dr_wu002
Well-known member
As you travel east along Route 1 (main drag) in Iceland you start to notice the incredible number of roadside waterfalls. At first you’re like, Wow! A roadside waterfall! But after a while you’ve seen about 7 hundred and fifty thousand of them – who cares though, they’re awesome!
Skógafoss was the first (and still perhaps most incredible) major roadside falls we saw. Set back about ¼ mile from Route 1 in the southern section of Iceland, Skógafoss (foss = waterfall) is 62m high and legend has it there’s a treasure buried behind the falls. There’s a parking area, bathrooms and a free campsite (which we stayed in) and a spot for busses and tourists to park. There’s also a fairly steep trail to the top which a lot of the tourists take. However, there’s a trail that continues on from Skógafoss along the river Skóga for several miles and has an astounding 14 additional waterfalls (some are double falls but we counted those as 1 and also did not count small feeder streams that turn into falls) – some of which are considerably more spectacular then Skógafoss even!
So, we just walked the path for about 4 or 5 miles and then turned around and came back… but this was 8 or 10 miles of magic. That’s the only way you can describe this hike (our first real hike in Iceland) – magic, magical – lush, green rolling hills right out of Lord of the Rings, sheep grazing with nary a farm in sight, two glaciers in the distance (Mýrdalsjökul and Eyjafjallajökull), a deep and wild canyon that river Skóga runs through, and then the waterfalls! Each set was different… some wide, some tall, some really tall, and they were all loud and misty and you can get right up to them, almost close enough to touch.
Perhaps even more amazing is that we had the entire path to ourselves – didn’t see a single person the entire time. The path actually leads into Þórsmörk (pronounced “Thorsmerk” – meaning, Thor’s Land (I think)) which is flanked by Glaciers Mýrdalsjökul and Eyjafjallajökull and supposedly is one of the most beautiful sections in Iceland. There are several mountain huts here. From Þórsmörk the path takes you into the interior to an area called Landmannalaugar (I’ll leave it up to you to pronounce that one) which is even more wild and amazing with its rhyolite mountains, hot springs, glacial walks, and waterfalls. But unfortunately, these destinations would be for another trip. Jess and I actually walked the path up Skógafoss early the next day (that’s when most of these pictures were taken) but decided to turn around before we reached the first hut. We had some driving to do and an entire Island to cover.
There’s about 7 or 8 days of hiking starting at Skógafoss and I intend to go back next Spring to complete this journey. I’ve seen pictures of Þórsmörk and Landmannalaugar and it seems like something right out of Middle Earth and I can’t wait to go back. The pictures and memories just from the trail from Skógafoss alone seem like enough to last a lifetime though, so I’ll need a few brain transplants before I go back – I need the extra memory. Anyone want to join me?
Pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/album/368355867lInWVi
Sneak Peaks:
-Dr. Wu
Skógafoss was the first (and still perhaps most incredible) major roadside falls we saw. Set back about ¼ mile from Route 1 in the southern section of Iceland, Skógafoss (foss = waterfall) is 62m high and legend has it there’s a treasure buried behind the falls. There’s a parking area, bathrooms and a free campsite (which we stayed in) and a spot for busses and tourists to park. There’s also a fairly steep trail to the top which a lot of the tourists take. However, there’s a trail that continues on from Skógafoss along the river Skóga for several miles and has an astounding 14 additional waterfalls (some are double falls but we counted those as 1 and also did not count small feeder streams that turn into falls) – some of which are considerably more spectacular then Skógafoss even!
So, we just walked the path for about 4 or 5 miles and then turned around and came back… but this was 8 or 10 miles of magic. That’s the only way you can describe this hike (our first real hike in Iceland) – magic, magical – lush, green rolling hills right out of Lord of the Rings, sheep grazing with nary a farm in sight, two glaciers in the distance (Mýrdalsjökul and Eyjafjallajökull), a deep and wild canyon that river Skóga runs through, and then the waterfalls! Each set was different… some wide, some tall, some really tall, and they were all loud and misty and you can get right up to them, almost close enough to touch.
Perhaps even more amazing is that we had the entire path to ourselves – didn’t see a single person the entire time. The path actually leads into Þórsmörk (pronounced “Thorsmerk” – meaning, Thor’s Land (I think)) which is flanked by Glaciers Mýrdalsjökul and Eyjafjallajökull and supposedly is one of the most beautiful sections in Iceland. There are several mountain huts here. From Þórsmörk the path takes you into the interior to an area called Landmannalaugar (I’ll leave it up to you to pronounce that one) which is even more wild and amazing with its rhyolite mountains, hot springs, glacial walks, and waterfalls. But unfortunately, these destinations would be for another trip. Jess and I actually walked the path up Skógafoss early the next day (that’s when most of these pictures were taken) but decided to turn around before we reached the first hut. We had some driving to do and an entire Island to cover.
There’s about 7 or 8 days of hiking starting at Skógafoss and I intend to go back next Spring to complete this journey. I’ve seen pictures of Þórsmörk and Landmannalaugar and it seems like something right out of Middle Earth and I can’t wait to go back. The pictures and memories just from the trail from Skógafoss alone seem like enough to last a lifetime though, so I’ll need a few brain transplants before I go back – I need the extra memory. Anyone want to join me?
Pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/album/368355867lInWVi
Sneak Peaks:
-Dr. Wu
Last edited:
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