Tag Archives: waterfalls

The most photographed waterfall in Iceland

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We had one more waterfall to catch for the day.

Seljalandsfoss, AKA the most photographed waterfall in Iceland was our last stop. It means “selling the land of waterfalls.” This is where most southern Iceland tours make at a stop; it’s overall one of the most popular places in all of Iceland. Based on its positioning facing west behind a cliff, it’s also most beautiful viewed at sunset because that’s when the light hits the waterfalls. Most of the rest of the day, it’s behind shadows.

Naturally Pokin wanted to head there for sunset.

“You realize every single photographer in Iceland is going to have the same idea right?” Nicholas said.

“Yes,” Pokin answered. And that’s why we are going to go early to camp out a spot.

So, despite the sun setting at 6:55pm, we were there by a little after 5. My bud and I decided to wait in the car. Pokin hauled off with her gear.

A little while after, she came back with her gear, looking a lot damper.

“I don’t have a wide enough camera lens to capture the photos. I’m better off with my iPhone,” was the answer.

We all head back out together. My curiousity was piqued from this “most beautiful waterfall” claim. From here it looks ok.

The sun starts to fall as we get closer and the view gets better.

And of course it gets wetter.

The place wasn’t as busy as it could be as most of the tour busses have to leave before sunset, but there were a decent number of Instagrammers on site and photographers. I can only assume they are Instagrammers based on the props and poses.

At one point Nicholas says “you’re going to regret not having your camera here.” And they go back to get their camera. But the iPhone photo still won out in the end.

Here it is during the full sunset glow.

The cool thing about this waterfall is that you can walk all the way around it. I recommend the counterclockwise route so you are scrambling up slippery rocks instead of down. The cave behind the waterfall was formed by gradual erosion of rock from the waterfall spray. Makes sense, this waterfall sure sprays over the course of its 60m drop! The Seljalandsfoss flows from the Seljalandsá river which is fed by the Eyjafjallajökull glacier.

And with that, we’re done with waterfalling in Iceland this trip. Can’t say I’m sad, but this is a nice one to end with.

The wettest falls

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Pokin wasn’t done with waterfalls for the day. She next mapped us to Gljúfrafoss. Apparently it’s known as one of the wettest hikes in Iceland. You go through a canyon hiking basically right in the river.

“I’m definitely sitting this one out guys,” I say.

To my surprise, they readily agreed and left me in the car.

The trail starts out like this –

After which you get into a canyon and stay there.

And you get to hike right in the water.

For this waterfall.

My bud said he had fun scrambling. Glad he did!

And I’m just glad I got to stay in the car for this one.

Skógafoss part 2

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This morning Pokin actually read up on the Aurora Borealis in Iceland.

Turns out, while September and March are supposed to be the best times to see them in Iceland (September due to the Autumnal Equinox), Iceland isn’t actually the best place to see them in general. (Alert: because it’s often cloudy and rainy!!!) If aurora is your main purpose then you’re better off heading to places like Finland, Sweden, and Alaska. You can definitely see them in Iceland, and many people have taken great photos, but it is very much up to luck and timing. There are forecast apps and forecast sites that tell you the chances of seeing aurora, though apparently for Iceland they are not too reliable. Your best bet is to check out the live cams or follow one of the many Facebook groups that share sightings.

Well we were here supposedly to see the still resting Fagradalsfjall volcano, so I guess not seeing aurora is ok. From here on out the forecast doesn’t look great for aurora sightings.

Given it was raining this morning and given we were up a lot of the night waiting for the aurora to reappear, we decided to make it a rest day and take it easy.

Which lasted until about 11am.

“It’s nice out,” Nicholas said. “We should probably taken advantage.”

So again we bundled up and headed out. We considered a few options that we couldn’t do because of the rain yesterday, and in the ended decided to head back to Skógafoss.

Skógafoss also happened to be the starting point of the Fimmvörðuháls trailhead, apparently one of the top hikes in Iceland because you’re walking alongside a river dotted with waterfalls for the initial stretch. The whole trail is a 25km (16 mile) hike one way that ends in Þörsmock (Thórsmörk). Given that we were starting out at 11am and needed to drive 25 minutes to get to the starting point, we definitely weren’t doing the full hike, but we figured we’d get as far as we possibly could before turning around.

