Sheep Round up - Tungnaréttir

Day 1
10th of September - Tuesday
Reykjavík - Myrkholt

Pick up at one place in Reykjavík. Arrival to Myrkholt during the evening for an easy evening. 

Day 2
11th of September - Wednesday
Myrkholt – Fremstaver

Arrival to Myrkholt farm is at noon where we settle in, meet our guides and fellow travelers before having refreshments. We will start by visiting the stables, meet the horses and gear up for the first part of the ride. We ride with a free running herd of horses towards the highlands and experience Icelandic wilderness at its best, with magnificent mountain peaks and Langjökull glacier in all its glory. We stop for a short break with the herd on the highland right next to Sandá river where we change horses. We now head towards Mt. Bláfell (1160 m. above sea level) to our overnight cabin, Fremstaver, which is our destination for the day. There we spend the night while our horses feed on hey in the paddock adjacent to the cabin.

Approx. distance traveled: 26KM.

Day 3
12th of September – Thursday
Fremstaver – Myrkholt

After breakfast, we saddle the horses and say our goodbyes to this peaceful place in the highlands of Iceland. We ride with our herd south-west towards Ásbrandsá river. We cross the river into Haukadalsheiði, a black desert of stones and sand. Riding through the desert we start going down the highlands and into a polar-opposite; a green, bushy and unique forest.

The trails are soft and the views are impressive into Haukadalur, where we look over the entire Geysir hot-spring area and the Árnessýsla county. We head down through Haukadalsskógur forest, the biggest of its kind in Iceland, and towards the Geysir area. There we unsaddle and leave our horses in a paddock in one of the most well-known geological hotspots in the world, where we visit the world-famous geysers Geysir (the one and only!) and Strokkur.

After this adventure, we saddle our horses and head back to the Myrkholt farm where we rest overnight in the lovely Skálinn – our home for the remainder of the tour

Day 4
13th of September – Friday
Myrkholt- Myrkholt

After breakfast, we ride from Myrkholt to Hvítá (the white) river. We ride along the Hvítárgljúfur canyon, towards the Gullfoss waterfall, there we will rest our horses while taking in the views of this massive waterfall. But on we go! Into the saddle again to ride towards the farmers that have spent the previous week in the highlands rounding up about 6000 sheep. The sheep have roamed the highlands freely during the summer but are now back into “civilization” for the winter.

We join these mountain-men and women back to Myrkholt for lunch and then head back out to on our horses towards Tungnaréttir-gathering, which stands by Tungnafljót river and the waterfall Faxi. It is here where the thousands of sheep are sorted and will be placed with their rightful owner tomorrow morning.

After socializing with the team and seeing Tungnaréttir-gathering we head back to Myrkholt for our overnight rest. A good night’s sleep is important as we head back out to Tungnaréttir-gathering early in the morning. Exciting day ahead!

Day 5
14th of September – Saturday
Myrkholt – Tungnaréttir

We wake up early and head out to Tungnaréttir-gathering event, where we are greeted by the locals and their families, their horses and their sheep. They invite us to take part in the gathering and the celebrations which continue on throughout the day.

After the event, we head back to Myrkholt where we feast on a traditional Icelandic meat-soup and spend our last evening together.

Day 6
15th of September - Sunday
Myrkholt - Reykjavík

All good things must come to an end. Here we say our goodbyes to our hosts, farmers, and horses. After breakfast, a bus will pick you up and drive you to Reykjavík.

Sleeping bag arrangement in huts and guesthouses