Hot springs and cool falls

We'd been planning a trip that was half Honeymoon, Part Two, and half Visiting German Family Who Couldn't Attend the Wedding. Well. I say "we" planned it, but I really wasn't much help. I'll give credit where it's due. My contribution was arranging a meeting with a friend from the Appalachian Trail.

She opted to fly Iceland Air. Price was a big consideration, but it helped a great deal that they offer a free stopover in Iceland for up to five days. We landed early on a Tuesday morning, and left early on Thursday. Given how jet-lagged we were, we accomplished an awful lot, even if it was all on a short portion of the southern coast.

We started at Hveragerdi, home to Reykjadalur (Steam Valley). Reykjadalur is an area of geothermal activity; it is probablyou best known for an area where a very hot river meets a cold river. People travel from all over to soak in the warm pools.

Getting to the soaking area requires a 3.5 km walk, and a bit of climbing.

Bubbling mud pots are scattered along the valley.

One of the colorful hot springs. They're beautiful, but the steam pouring out of them reeks of sulfur.

Note the steam rising from the river. Granted, the air was a little cool that morning, but this river would steam on a warm day, too.

Right beside the river, boiling water bubbles out of the ground.

Too hot... too cold... just right! (not my feet)

The Girl was really excited about this spot. I was, too, but my interest was geological, whereas she tried to convince me to let her cook in the river for another six hours, leaving us just enough time to check in to our hostel. Outside the water, the air was getting colder, and the wind got stronger.

We returned to the parking lot in time for a simple lunch, and drove to Seljalandsfoss. If you want The Girl to leave a hot spring, offer her a waterfall.

The drop is about 200 feet. This cliff had been the shoreline of Iceland until a later lava flow (ages ago) pushed back the ocean.

If you are very lucky, the sun breaks through, and you get to see a rainbow in the mist!

A trail goes all the way behind the waterfall. It's not as wet as I'd expected, but it's still worth wearing a rain shell.

Another nearby waterfall comes down between the cliff and a massive boulder, so if you want to see it, you have two options: go through a passage in the rock (with the stream), or go over the boulder. We did both.

Looking up the falls.

View from the top of the boulder.

Between Seljalandsfoss and our hostel lies Skogafoss, another very large waterfall over the cliff that used to be the coast. Skogafoss is fed by glacier melt, and marks the start of a well-known trail leading between the two glaciers that feed it.

Skogafoss has eroded a notch in the cliff.

The river, though 30 feet wide at the top, is only a couple inches deep. Stairs lead visitors to the top for an overhead view of the falls.

Tiny alpine blooms cling to a rock overlooking Skogafoss.

We stayed at a hostel in Vik that night, in a room with a view of the ocean, and slept like exhausted Viking babies.