Iceland & Faroe Islands

[tsiklonaut]

The Laki eruption and its aftermath caused a drop in global temperatures, as sulfur dioxide was spewed into the Northern Hemisphere. This caused crop failures in Europe and may have caused droughts in India. The eruption has been estimated to have killed over six million people globally, making it the deadliest in history.

 

[tsiklonaut]

On the way to Laki around ten river crossings had to be dealt with, but it was well worth it. Near the track we could see the very nice Fagrifoss (foss standing for falls), no tourists and thus pure unspoiled beauty.



Appear to Dissapear

 

[tsiklonaut]

In color:


Fagrifoss

 

[tsiklonaut]

To Vík, the southernmost tip of Iceland and its magnificent Three Sisters:



Shades of Time

 

[ChrisN]

Beautiful.

 

[tsiklonaut]

Beautiful.

Thanks Chris!

 

[tsiklonaut]

View to the stormy Northern Atlantic ocean:

 

[tsiklonaut]

Icelandic southern coast.

 

[tsiklonaut]

Not far away there was another tourist trap, Skógafoss, but instead I loaded in an infrared film and took a little different picture of the bored-to-death most-photographed waterfall in Iceland. Captured with a different visual perspective in mind, with an Efke "Aura" B&W infrared film (no manipulations - this is how it looks like on film!):

 

[drinkingeye]

those are excellent! pure beauty!

Not far away there was another tourist trap, Skógafoss, but instead I loaded in an infrared film and took a little different picture of the bored-to-death most-photographed waterfall in Iceland. Captured with a different visual perspective in mind, with an Efke "Aura" B&W infrared film (no manipulations - this is how it looks like on film!):

 

[tsiklonaut]

those are excellent! pure beauty!

Cheers mate 🙂

 

[tsiklonaut]

And soon the geysers greeted us. Strokkur (Icelandic for "churn") is a fountain geyser located in a geothermal area beside the Hvítá River in Iceland in the southwest part of the country, east of Reykjavík. It is one of Iceland's most famous geysers, erupting once every 8-10 minutes. Its usual height is 15-20 m, although it can sometimes erupt up to 40 m high.

 

[tsiklonaut]

One last big burst in color:

 

[tsiklonaut]

Nearby is the Gullfoss, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland. The wide Hvítá rushes southward, and about a kilometre above the falls it turns sharply to the right and flows down into a wide curved three-step "staircase" and then abruptly plunges in two stages (11 m and 21 m) into a crevice 32 m (105 ft) deep. The crevice, about 20 m (66 ft) wide, and 2.5 km in length, extends perpendicular to the flow of the river. The average amount of water running down the waterfall is 140 m³/s in the summer and 80 m³/s in the winter. The highest flood measured was 2000 m³/s.

 

[tsiklonaut]

Then we set off to Kaldidalur, F550. The route begins a bit to the north of Þingvellir and to the west of the volcano Skjaldbreiður, which really comes up to its name (meaning broad shield). The track continues between the glaciers of Þórisjökull and Ok and leads up to the north. To the east of Reykholt it comes near the Reykholtsdalur to Húsafell. Then it continues up to Hvammstangi at the Miðfjörður. The place is like a Moonscape.

 

[tsiklonaut]

Kaldidalur.

 

[tsiklonaut]

We tried the very little known and very rough F578 piste north, but were miserably stopped by over a waist-deep river halfway to our destination. First I took Kariina’s bike over (judging by the turbulences on the water, there were some large rocks on its bottom, and she probably would not have managed to ride through the river some fifty meters wide), and it was difficult enough. The water level was high enough to reach the air intake of the GS in places, so we had two choices – either to set camp by the river and wait until next morning to try and take the GS across (because there is less melt water in the morning and thus the water levels are much lower) or return the way we had come. Since it was still mid-day, we decided to turn around. So I rode the Suzuki back across, totally soaking my boots in the process. So before we turned our front wheels towards the Snæfellsnes peninsula, I changed the socks and pulled plastic bags over them to keep the water in the boots away from them.

 

[Duane Pandorf]

I was at Gullfoss yesterday and stayed at a very nice "hotel" east of Hella. Heading further east today. Threw up a few photos over at my blog.

I have a 4 wheel drive rental but wouldn't dare try to cross the streams in it to get where you've been! Rental insurance doesn't cover undercarriage damage!

 

[tsiklonaut]

I was at Gullfoss yesterday and stayed at a very nice "hotel" east of Hella. Heading further east today. Threw up a few photos over at my blog.

I have a 4 wheel drive rental but wouldn't dare try to cross the streams in it to get where you've been! Rental insurance doesn't cover undercarriage damage!

Yes, they don't cover this. This is why we took our own bikes (and certain risks along with it).

Cheers,
Margus

 

[tsiklonaut]

On the way we passed by the unreal hexagonal basalt columns in Gerðuberg, an otherworldly place:

Hexagonals by tsiklonaut