This was a 10-day trip:

Day 1 (May 24, 2012): drive to climbing area near Skálafellsjökull and camp at climbing area.

Day 2: Leave 8 am to be driven to Jöklasel (starting ski point). Begin skiing closer to noon. Ski until 18:00, covering 15 km and raising elevation roughly 800 m. Conditions were wet snow and very little visibility (clouds / fog), but the sky cleared by the time we were done cooking dinner around 10:00. Camp 1.

Day 3: Ski ~25 km to Camp 2. Wet snow, warm wind (~10 - 15 m/s) from the S but not the usual rain that accompanies it. Because the wind was roughly in our direction, we were able to use the sails that we made (2.5 x 1 m fabric with sleeves for ski poles at each end; 1 person holds onto the ski pole on each end of the sail). This was REALLY useful because the snow was otherwise sticky enough to slow our skiing a lot. So sticky that we decided to camp early and get up early the next morning for some harder snow. Camp 2

Day 4: Left ~ 7:30 to cover 35 km and sleep at the small emergency hut at Kverkfjöll (Camp 3). It was a long hard day as the ascent to Kverkfjöll was long and hot, but gorgeous conditions so we made the most of it. The hut is tucked next to some hills with geothermal springs and a lake. We could see all the mountains in the highland deserts to the north and ash was stirred by some winds from the E, leaving the air hazy in that direction.

Day 5: We had an easy short day starting around noon. Little wind and lots of sun - at this point we really began to fry. Gorgeous weather and little wind, and most of the way was downhill, leaving us ~20 km toward Grimsvötn. Camp 4.

Day 6: Got up early to make sure we arrived at the cabins at Grimsvötn volcano (Camp 5). Most of the way was easy and flat, except for a steeper ascent to the top of the mountain, where the cabins were located. These cabins were NICE! Great kitchen, chilly but good shower, sauna (!!!) and lots of bunk space. This is a tricky time to reserve a space at the cabin - we weren´t sure if a load of 25 scientists were going to show up at some point that evening. In that case, they would have had priority and we would have camped outside. That would have been chilly as the cabins were relatively high in elevation.

Day 7: Regretfully left Grimsvötn but enjoyed the long day of gradual downhill (in addition to riding our sleds), so we managed a quick 35 km to Hermannaskarð (Camp 6) . Gorgeous weather and little wind once again. REALLY hot, but needed to keep layers on to avoid frying. 

Day 8: Began our ascent up into Öræfajökull. This was slightly tricky as we entered clouds and more crevassed terrain as we gained elevation. We needed to change route a few times as traversing hillsides would cause our sleds to roll over. We ended up going straight over the top of Snæbreið (gorgeous conical peak only 100 m shorter than Hvannadalshnjúkur, and only ~ 1/2 km away). We then needed to cross a snow bridge across a large crevasse (on belay) on our way down Snæbreið. and into the crater of Öræfajökull. There we camped just below Hvannadalshnjúkur (Camp 7). Today was a bit more windy (12 m/s ?), nothing problematic but enough to secure our camp better.

Day 9: We left at 9 am, skied 1 km to the climbing starting point around the side fo the peak, and left our sleds. From here, we alpine climbed to the peak (~200 m), had gorgeous views and weather, and then began our long descent off the glacier. Climbed down to our sleds, lunch, then ~ 3 km across the crater to the Hnappar picks that mark the beginning of Hnappaleið. From here down was a difficult descent as the oddly shaped volcanic peaks has caused crevasses to develop in every direction, crossing each other. It was steep, so we took off our skis. Our guide needed to do some expert pathfinding to get us down. He did a GREAT job. We tied both ropes together to make 1 long rope with all 6 of us and our sleds prusiked to the line behind us so that the person behind us could (try to) control our sleds to prevent them from running us over. This worked, but needed constant readjustment so the going was slow. The route is not easily described except that the goal was to arrive as close to the end of a barely recognizable road. One really needs a GPS to find the road in the end. From the main highwya, this road begins as a maintenance road for a cell phone tower, but then becomes basically a jeep track after passing the tower. After exiting the glacier, we rode our sleds down the rest of the snow, then carried them ~100 m to the road, where we were picked up after ~30 minutes. We had been calling and texting our ride throughout the day whenever there was the slightest bit of phone contact. From that contact, our ride was able to guess our arrival time very well and find us despite the lack of reception at this end point. We got a ride down with the same guide service (highly competent and recommended!), picked up our cars, and camped at Skaftafell National Park campground that night.

Day 10: Drive back to Reykjavik (5 hrs).