Twenty Days in Iceland, A Photo Travelogue

Day 6-7: Gullfoss, Geysir, Interior Crossing, Sauderkrokkur

We completed our mandatory visits of the second and third of the "Golden Circle" Reykjavik sights: Gullfoss and Geysir. Gullfoss is the big waterfall pictured in almost all Iceland travel advertisements. While it is invariably pictured in sunny blue skies, or with dramatic encrustations of ice, we saw it under the gray skies that we'd become accustomed to. The drizzle combined with the huge amounts of mist the fall itself creates caused us to take a few photos and beat a hasty retreat in fear of becoming totally drenched.

The geyser at Geysir (yes, it lent its name to all of the others) no longer erupts after recent geologic activity changed the undergound "plumbing", but one of its immediate neighbors, Strokkur, erupts regularly (about every 5-10 minutes). Even more interesting than Strokkur's eruptions themselves are the way the water in the vent appears to "breathe" several times just before it goes off. This makes its name, which means "churn" in Icelandic seem all the more appropriate.

Next was the first of our two crossings of Iceland's barren interior. We came to understand why our old 4-wheel-drive GJ Travel bus was the right vehicle for the trip. The road north consists mainly of a one-lane gravel road that winds its way through the lunar landscape between the icecaps of the south. Vegetation is limited to moss and small, low-lying plants, the most colorful of which had tiny pink flowers.

Halfway through the approximately 7-hour drive we stopped at Kjolur: where a famous outlaw and his family managed to eke out an existence in hiding for almost 20 years. Seeing the ruins of their tiny shelter made their feat seem even more unbelievable. There we also had our introduction to soaking in a natural "hot pot", which is what Icelanders call hot spring pools.

Sauderkrokkur, our northern destination town, was the location of our favorite outdoor hot pot of all, a rock-lined pool called "Reykir" (smoker) at the end of the road beyond town. The pool was located right on the seashore, with views of the sheer walls of the fjord and phalaropes (small water birds) flying and swimming near us. Icelandic horses (we had to fight the urge to call them ponies, since that's what they look like) and sheep wandered nearby as well.

We learned more about Icelandic horses by visiting a farm specializing in breeding and showing these wonderful animals. This smaller breed is exclusive to Iceland and is visible all over the island. No other horse breeds can be imported. Icelandic horses leaving the country for a show or competition can't be brought back home and are often sold to eager buyers in Europe. Because of their size and gait, they are said to be very strong and comfortable to ride over long distances. We even got chance to meet a champion horse and rider and see them in a demonstration illustrating the various gates. After the demo, we were treated to some folk and rock music by the owner's family.

We were very close to the arctic circle on the north coast of Iceland. The summer sun here typically sets after midnight and rises around 3am. Strangely enough, it rises and sets in the north sky. The night never really gets very dark. It is just 3 hours of twilight. It would have been so cool to see the northern lights, but that is a winter phenomenon so we missed it. Late one evening we hiked up to a hill overlooking Saduerkrokkur (Sheep-Hook) hoping to see the sunset at around midnight. It set behind a hill, but we got a nice view anyway.

It was here that we had our first more serious group hike up to the large hilltop shown below (about 1000m elevation). It looks like a pretty high peak, but because there are no trees it can be hard to judge size and distance. It was windy and the footing was loose rocks, but we made it up there and enjoyed the view over the river valley.