Lónsöræfi

The reindeer appear first — a small herd crossing a golden ridge, silhouetted against the glacier that fills the southern horizon. Lónsöræfi, in Iceland's east highlands, is a roadless wilderness where rhyolite peaks glow like amber and the company is mostly wildlife.

Lónsöræfi spreads beneath Vatnajökull's eastern outlets: braided rivers, golden-red rhyolite mountains and deep glacial valleys whose mineral colour rivals Landmannalaugar while seeing barely a handful of walkers. Wild reindeer — descendants of an 18th-century introduction — roam East Iceland's uplands, and this is their country. The walking is multi-day and serious: river fords, mountain passes and weather that must be planned around, with the touring association's staffed huts, Múlaskáli among them, as the anchors of the established itineraries. The way in from Stafafell farm off the Ring Road is a 4x4 track whose first river crossing alone turns back the unprepared.