Iceland (5-Nov to 12th Nov) - Part 3 - South

Sunday 6-11
The plan for today was to hit the things we wanted to see in the south of Iceland - starting at the most distant (Reynisfjara Beach) and working our way back.

While we saw most of what we wanted to see, it didn't really work out like that.

Firstly, a few of places we were most interested in - Landmannalauguar, Mýrdalsjökull glacier and Eyjafjallajökull were in areas that we couldn't access without a four-wheel drive or a booked tour.  We did seem them from the main road though and I'll include the photos below.

The biggest change of plans was my failure to realize that Kristine would be unlikely to see an awesome waterfall and drive past it, despite assurances that we would return to it on the way back.  This wasn't a major problem, we just reversed the order of our trip - hitting the closest places first, ending at Reynisfjara Beach and then driving back.

The final problem of the day was that Iceland really didn't want to cooperate with us - it was wet and foggy with pretty awful visibility:

The view on the drive

Our first stop was a bridge at Selfoss for our first real view of the Icelandic landscape.  This wasn't a scheduled stop, but as we passed over the river Ölfusá we had to stop and snap some photos:

Selfoss - Bridge over the River Ölfusá

River Ölfusá

River Ölfusá

Next stop was the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.  As I mentioned, we had planned to bypass this and hit it on our return, but it posed an impressive sight in the distance, so we stopped to take photos before we even realized that it was one of the waterfalls on our list.  The waterfall has its origin in the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic glacier.  The melt water runs down and then falls 60m to continue the Seljalands River.  (Foss is the Icelandic word for waterfall, so this is literally the Seljaland's waterfall).  One of the coolest things about this waterfall (besides the outside temperature, which was about 1 degree) is that there is a small cave behind it, that allows people to walk behind and look out through the waterfall.

First view - from a distance (Main Road Route 1)

Seljalandsfoss isn't the only waterfall that falls from the mountain here

To the left of the photo above (the waterfall on the right is the same one in the middle above)

And moving further left

Arrival at Seljalandsfoss

Top of the falls

Us in front of the falls

Alana eating an invisible hamburger

Moving around behind the falls

Looking up at the falls from behind

And from the west side of the falls

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From the signs:
Springing up from the Seljalandsheiði and Hamragilsheiði heath, Seljalandsá River passes through Tröllkonugil, or Troll Woman's gorge.  According to a legend, an old troll woman was trying to cross the gorge, but had to retreat when she heard the bells ringing at the nearby Ásólfsskálar Church.

Falling 65m over an old sea cliff, Seljalandsfoss is a waterfall that you can walk behind.  As you circle the falls, you can see it from all angles, and when the sun shines, rainbows appear, giving it a magical appearance while the thundering sound of the waterfall plays in the background.  As a result of global warming that occurred at the end of the Ice Age, the sea level rose dramatically, completely submerging the Landeyjar area south of Seljalandsfoss.

South of the falls is a beautiful wooded area, Seljalandskverk, which shelters the entrance to the 20m long Kverkarhellir Cave that was used as a gathering place for parliamentarians of West Eyfellinga in former times.

 An easy walk of a few hundred meters just north of Seljalandsfoss brings you to Hamragarður Camp Site with its lovely Gljúfrabúinn falls.
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After leaving the falls, we headed east, towards the next waterfall on our list, past the mountains surrounding Eyjafjallajökull.

Driving

Driving

We stopped by the Þorvaldseyri (Thorvaldseyri) visitor center to look over the mountains towards
Eyjafjallajökull.

Þorvaldseyri area

360 degree panoramic view of the area (the mountain on the left is the one starting on the right)

Eyjafjallajökull sits behind this set of mountains

Þorvaldseyri farmstead

View to the right

After taking a few photos, we continued on.

Mountain and glacier in the distance

Next stop was the Skógafoss Waterfall.  This one was also visible from the road and we had no trouble finding it.

This waterfalls forms from the Skóga river and originally was situated as a coastal cliff.  When the waters receded (about 5km) the waterfall remained.  It is 25m wide and drops 60m.  There is a legend that the first viking settler Þrasi Þórólfsson buried a treasure behind the waterfall.  The legend says that the treasure was found by locals but when they grasped the ring on the side of the chest, the treasure disappeared leaving only the ring.  The ring was allegedly used on church door before being donated to a museum.  Behind the waterfall is a pass Fimmvörðuháls between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull.  We would have loved to have walked it, but it was a 26km 1100m high trail which is not recommended to trek from September to May.

This waterfall was used in the films "Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "Thor: Dark World"


In the scene from Walter Mitty, Walter treks past the waterfall with two guides, however the location is said to Nepal:

Walty Mitty at Skógafoss

We started at the bottom of the falls and then hiked the 570 steps to the top.  It was a bit of a trek but worth it.  The path between the glaciers started just behind the viewing platform, but it was a 25m hike and not recommended to be undertaken in winter.

Panoramic view of the approach to Skógafos

Skógafoss

Tomas at Skógafos

Skógafoss

Us in front of Skógafoss

Top of Skógafoss 

River Skóga flowing towards its doom!

Looking south from the top of Skógafoss

Skógafoss information sign

We had one final stop planned for the day, but on the way there we came across something strange - a building, seemingly squashed under a volcanic boulder.

The rock was Drangurinn in Drangshlíð and the buildings were made into the caves beneath the rocks to hold hay and cowsheds.  There are legends that the cowsheds were home to elves who would help birth calves as long as the farmer and his assistants were not present.

Drangurinn in Drangshlíð

Cowsheds

Drangurinn in Drangshlíð

Our final stop was the black sand beach at Reynisfjara.  We missed the turn off for the main tourist part of the beach - complete with basalt caves (we visited there the next day) but the part we visited was much quieter and the views were awesome. The black sand is made from ground volcanic rock and made many of the photos look like they were taken in black and white:

Church on the hill by Reynisfjara and Vik

The Reynisdrangar basalt sea stacks

The Reynisdrangar are basalt sea stacks that jut out from the water near Reynisfjara.  Legend says that they were created when two trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully and they became needles of rock when the sun rose.  Later legends tell of a husband whose was wife taken by two trolls and froze to death at night.  The husband made the trolls promise not to kill anyone else and his wife's spirit took up place with the two trolls as the stones.

Reynisdrangar

Tomas walking to the beach

Tom's only picture for the day - a selfie

The sand

The beach

Kris on the beach

The boys watching the waves

The camouflaged Reynisfjara hunting dog in its natural habitat

Waves breaking on the beach

The mist really added to the effect

The kids

A rare sighting of the Reynisfjara Beach yeti

Looking down the beach

A stone cairn or steinvarða, these are common around Iceland as tourists make them to make a mark (however it is not encouraged by the Icelandic environmental group)

After the beach it was starting to get dark and we had a big day ahead of us, so we headed home.

Day 2 Travel

Total Travel:
  Gullsmári, Kópavogur - Selfoss - Seljalandsfoss - Drangshlio - Reynisfjara - Gullsmári. (373km, 5hrs)

Total distance traveled so far:  517km