Back to the crowded parking lot and back up many flights of stairs we went.

My bud decided to film it on his GoPro.

Which was just like 10 minutes of walking up stairs. Longer for Pokin.

It didn’t take much going on the trail to lose most people. We didn’t lose the sheep though, which I didn’t mind. Sheep are fun.

We spent about 2 hours walking the trail.

Eventually we got to High Peak Falls, and decided we’d better turn around. Pokin had sunset plans and didn’t want to miss them.

Skógafoss and Hotel Rangá

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Skógafoss was the next waterfall on our list. It’s also one of two waterfalls on basically every single tour to the South Coast of Iceland. In other words, it was plenty crowded. Skógafoss is known to be one of the most powerful waterfalls in terms of water volume, and on a sunny day, it’s supposed to throw the most rainbows. Naturally we went on a cloudy day.

The other cool thing is that you can walk right up to the falls. Less cool thing is that it basically means a gazillion other tourists are doing exactly that — loitering for eternity in FRONT of the waterfall and all your waterfall photos.

Like this.

Whatever. We went for a photo op anyway.

We looked around, noticed a viewpoint about 9 minutes of stair climbing up, and decided to head there.

View point is ok. I’ve seen better waterfalls. Pokin tells me to stop being a waterfall snob. I take the opportunity to remind her I didn’t even want to be seeing waterfalls anyway.

I’m secretly a little glad we went, but I’m also ready to head to our hotel. My bud and I are tired.

Tonight we’re headed for Hotel Rangá, where we’re staying for two nights. I saw it on the drive in and it looked like it there wasn’t around that seemed special.

Pokin said it was rated one of the top destinations for watching Aurora Borealis. To see the Aurora Borealis, you need to be around a lot of nothingness and darkness so you can look out into the sky. Aurora sounds cool. I’m down with that. The being around nothing doesn’t. Seems like good marketing spin to me, on the part of the hotel.

Annnnd…yup, I’m underwhelmed on arrival.

There’s something about this place that made me feel like I’m on the set of some sort of horror movie? I can’t explain why.

Maybe it’s this bear.

Maybe it’s this horrible decor for what’s supposed to be a nice place?

Maybe it’s the wood panelling. There’s wood panelling and then there’s this wood panelling.

There’s a lot of wood panelling.

I’m creeped out Nicholas. I’m not sure I want the sun to set here.

I later learned more about that creepy bear. His name is Hrammur (meaning “paw” in Icelandic). He’s 13 ft tall and originally from Greenland. He was featured in a sporting goods store that opened in Reykjavik in 1999 and went bankrupt in 2002. The bear then got stashed in a warehouse. The owner of Hotel Ranga, Friðrik Pálsson saw his photo, tracked down the warehouse where he was stashed, and pleaded with the owners to let the hotel have the bear. The bear didn’t fit the original hotel and a ceiling light had to be removed to get him in.

I guess knowing his name makes him a little less creepy. I approve of the bear-rescue efforts.

The waterfall day (onwards to Ranga)

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The next morning I was dragged up again at what I think was nearly sunrise.

I think it was nearly sunrise because it was pouring rain…so visibility wasn’t exactly there for me to tell much of anything.

One unwilling driver, one grumpy bear, and one hopeful photographer packed into a car and headed for Reynisfjara, the sunrise edition.

We parked at the beach, Pokin bundled up and went out —

and promptly came back. Not only was it rainy, but strong winds were blowing her backwards. Combine that with dangerous waves and even this crazy person found her limits.

So we sat in the car to see if weather conditions would improve. While sitting in the car I spent my time watching the wet sheep.

There, in the pouring rain, in windy conditions were the sheep, calmly munching away as though nothing was amiss. IT’S SO WET OUT THERE YOU CRAZY SHEEP!!

