The mountain Esja (914 m (2,999 ft)), often called Esjan ("the Esja"), is situated in the south-west of Iceland, about 10 km to the north of Iceland's capital city Reykjavík. Esja is not a single mountain, but a volcanic mountain range, made from basalt and tuff.

Esja as seen from Perlan.

The etymology of the name is unclear. Esja can be used as a first name in Iceland. In the Kjalnesingasaga, there is a rich widow among Irish settlers named Esja, but it is likely that the women's name is derived from the mountain and not vice versa.

Hiking and climbing

Within easy reach of the capital, Esja is a very popular recreation area for hikers and climbers. The best known hiking paths lead to the summits Þverfellshorn (780 m) and Kerhólakambur (851 m). Þverfellshorn is also easily accessible by public transport.

The path is divided into sections, marked with signs along the way. Each sign gives an indication of the difficulty of the path ahead with a grade system ranging from 1 boot (easy) to 3 boots (challenging). At the third sign experienced climbers can choose to climb directly to the peak, instead of following the path which goes off to the right. Approximately 6.6 kilometers of walking and 200 meters away from sea level is an point a big rock called Steinn. It is here that most inexperienced climbers choose to go down again, as the path becomes increasingly difficult from there.

The highest point, at 914 m, is called Hábunga. From Þverfellshorn, reaching Habunga requires another three-kilometer trek northeast, across a rocky plateau with no directional signs or clear path. As of August 2011, Habunga was marked only by a large cairn with a wooden stick at the top.

Picture: Anton stefánsson
Source: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esjan)