Half I: Vik, Vestrahorn, and the Northern Lights
Half II: Svartifoss and Icelandic Horses
Finale: Wonderful Waterfalls NEXT TO the Fashionable Ones
The Plan for the Day Two
As you’ll recall, day one concerned driving eastward alongside the Southern Coast of Iceland till we reached our in a single day spot on the Viking Cafe on the foot of the Vestrahorn mountain rangelet. We might then make our approach again to Reykjavik over the subsequent couple of days, a fast out and again journey over a protracted weekend.
We didn’t actually have THAT a lot deliberate for day two truthfully. I figured we’d return by the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon as a result of icebergs, however there was additionally a waterfall I had wished to see on my final journey however by no means fairly made it. It’s referred to as Svartifoss and really requires a little bit of a hike, so we added that to the agenda.
We’d finish the Day Two within the city of Skogar, on the foot of Skogafoss, the place there are a couple of little quaint accommodations.
Jokulsarlon, once more
I actually couldn’t recover from how nice the sundown was the day earlier than on the glacier lagoon.
Sadly, although, it was completely PACKED with folks, so we determined to return after our epic morning on the Vestrahorn the next day. Now, the final time I used to be in Iceland the wind was ever-present and ferocious. This time, it was completely nonetheless. Nonetheless sufficient for a protracted publicity of the glacier lagoon!
I like the reflection within the water from the cleaved iceberg and all the time love seeing the mountain within the background with the glacier behind it, slowly attacking it with the forces of gravity and time. Within the background on the far proper you may see a tiny caldera making its last stand towards the inevitability of the glacier, however quickly (not less than geologically quickly) will probably be crushed and turn into simply one other a part of the glacier.
Horsey Time
So let’s briefly discuss planespotting, the avgeek pastime the place you go locations to take photos of planes. I’m going recognizing pretty usually and generally drag my girlfriend alongside. She takes the identify of the pastime a bit extra actually and excitedly yells “PLANE!” every time she sees one. She’s fairly good at recognizing planes, truthfully. Particularly in airports.
Anyway, I didn’t understand once I booked this journey to Iceland that she could be equally adept at Icelandic Horsespotting. She’s a dang professional. As we drove westward in the direction of Svartifoss she yelled “HORSE!” a couple of instances, which I understood to be Lady Code for Hey Pull Over I Need To Look At The Horses. So we did.
As you’ll recall, on this journey I introduced two cameras: my Sony a7rIV and my Fuji GFX100. The GFX has unbelievable decision (100 megapixels) which permits me to crop in at an insane diploma. I noticed a horse within the distance on a hill with an exquisite mountain within the background and determined to take an image though I didn’t have a brilliant lengthy telephoto lens on me after which cropped in to the decision I usually publish pictures to this weblog (2048px on the lengthy edge). I used to be shocked on the quantity of element it nonetheless captured!
after which I noticed (you’ll by no means consider this) ANOTHER HORSE
These horses have been not less than 1000m away from the street, to provide you perspective. Good work Fuji!
Whereas I used to be taking photos of horses off within the distance, my girlfriend made buddies with some alongside the street, so I went to take an image of these horses too, since they have been somewhat nearer.
(a fast be aware: we have been very a lot on the road-side of a barbed wire fence once I took this image. PLEASE don’t ever trespass on personal property when taking pics of horses in Iceland.)
The time for horsespotting got here to an finish and we made our technique to the Svartifoss trailhead.
Mountaineering to Svartifoss Waterfall
Svartifoss is a bit distinctive for the southern coast of Iceland in that it’s a preferred waterfall that’s NOT alongside the Ring Highway like its extra well-known sisterfosses Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss. To get to Svartifoss you could head over to Skaftafell Nationwide Park. There’s a pay car parking zone close to the doorway to Skaftafell and we discovered a spot with out an excessive amount of effort.
On the customer centre for Skaftafell you’ll see loads of maps displaying the number of trails within the park, most being pretty easy hikes. Svartifoss is only one.5km away from the customer centre and is well-marked and straightforward to observe.
The annoying half concerning the hike is that it’s largely uphill, which is dangerous information in the event you’re into carbs and carrying a couple of further kilos like me. The primary half is instantly uphill (simply to get your heartrate jamming alongside at a gentle 180 or so) after which it ranges out for the subsequent kilometer. Traction wasn’t a problem, because the path had fixed mats for grip, so this path is doable in each summer season and winter.
You find yourself passing two lesser waterfalls on the way in which to Svartifoss however they don’t match the grandeur of the massive one in my view. We approached Svartifoss and began to see it off within the distance. The basalt columns that I had seen in different photos took form and framed the waterfall in a very great scene. I made my approach out to a sketchy rock to get the identical view that everybody else makes use of for this image excellent view for a terrific Svartifoss shot.
(right here’s an motion shot of me getting that image)
Svartifoss was completely well worth the hike, however it’s fairly uphill. The path maps declare it a Reasonable Hike, however bear in mind the kinds of people who find themselves in all probability giving it that declaration, they’re in all probability in form and don’t spend most of their days in Excel at a desk.
Reynisfjara Seashore
We each wished to see the Reynisfjara black sand seashore subsequent to Vik, so we stopped on the identical brewery in Vik that I all the time go to for a late lunch after which made our approach all the way down to the seashore for sundown, which was a little bit of a madhouse of vacationers however a lot of enjoyable. The earlier windlessness we skilled at Jokulsarlon earlier that day bade us farewell and the wind returned with vigor and fury on the seashore.
Onward to Day Three
Day Two was a large success and we had a good time goofing off within the hills and countryside of Iceland. We finally made our technique to Resort Skogar, the place the everpresent sound of the large Skogafoss lulled us to a deep nice sleep. What awaited us on Day Three? Wouldn’t it lastly rain? Sure? Sure. Keep tuned.
