In this episode:
- Why Albert chose Iceland over everywhere else, and how the Hidden Trails came to exist
- A walkthrough of the route: length, terrain, and the highlights along the way
- Who should (and shouldn’t) attempt this backpacking route
- Hiking with no marked trail: it’s not a walk in the woods
- Why river crossings are the real test of this trek
- Finding Iceland’s hot springs and highlands without the crowds
- Inside the mountain huts and meals of a multi-day trek
- Why Albert still loves guiding it after 50+ trips
- What’s next
Hiking in Iceland usually means the Laugavegur Trail — 55 kilometers through the southern highlands, and on a busy day, close to 100 hikers on the same stretch of ground.
What’s different here is the alternative: a 150-kilometer backpacking route, roughly three times the length, that two guides carved out simply because it was the version of Iceland they wanted to hike themselves.
Perica sits down with Albert to walk through the route — the length, the terrain, the river crossings, and why the smallest huts end up being everyone’s favorite part of the trip.
Podcast hosts
Albert has guided adventure treks in Iceland, Greenland, South America and Nepal. He has also worked as a documentary and travel photographer for international magazines. He has lived in Iceland since 2015, traveling the country discovering hidden gems and loads of adventure off the beaten path — always with his camera in tow.
Perica Levatić is co-founder and COO of 57hours. A climber of nearly two decades who never thought of himself as a hiker, he first saw the Hidden Trails through Albert’s own photography, in a 57hours webinar held during the pandemic — and was booking flights with his girlfriend the same day the world reopened for travel.