Area: Esja, Iceland
Very different in tone from everything else I did in Iceland, Esja feels like what it is: a popular hill on the edge of a large urban area. Reykjavik is clearly visible from most of the route, which is a standard, much-travelled loop up to the viewpoint of Stein and then down the far side of a gentle river valley, Grensoxl. Esja is actually a giant plateau, and the mist peeled spectacularly away from the pinnacles on the rocky coastal facing side as I approached the car park. The trade route to Stein is up a huge path, and felt more like something from the Peak District or perhaps the West Highland Way than my outings in the rest of Iceland. Stein represents a crossing of the paths, and most of Reykjavik is visible far below. An extension exists, however, and it is a good way to get up to sample the Esja plateau proper. The path is steeper up to a rock band, and then a chained (very mild) scramble traverses the rocks rightwards to gain a 'korean-style' ascent, up metal steps and the like, to the forepeak of Thverfellshorn (my laptop can't do the special Icelandic character this peak begins with). This is raised above the rest of the plateau, and was engulfed with mist by the time I got there. Again, it felt like home: I could have been on Carnedd Dafydd. I took the chains back to Stein and then ran down at a decent pace in warm sunshine - 1.26 for the entire outing. This gave me ample time to drive to Gardur at the end of the Reykjanes peninsula for stunning views of breaching humpback whales, and lots of birds.
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