We made the campground in Selfoss our home base for the next few days while we spent some time exploring the Golden Circle, a 300k loop from Reykjavik into the Southern uplands and back. Its one of the most popular tourist routes in Iceland as it can be done in one day and there's a little bit of everything from waterfalls to geothermal activity. We saved it for later in our trip hoping to avoid some of the worst of the crowds. On our first day we slept in until almost noon and then set out for a 40 minute drive to check out Gullfoss and Geysir.
Gullfoss is a waterfall on the Hvita river and it was beautiful but quite busy, and it made me appreciate our opportunities to see other equally impressive waterfalls in more remote locations in Iceland. Gullfoss has an upper section of tiered rocks that the river cascaeds down before turning a sharp corner and plunging 105 feet to the valley below.
A short distance down the road is Geysir, a geothermal area with several vents, hot pools and geysers. The only on actively spouting is Strokkur, and it erupts fairly regularly every 6-8 minutes so we watch a few eruptions before taking a walk around. We didn't do too much exploring at either place because we had accommodations booked for later in our trip at he bubble hotel, and it included a tour of the golden circle with a guide. We finished the day at Hveragerdi to visit the Olverk brewery for dinner. Its unique in that its a geothermal powered brewery, although that doesn't actually do anything unique to the beer. I had a pint of their blueberry wit, and it was pleasant although not something i would pay $14 for a second time. All of the beer here in Iceland is incredibly expensive, so we've been pretty sober on this trip. We shared a pizza for dinner and then went to Isbud Huppu, an ice cream shop in Selfoss for dessert.
Gullfoss is a waterfall on the Hvita river and it was beautiful but quite busy, and it made me appreciate our opportunities to see other equally impressive waterfalls in more remote locations in Iceland. Gullfoss has an upper section of tiered rocks that the river cascaeds down before turning a sharp corner and plunging 105 feet to the valley below.
A short distance down the road is Geysir, a geothermal area with several vents, hot pools and geysers. The only on actively spouting is Strokkur, and it erupts fairly regularly every 6-8 minutes so we watch a few eruptions before taking a walk around. We didn't do too much exploring at either place because we had accommodations booked for later in our trip at he bubble hotel, and it included a tour of the golden circle with a guide. We finished the day at Hveragerdi to visit the Olverk brewery for dinner. Its unique in that its a geothermal powered brewery, although that doesn't actually do anything unique to the beer. I had a pint of their blueberry wit, and it was pleasant although not something i would pay $14 for a second time. All of the beer here in Iceland is incredibly expensive, so we've been pretty sober on this trip. We shared a pizza for dinner and then went to Isbud Huppu, an ice cream shop in Selfoss for dessert.
On October 19 we booked an excursion to go Snorkeling in the Sifra fissure, between two tectonic plates. On this trip we've opted not to do many paid activities since Iceland is a fairly expensive place to be and we wanted to be sure we saved enough money to do the few things that we can't do anywhere else. We can walk on glaciers any time we want in Alaska, but this is the only place in the world you can swim between tectonic plates.
We met our guide Carlos at Thingvellir National Park information center and followed him out to the dive site. There were only four other people in the group and everyone was around our age. We got geared up with a warm onesie, a dry-suit, gloves and a hood, then carried our fins and masks three minutes down the trail to the beginning of the fissure. We entered the 34 degree water two at a time down a set of wide stairs and had to show we could roll over onto our backs before we got started. The dry suits were bouyant and there is a current flowing through the fissure so we didn't need to do much swimming, we just floated through the crystal clear water and enjoyed the view. The fissure is quite narrow in parts and ranges from a few feet deep to over 100. I could even see a few caves and crevices further down that you'd definitely need scuba gear and a small body to squeeze into and explore. We explored the four main sections; the big crack, Silfra hall, the cathedral and Silfra lagoon and then had some time to swim around on our own. We were in the water about 40 minutes but the only part of me that really felt the cold was my hands.
The Silfra fissure is formed where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. The water is melted glacier water from the Langjokull glacier and it filters through the underground lava rocks for about 30 years before it emerges crystal clear into the crack. The water doesn't look all that special from above, but once inside you're surrounded by fabulous shades of bright blue and you could almost imagine it was tropical if it wasn't so cold...
