Page 30 - 2000 ICELAND
P. 30
Our goal this morning was an area with
three of Iceland’s most significant waterfalls
to explore and hike around. The falls are
part of the mighty Jökulsá á Fjöllum (the Jokull
River). One of the special things about the
area is that no “improvements” have been
made in the area: no wooden walkways, no
established trails, no viewing platforms. We
had perfect weather for the walk.
First we visited Selfoss, the second largest of the three and we were
impressed. But then we hiked around to Dettifoss, the largest waterfall in
Europe in terms of water volume and it was stunning. And to top it off,
there was a double rainbow over the plunge pool. We walked on further to
the third falls, Hafragilsfoss, which was considerably smaller than the first two
but still a beautiful sight and sound.
Then we scrambled over the boulders and made our
way down in the direction of the thunderous water
sounds. There were people taking naps in the grassy
areas around the two closer falls and many others
climbing around to get the best possible pictures.
We were certainly not the only group there and we
also saw many Icelanders sightseeing in their own country. And quite a
sight this place is—all part of the same national park that holds Asbrygi and
the Echo Rocks.
For lunch today, we stopped in an enormous horseshoe-shaped crater of an
extinct volcano. The park where we lunched was flat and contained short
dry grasses. The whole area was probably 300 feet by 300 feet. The walls of
the crater rose around us for about 270 degrees of the circle and to a height
of about 150 feet.

