John says that "the Land of Fire and Ice" is Iceland's slogan. I don't know about that, but on this day, the moniker certainly fit, so we'll roll with it.
We decided to hit "the Golden Circle". Doesn't that sound so cool? Like something out of The Lord of the Rings. Turns out, it's the most popular ring of sites to visit in Iceland, and for good reason.
Our first stop was Strokkur Geysir. We weren't sure exactly what it would be. Turns out, the lava rock isn't so thick here, and our connection to the middle of the earth is easily apparent. According to the literature, surface water works its way down to an average depth of 6,000+ feet where it contacts hot rocks. The water begins to boil, and the pressure builds up, resulting in the geyser effect of hot water and steam spraying out of the geyser's surface vent.
The first impression of just driving up to the area is impressive to say the least. The earth has steam coming out of all kinds of nooks and crannies. It seriously felt like some kind of science fiction movie. And the smell? Yep, take me back to good old Michigan well water, because the air is full of sulphur (and the smell of eggs).
There are many smaller geyser areas around where the water is just boiling on the surface. No spouting or spraying. It's a trip, because the air temperature is 45 degrees (F), so you would think the water would be cool. However, John took every opportunity to test the temperature, and it was indeed hot.
The main thing to see though is Strokkur Geysir. Every five minutes or so, the water recedes for a second into the hole, a huge bubble forms on the surface, and then water and vapor come shooting out of the hole. It's very impressive, and very strong. Even when we were back in the visitor center parking lot, we could feel the warm mist from the spray on our faces...even though the geyser was a quarter of a mile away.
And the water is obviously filled with all kind of good things, looking at this geyser. Notice the grass on the side where the vapor drifts?
We must have watched it "explode" ten times. And everytime garnered a huge response from those watching. Oohs and aaahs all around. Click here to check it out!
A cool fact about the place. Originally, there was a much larger geyser, appropriately named GEYSIR. Turns out, all geysers are named for it. I'm guessing the vikings gave it that name, and when anyone else ever came upon the same condition (hello Old Faithful), they called the effect the same thing. Hence, the term "geyser" was born. The pictures from a hundred years ago show how huge it was.
The original Geysir is no longer, at least as a spouting entity. I guess there was a shift in the tectonic plates, so now there is only a boiling pool of water. The Strokkur geyser isn't nearly so strong--maybe 30 feet in the air--but it's still very impressive. If you look closely, you can see the people on the side for reference.
Thankfully, I have a honey who appreciates my love of food, and my love for any kind of experience. Even though we had picked up Subway sandwiches for the day, he let me stop at a soup bar (yes, this is Icelandic fast food) and taste more Icelandic deliciousness. I got tomato basil (on the right actually) and John got some kind of Asian soup. The bread and butter were complimentary :-)
Just minutes down the road is Gullfoss waterfall. There are waterfalls all over Iceland (again, that water finds its way through cracks in the lava rock), but nothing is as impressive as Gullfoss. I could give you all kinds of specifications about it, but the pictures really do capture it all. And to think that it's all runoff from glaciers!
See the rainbow? People say Gullfoss (translated Golden Waterfall) is named for the pots of gold found at the end of the frequently occurring rainbows. I love that idea.
We couldn't resist joking about "diving Gullfoss" as well. Yeah, let me just lay down in the glacial water while somebody puts on my fins....
A more touching moment came from reading about Sigrid Tomasdottir on a monument erected next to the falls. This is her story:
All I can say is, "YOU GO, GIRL!" What a brave woman for taking on all those men in a time when women didn't do that.
And finally, we headed back to Silfra in Thingvellir.
Remember Silfra? That place where we dove into the water? The ice cold water?
