July 23, 2019

July 23, 2019

From the Golden Circle, we drove south to the coast of Iceland. In the distance we saw a cliff face. As we got closer we could see the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall cascading down its face. We stopped and hiked to it. The cavity behind the falls is big enough to walk inside the water curtain. It looks like something out of a movie.

As we drive east, the entire coastline is mostly high steep cliffs covered in bright green grass. It reminds us of the Isle of Skye in Scotland times a hundred. Plus there are waterfalls plunging off the escarpment frequently.

We stop at a large cascade called Skogafoss. It is one huge water curtain. We also hiked up a long set of stairs to the top. We had to share both waterfalls with lots of tourists. We haven’t lost the Reykjavik day trippers yet.

Our next stop is at the Solheimajokull Glacier that is ‘flowing’ down a canyon carved in the cliff wall. We hike out to the lagoon at its toe. It is filled with dirty ice bergs.

Next we stop at a piece of the cliff wall that has become separated from the main body and is now almost an island. Dyrholaey Promontory is ringed by black sand beaches and sea rocks. On one edge we see a small rock arch that was probably a remnant of a lava tube.

Across the bay we stop at Reynisfjara black sand beach. It is starting to drizzle so we take the opportunity for a quick but delicious soup lunch. Aimee thinks it is Sweet Potato Soup. I insist it has to be Rutabaga Soup because I don't like sweet potatoes.

After lunch we walk onto the black sand beach filled with tourists. On one side is a nice wall of hexagonal basalt columns.

Farther east we lose our cliff edge for a time and pass vast fields of lava rocks. Similar to what we saw around the Blue Lagoon, they are covered in gray moss. I read a storyboard that this lava is from eruptions in the late 18th century that caused global weather disruptions and crop failure. Potentially precipitating the French Revolution.

We have seen, in the distance, lots of steep sided caverns cut into the escarpment. Fjadrargljufur Canyon is one that is reasonably accessible. Two miles down a dirt road and a short hike brings us to the edge of this beautiful chasm.

On the outskirts of a small town we stop to see a tiny quirky geologic site. This is another basalt column formation that happens to be totally buried in dirt leaving only the top visible. The exposed hexagonals resemble a church floor.

Just down the road is a similar oddity called Dwarf Rocks. A basalt cliff that looks like a home of Iceland’s mythical little people.

We lose the cliff edge again and cross a vast plain of glacial alluvial sand. The immensity of it means we have to now be below the vast glacier field of Vatnojokull, the largest in Europe. We end the day at a hotel at the base of this glacier in the town of Skaftafell. This has been a long day of driving and sightseeing. I unwind with a glass of Iceland’s Viking Beer. The scenery today has been outstanding, far better than yesterday’s famous, but disappointing Golden Circle.