We met our guide Carlos at Thingvellir National Park information center and followed him out to the dive site. There were only four other people in the group and everyone was around our age. We got geared up with a warm onesie, a dry-suit, gloves and a hood, then carried our fins and masks three minutes down the trail to the beginning of the fissure. We entered the 34 degree water two at a time down a set of wide stairs and had to show we could roll over onto our backs before we got started. The dry suits were bouyant and there is a current flowing through the fissure so we didn't need to do much swimming, we just floated through the crystal clear water and enjoyed the view. The fissure is quite narrow in parts and ranges from a few feet deep to over 100. I could even see a few caves and crevices further down that you'd definitely need scuba gear and a small body to squeeze into and explore. We explored the four main sections; the big crack, Silfra hall, the cathedral and Silfra lagoon and then had some time to swim around on our own. We were in the water about 40 minutes but the only part of me that really felt the cold was my hands.
The Silfra fissure is formed where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. The water is melted glacier water from the Langjokull glacier and it filters through the underground lava rocks for about 30 years before it emerges crystal clear into the crack. The water doesn't look all that special from above, but once inside you're surrounded by fabulous shades of bright blue and you could almost imagine it was tropical if it wasn't so cold...
The day after our snorkel adventure it was raining lightly as we set out from Selfoss to go waterfall hunting. Steven did some research and found three waterfalls in the area that you can hike behind, so we put on our raincoats and planned to get wet. The first waterfall we explored was Gljufrabui, its 40 meters tall but the only way to see the whole thing is to hike up the stream coming out of the narrow fissure in the cliff face. 50 feet upstream the space opens into a large chamber with a huge boulder at the center, and the waterfall flows from the top of the cliff into a shallow pool behind the boulder. It spreads out to cover the entire back wall and the room is filled with the sound and the spray. We were both thoroughly soaked when we left, but it was totally worth it to visit such a magical little spot.
From Glufrabui we walked half a kilometer along the cliff band and past several smaller waterfalls to Seljalandsfoss which is larger and taller (65 meters) but a major tourist stop. There was a trail behind the waterfall so you can see it from all angles so we hiked up the stairs on one side and through the mist to the relatively dry overhang behind the falls and then down the stairs on the other side.
Our last waterfall of the day was Kvernufoss, right next to Skogafoss although we didn't know it when we were there the last time. WE drove past the museum and then parked next to a warehouse. We had to climb a ladder over a fence and into some pastureland, but it was easy to find the 1/2 mile trail down the canyon to the falls. The hike took us along the edge of the river surrounded by high rock walls covered in impossibly green moss. We couldn't see the falls until we were almost there and rounded the bend past a large boulder. This was our favorite waterfall of the day because it was so secluded it felt like our own secret spot, and the view from behind the narrow waterfall looking back down the narrow valley was amazing.
Our plan was to leave Selfoss the next day and head back North of Reykjavik to better explore the area up there that we had biked through so quickly the first time.
From Glufrabui we walked half a kilometer along the cliff band and past several smaller waterfalls to Seljalandsfoss which is larger and taller (65 meters) but a major tourist stop. There was a trail behind the waterfall so you can see it from all angles so we hiked up the stairs on one side and through the mist to the relatively dry overhang behind the falls and then down the stairs on the other side.
Our last waterfall of the day was Kvernufoss, right next to Skogafoss although we didn't know it when we were there the last time. WE drove past the museum and then parked next to a warehouse. We had to climb a ladder over a fence and into some pastureland, but it was easy to find the 1/2 mile trail down the canyon to the falls. The hike took us along the edge of the river surrounded by high rock walls covered in impossibly green moss. We couldn't see the falls until we were almost there and rounded the bend past a large boulder. This was our favorite waterfall of the day because it was so secluded it felt like our own secret spot, and the view from behind the narrow waterfall looking back down the narrow valley was amazing.
Our plan was to leave Selfoss the next day and head back North of Reykjavik to better explore the area up there that we had biked through so quickly the first time.
RSS Feed