Iceland - God's Vacation Spot (Part 2)

Waterfalls (or foss)

Probably my second favorite feature in Iceland are waterfalls. And there are a bunch of them! The mixture of power and beauty are a wonderful juxtaposition. Sort of a Mike Tyson meets Marilyn Monroe vibe. You are awed by the sheer beauty but intimidated by the noise and fury there. I had the pleasure of visiting about five of the falls in Iceland but there are two that move me to muse! The first is Gullfoss or "The Golden Falls". This wonder of nature actually has two drops - one about 35 feet and the second about 200 feet. Vast amounts of water pour over this fall into a deep gorge. There is a long path from the visitor center to the falls. At the end of the path there is a natural rock ledge formed by Mother Nature seemingly to just allow a vantage of her wonderful creation.

Below is a photo from the rock ledge above the falls. You can see the gorge carved by thousands of years of the mighty golden fall sending unrelenting and irresistible torrents over the drop. The roar of the water is deafening and will make one feel like less than a pawn in the cosmic game of chess. In the United States we have some gorgeous falls. However, I would say this one matches the beauty of any that I have personally seen including Niagara Falls. The second major fall in Iceland that I simply love is SkullaFoss. It is adjacent to a major east/west highway in Iceland and a very popular spot for tourists both to gawk and to camp. SkullaFoss dumps thousands of gallons of water into a large pool at its base where most people view the falls. However, for the brave, there are 440 steps to look at the falls from the top.

This amazing place seems to have every color under the rainbow at its disposal to wow the visitor. Just staring at the falls and zoning out the tour buses and hippies, one gets the sense of what Adam and Eve felt in the garden of Eden. What has SkullaFoss seen in the over 1000 years of inhabited history of Iceland. Have Vikings fought in the freezing pool and washed blood from their wounds and swords? Or perhaps fairies and nymphs frolicking in the water of the pool on the most sacred of solstices when the sun never sets. The surrounding countryside is green and hilly and sparsely populated. It seems right out of Game of Thrones. At any moment one half expects a dragon to swoop in over the falls and disintegrate the tour buses besotting the landscape! There are many falls in Iceland and most of the tallest ones in Europe reside on the island. A poet could make a career writing just about the Foss of Iceland

Glaciers

This beautiful island is also home to many glaciers, although many are receding. In fact, Iceland is home to two of the three largest glaciers in Europe!

The glaciers melt in summertime and refreeze during winter. They can be pristine white with new fallen snow or black-streaked with warm weather revealing volcanic fallout embedded in the glacier. As a tourist one can actually take guided trips onto the glaciers that go for a mile in length for some. It is humbling to think about what lies in the ice that has built for thousands of years. What could be revealed as the glaciers melt? It is sufficient to say that one feels very small when visiting or walking on these massive God-crafted structures. The picture here is of a Glacier I can't pronounce or spell in Icelandic, but it is the third largest glacier in Europe.

Geyser

With so much geological activity including volcanoes, one would expect Geysir or Geysers to Americans. And Iceland does not disappoint. There are literally hundreds of geothermal pools and full-blown geysers to be witnessed in the Icelandic countryside.

The video is from a very popular Geyser on the Golden Circle. It is a short walk from a visitor center and well worth the trek. Imagine yourself a Viking setting foot on the smoky island and exploring inland. Coming across these wonders of nature that you can almost set a timepiece by for their eruptions. An observant person will notice the indentation of water and a pulsating just before the geyser erupts. It is always the same. These geothermal wonders are extremely hot. Getting in them of the stream of the eruptions will cause severe burns or worse. Nothing like turning tourists into soup for the sheep herds.

Conclusion

It is impossible for words and a few pictures to fully describe one of the most beautiful places on Earth. God indeed created a vacation spot for himself when he created Iceland. There are so many other things to see that are nature's wonders. Whether visiting in the summer and enjoying hot springs to doing a winter stay for the aurora borealis and snowmobiling. My humble attempt is to whet your wanderlust and convince you to support the economy of Iceland. God made and we get the chance to share it with Him!