We hadn't had much of a chance to really take in the whole area when we had 70 pounds of equipment strapped to our backs, so it was good to go back and glory in our awesomeness :-)
From the top of the water, Silfra looks like nothing. Seriously, I think we could have walked the entire route in ten minutes or less (but it took 30+ minutes to dive it). In fact, there's an image that the dive shops have that show you exactly how far you will go:
If you'll notice, the 400 meters that we were required to walk back (that main path through the center of the picture) is as long as the actual dive! Oh goodness.
And standing on top, we could see the loop that we dove.
I love this picture of John. It's such a moment of looking down in the water and realizing that you actually survived.
And it was a trip, seeing up close and personal how clear the water actually is. (For reference, the Caribbean has 100 feet visibility in any direction. Silfra has 300 feet of visibility.) Too, I did what our dive master had told us to do but I had forgotten to do: I tasted the water. It's perfectly clean because it comes straight from a glacier, and because nothing grows in it. It was, undoubtedly, the best water I've ever tasted.
And after taking two hand scoops of it, I couldn't feel my fingers for the next ten minutes...
I felt incredibly proud of the fact that we had gotten down, and survived. And once again, I felt incredibly thankful for a husband who has given me a ticket to see the world through his own desire for adventure and through his hard work (and earned income). It might sound cliche, but I felt so #blessed.
And while most of the sheep and livestock have already been brought in for the winter, we managed to find some rogue sheep near the path as we drove away. And we all know my obsession with sheep...
We decided to hit "the Golden Circle". Doesn't that sound so cool? Like something out of The Lord of the Rings. Turns out, it's the most popular ring of sites to visit in Iceland, and for good reason.
Our first stop was Strokkur Geysir. We weren't sure exactly what it would be. Turns out, the lava rock isn't so thick here, and our connection to the middle of the earth is easily apparent. According to the literature, surface water works its way down to an average depth of 6,000+ feet where it contacts hot rocks. The water begins to boil, and the pressure builds up, resulting in the geyser effect of hot water and steam spraying out of the geyser's surface vent.
The first impression of just driving up to the area is impressive to say the least. The earth has steam coming out of all kinds of nooks and crannies. It seriously felt like some kind of science fiction movie. And the smell? Yep, take me back to good old Michigan well water, because the air is full of sulphur (and the smell of eggs).
There are many smaller geyser areas around where the water is just boiling on the surface. No spouting or spraying. It's a trip, because the air temperature is 45 degrees (F), so you would think the water would be cool. However, John took every opportunity to test the temperature, and it was indeed hot.
The main thing to see though is Strokkur Geysir. Every five minutes or so, the water recedes for a second into the hole, a huge bubble forms on the surface, and then water and vapor come shooting out of the hole. It's very impressive, and very strong. Even when we were back in the visitor center parking lot, we could feel the warm mist from the spray on our faces...even though the geyser was a quarter of a mile away.
And the water is obviously filled with all kind of good things, looking at this geyser. Notice the grass on the side where the vapor drifts?
We must have watched it "explode" ten times. And everytime garnered a huge response from those watching. Oohs and aaahs all around. Click here to check it out!A cool fact about the place. Originally, there was a much larger geyser, appropriately named GEYSIR. Turns out, all geysers are named for it. I'm guessing the vikings gave it that name, and when anyone else ever came upon the same condition (hello Old Faithful), they called the effect the same thing. Hence, the term "geyser" was born. The pictures from a hundred years ago show how huge it was.
The original Geysir is no longer, at least as a spouting entity. I guess there was a shift in the tectonic plates, so now there is only a boiling pool of water. The Strokkur geyser isn't nearly so strong--maybe 30 feet in the air--but it's still very impressive. If you look closely, you can see the people on the side for reference.
Thankfully, I have a honey who appreciates my love of food, and my love for any kind of experience. Even though we had picked up Subway sandwiches for the day, he let me stop at a soup bar (yes, this is Icelandic fast food) and taste more Icelandic deliciousness. I got tomato basil (on the right actually) and John got some kind of Asian soup. The bread and butter were complimentary :-)
Just minutes down the road is Gullfoss waterfall. There are waterfalls all over Iceland (again, that water finds its way through cracks in the lava rock), but nothing is as impressive as Gullfoss. I could give you all kinds of specifications about it, but the pictures really do capture it all. And to think that it's all runoff from glaciers!