Due to the geographic isolation, the Icelandic sheep are considered one of the purest breeds in the world. They originate from the Northern European Short tailed stock of sheep, introduced to the country in the late 9th or 10th century by the vikings.

The fleece is apparently double coated, making them highly resistant to cold. There are apparently over 800,000 icelandic sheep to a population of ~390K Icelandic people.

I guess that makes them tolerant this dampness better? I don’t know. Give me hot cocoa by a toasty fire any day.

After I watched sheep for long enough, and after Pokin waited for long enough to know sunrise had most definitely already certainly happened, we drove back to the hotel to get ready for our day.

Today’s agenda? Waterfalls!

Wasn’t it wet enough already?

It was still raining a little when we set out, so we decided to first swing by to the Dyrhólaey Lighthouse because at least that was visible from the car. The rain was nice enough to stop by the time we got there, so we got out.

And immediately regretted it because it was so windy. I clung on to Nicholas tightly, I was that worried about being blown away.

Dyrhólaey Lighthouse marks the southernmost point in Iceland. The light station was first built in 1910, and the actual lighthouse built in 1927. The lighthouse was prefabricated in Sweden. Dyrhólaey stands for Door Hole Isle, named for this rock structure that sat below:

Nice peninsula. Nice lighthouse. Too cold! Back in the car.

Our next stop was Kvernufoss, which is located a short drive away from the more famous and touristy Skógafoss. Pokin picked this place because she thought there would be less crowds. There were, but it was made up for with more drones, which she shortly discovered from all the buzzing she heard.

I saw more sheep. Naturally.

The waterfall was wet and sprayed water everywhere. Naturally.

I helped out where I could, while doing my best to stay dry.

And was overall glad when we were done and hiking away from this waterfall.

Even though I knew it was unlikely, I still hoped Kvernufoss would be a one and done waterfall for the day.

“Next stop, Skógafoss,” announces Pokin. “It’s only a couple minutes away.”

Alas.

Driving to Vík and my glacier day

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Once Pokin washed up and dried off, we had a hearty breakfast and set off towards Vík.

Incidental note, the Foss Hotel Glacier Lagoon has an excellent breakfast. My bud and I approve.

On our way out, we stopped at the little waterfall beside the hotel.

“What’s the point,” said Nick. “There are so many better waterfalls.”

“I agree,” I said. I didn’t need to be near any waterfalls.

“It’s right here,” Pokin said. Let’s just see it.

So I guess we just saw it.

Vík is a town along the south coast of Iceland famous for their fine black sand beaches. It’s also considered the southernmost city in Iceland and also one of the rainest. We didn’t really know that when we decided to go there. They just happened to have rooms available when we were booking. So bonus.

First though, we had some glacier business to attend to.

I got word that Intersteller was filmed in one of the nearby glaciers, so my bud and I definitely had to go.

As warm up, we started at Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon. It’s the smaller cousin to Jökulsárlón, but not by much, and benefits from being way less crowded. You can’t see this lagoon from the road, but it’s only a short 10 minute walk to the lake Both lagoons are fed from the Vatnajökull ice cap, which is the largest icecap in volume in Europe. While we were there, we heard icebergs cracking off into the lake.

It happened to be raining, so I got a rainbow too.

Then it was to Svínafellsjökull – Interstellar!! To get ourselves in the mood, we loaded up the Intersteller sound track, data charges be darned!

The Svínafellsjökull glacier is a slightly longer walk from the parking lot. I didn’t care. Better anticipation!

I see it! Getting closer now! Can’t wait to get my paws on that ice!

The weather continued to stay overcast but I wasn’t going to let that deter me. Once we got to the base of the lagoon, we noticed a walking path towards the glaciers to the west of the lake, so we followed it in hopes of getting to the glacier.

I’m so excited!

It started to get really steep, so Pokin decided to stay put to grab photos instead.

My bud and I felt pretty sure footed though, so we continued onwards.

Unfortunately shortly after, we too, had to turn back too before we could step foot on the glacier as the trail just got too sketch even for us.

Maybe there was a different path there. Probably we should have booked a guided tour. Next time!