a year. So to be respectful to Icelanders I would stick to designated camping. Can you imagine 200k people trying to free camp each night. The trash over the country would be incredible. We took that philosophy on our hikes. Honestly in the West fjords there are not that many people as we camped by our selves every night except for one. There is not much at the sites either. I loved it. On the lanmammaulgar which is very popular I saw a few tents scattered outside camping areas. In the future I think that is going to be an issue. Enjoy and thanks for caring
First minute : clearly ! We got stuck in this pass in 2017 as well : too windy and snow patches. Had to wait a day for it to improve
Great videos, thank you. What are the laws/rules regarding camping there (in the Westfjords and even Iceland generally)? Can you set up wherever or are you limited to official campsites. There’s a ton of conflicting information and I want to be respectful of the land and of Icelanders.
Another question is whether you may do a gear review as you have both done a heap of hiking now. Interested in your set up 👍👍
I notice you dont use trekking poles much. Any reason? I found it helped in steep terrain and icy snow patches.
Foggers I only had trekking poles on this walk as there is no wood around for the large river crossings so that is why I took them. I very rarely use poles. Fortunately my legs knees etc are in good condition and have never seen the need for them. It is another couple hundred grams I don’t need to carry.
This is a protected area ,you simply don’t use trekking poles .And if you can’t be without them ,stay a way from Hornstrandir