Iceland's Hringvegur (Ring Road) - Foss (Water Falls)

October 18, 2016

Along Þjóðvegur 1 or Hringvegur (Route 1 or the Ring Road) there are many waterfalls (foss) which are sourced by the glaciers.  We stopped at a few along the route from  Reykjavík to Vík.

The former coastline now consists of sheer cliffs with many waterfalls, of which the best known is Skógafoss. 

 Skógafoss is situated on the Skógá River and is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country with a width of 82 feet and a drop of 200 ft.

After the coastline had receded seaward (it is now at a distance of about 3.1 miles from Skógar, the former sea cliffs remained, parallel to the coast over hundreds of kilometres, creating together with some mountains a clear border between the coastal lowlands and the Highlands of Iceland.

Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a s rainbow is normally visible on sunny days - which we were blessed to see!  According to legend, the first Viking settler in the area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, buried a chest filled with gold coins in a cave behind the waterfall.  On fine days, when the sun is shining, people say his gold is glittering through the water.  The legend continues that locals found the chest years later, but were only able to grasp the ring on the side of the chest before it disappeared again. The ring was allegedly given to the local church. The old church door ring is now in the Skógar museum.

You can see Seljalandsfoss from the ring road but is actually a 100 metres off the road. It’s origin in the volcano glacier Eyjafjallajökull and according to the sign, “the Seljalandsa river springs up from the Seljalandsheiði and Hamragilsheiði (heaths) and passes through Tröllkonugil (Troll Woman’s gorge).   According to legend, the gorge was named such because an old troll woman was trying to cross the gorge, but had to retreat when she heard the bells ringing at the nearby Church at Asolfsskali."  I think there was something lost in translation there!  

The waterfall is 65 m high.  And, as you can kinda see here, you can walk behind Seljalandsfoss.  I didn’t because it was very cool and windy that day, so I wasn’t in the mood to get both my camera and myself wet.

We visited Seljalandsfoss later in the day, so I was able to get some longer exposure photos.  This one was f/22 with about 1/2 second of exposure. 

I wandered along the path to check out other smaller waterfalls.  They weren't labeled nor have I been able to find out much more information about them.  I like how they seem to disappear into the ground and all you see are little streams coming out lower.  Another longer exposure: f/11 and 1/3 second. 

Another little waterfall near Seljalandsfoss