Waterfalls and sunsets

Leaving Reykjavik, you can follow the main road #1, following the ring to the east. This route will take you across the Golden Circle (home to a number of popular geological sites), and towards a few other must-see locations. Passing mountains and glaciers along the ring road spanning the flat lands along the coast, you'll be amazed by how many waterfalls - tall and long - scatter the countryside, many open to visitation.

Seljalandsfoss

4:00pm Sunset, Nov 28, 2016

About 120km out of Reykjavic, Seljalandsfoss is one of the more popular waterfall attractions in Iceland. It's formed of water runoff from the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, creating a 60 meter drop over an overhang, caused by erosion that has worn out a gully and a cavern behind the cascade, allowing you to sneak behind and view it quite safely from a different angle - while becoming quite wet from its mist and spray in the process! During much of the year, the sun's angle at sunrise or sunset may also provide an absolutely beautiful photographic composition, with extravagant colours and a soft mist, looking out over the vast plains.

Panorama on the way in to the majestic Seljalandsfoss.

It's also a popular backdrop for film photography, with its other-worldly, surreal composition. Most recently, the film "Passengers" used a view of the falls to represent a majestic landscape on a distant colony world. Once you've been there (the waterfalls, not the other world) it's an unmistakable view you'll recognize in an instant!

Seljalandsfoss appears for a brief moment in the 2016 film Passengers, as part of the other-worldly landscape of the colony planet Homestead II.

When Hrunting and I arrived at sunset as we'd planned based on recommendations, sadly the angle of the sun at this time of year had it placed back behind the cliff face, but it didn't hinder the sky from lighting up with the colours of dusk.

Plan your visit during sunrise or sunset, and come prepared with a rain jacket, and protective gear for any video, photo, or electronics equipment you may wish to lug with you!

While there, I had the option to also seek out a few geocaches in the vicinity, such as Proficio at Seljalandsfoss, The Tesseract, and above the falls, High on Seljalandsfoss. However, I was so taken by the wonder of these falls that I spent more time photographing and exploring than hiking to find caches! I did intend to visit another waterfall about 600m to the north though, and walked the trail along the base of the cliff to arrive while there was still light to see.

Gljúfurárfoss

4:45pm

One great thing about many geological names in Iceland is they are compound words constructed from smaller, more basic features. In this case, Gljúfurárfoss (gl-you-fur-owr-fuss), essentially means "canyon [gljúfur] river [ár] waterfall [foss]". When you arrive, you hear it before you see it.

You'll need to wear some good water resistant shoes, boots, or footwear that you won't care about getting wet. Carefully make down your way to the slippery edge of the stream flowing out from the vertical hole in the rock face, and make your way along slick stones, stepping over some larger rocks in the water, and few hops from ledge to ledge, until the cavern opens up and you're greeted by another enormous 60m waterfall right in front of your face.

There is plenty of room here to walk around, take photos (again, come prepared with protective gear!), and even climb a large boulder and let the mist wash over you. It's quite a sight to behold, and one you wouldn't want to miss if you just visited Seljalandsfoss.

If you don't mind getting wet and can hop stones, find your way into the cavern and admire this hidden gem of a waterfall.

Foss á Siðu

10:00pm

Skipping ahead a bit, while heading to our destination for the night, we passed by a sight in the darkness, lit up from below, which to be honest first looked to me like a face before taking a closer look. Needing a little bit of a break from driving, we pulled up and did some sleuthing to discover the name of this waterfall, located about 11km north of Kirkjubæjarklaustur (or, 'church-farm-cloister'). It's not that significant a waterfall, and it's gated and inaccessible at night, but I'm sure that in daylight, especially during spring and summer, its location would provide a beautiful backdrop.

Suffice to say, this little community is proud of its waterfall, considering how they illuminate it for passers-by.

A drive-by view of Foss á Siðu lit up in the darkness of night.

As you travel, you may continue to explore along the base of the mountainous landscapes of Iceland where glacial runoffs natural springs flow towards the sea - there are so many gorgeous waterfalls to experience, especially in the southern regions of Iceland. For my trip, Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfurárfoss were the two most notable, but later on Hrunting and I did briefly visit others such as Hjálparfoss, Kirkjufellsfoss, and Gulfoss (though sadly, with not as much time or light as they really deserve), which you'll read about in the following pages.

 Reykjavikian ambiance

 Human wrecks and legacies