16 June, 2012

Móskarðshnúkur is one of the very distinctive mountains visible from Reykjavik, but still, one of the lesser known. It's not readily obvious where you start from, and the even once you know, the road is really quite rough. But, it's a very nice walk, a nice length, and definitely less crowded than Esja.

I had originally planned on walking up the western ridge to Móskarðshnúkur, then across Laufaskarð and up to Hátindur, then down and out to Mogilsá, and have Kata come and pick me up. But, the roughness of the road, and the rather dire looking weather, and the time of day convinced me that that would have been an overly optimistic day.

I actually ripped a hole in a tire coming in here, and had a bit of an adventure not being able to find the right part of the jack to switch the tires. Fortunately some dirt bikers came past with a pump, and a patch kit, and got me on the road back home at least.

But that was afterwards. I left the jeep with a flat tire and decided to deal with it later. First, upwards.

I stuck to my original plan somewhat, by going up the western end, but then instead of north/west over to Laufaskarð, I headed directly east over the ridge to the top of the "regular" track up Móskarðshnúkur. Lots and lots and lots of flaky Rhyolite, and a good view down the north side too.

I followed the regular route back down, and then dealt with the tire problem. Still a good day, but it did end up being a little expensive. :)