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.
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