See the rainbow? People say Gullfoss (translated Golden Waterfall) is named for the pots of gold found at the end of the frequently occurring rainbows. I love that idea.
We couldn't resist joking about "diving Gullfoss" as well. Yeah, let me just lay down in the glacial water while somebody puts on my fins....
Sigridur lived on a sheep farm in Brattholt in southwest Iceland (1874-1957). The farm had a remarkable feature: a massive powerful waterfall, Gullfoss (Golden Falls). Sigridur and her sisters loved the falls and guided visitors there, cutting the first paths. She was self-taught, a well-read and talented illustrator and embroiderer.
Iceland’s ice caps, waterfalls and volcano systems are all interconnected. Sigridur may not have known that in detail but she valued the falls not only for their aesthetic beauty.
Gullfoss cascades from the Hvita River in southwest Iceland. The river originates in the glacier lake Hvítávatn at Lángjökull glacier north of Gullfoss. The falls plunge 1000ft into a gorge with approximately 100 tons of water flowing over per second.
At the turn of the 19th century, Sigridur’s father Tomas was approached by foreign investors wanting to dam the waterfalls for hydroelectrical production. They offered money but he famously said, “I do not sell my friends.”
But soon financiers indirectly rented Gullfoss. Sigridur fought to protect it. She often walked or rode on horseback 120km to Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, to urge Iceland’s rich and powerful business men and political leaders to let the waterfall be. Sigridur threatened to throw herself over the waterfalls if they were to be dammed.
We will never know if her threat was a calculated risk or if she’d have done it but Sigridur’s story is amongst those of intensely committed women willing to gamble all for their beliefs.
Sigridur advocated to make the waterfall a permanent conservation site, using her own money to hire a lawyer (he later became Iceland’s first President.)
Fortunately the foreign investors were unsuccessful at expoiting Gullfoss, partly due to lack of funds. Before Sigridur died a new law forbade foreign nationals from purchasing a state-owned waterfall. Gullfoss became a national park in 1979.All I can say is, "YOU GO, GIRL!" What a brave woman for taking on all those men in a time when women didn't do that.
And finally, we headed back to Silfra in Thingvellir.
Remember Silfra? That place where we dove into the water? The ice cold water?
We hadn't had much of a chance to really take in the whole area when we had 70 pounds of equipment strapped to our backs, so it was good to go back and glory in our awesomeness :-)
From the top of the water, Silfra looks like nothing. Seriously, I think we could have walked the entire route in ten minutes or less (but it took 30+ minutes to dive it). In fact, there's an image that the dive shops have that show you exactly how far you will go:
If you'll notice, the 400 meters that we were required to walk back (that main path through the center of the picture) is as long as the actual dive! Oh goodness.
And standing on top, we could see the loop that we dove.
I love this picture of John. It's such a moment of looking down in the water and realizing that you actually survived.
And it was a trip, seeing up close and personal how clear the water actually is. (For reference, the Caribbean has 100 feet visibility in any direction. Silfra has 300 feet of visibility.) Too, I did what our dive master had told us to do but I had forgotten to do: I tasted the water. It's perfectly clean because it comes straight from a glacier, and because nothing grows in it. It was, undoubtedly, the best water I've ever tasted.
And after taking two hand scoops of it, I couldn't feel my fingers for the next ten minutes...
I felt incredibly proud of the fact that we had gotten down, and survived. And once again, I felt incredibly thankful for a husband who has given me a ticket to see the world through his own desire for adventure and through his hard work (and earned income). It might sound cliche, but I felt so #blessed.
And while most of the sheep and livestock have already been brought in for the winter, we managed to find some rogue sheep near the path as we drove away. And we all know my obsession with sheep...
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