Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Quest for Waterfalls - Part 1 - Haifoss

For the record foss means waterfall when in conjuction with a name or description. This should help with the following.

After we turned around from the snow road block we headed to the a small motel just at the base of the mountain to see if they had any info on making it to Hekla. We find out that a group had spent the night at this motel because they tried to drive up and ended up having to shovel their way out.

Being in VW van, we naturally decided to change plans. We put ourselves in the hands of Frosti that the day would go bust. Turns out it was a really great decision. He wouldn't tell us where we were going, only that it would be totally worth it.

As we drive through the countryside it seriously looks like we're lost. Twists and turns. A bit of off roading when we come across frozen water puddles in the middle of the road and we come to a dead end. Time to get out of the car and see what's in store.

Immediately I hear something loud and forceful. Strike up the video camera and follow Frosti over some lava rocks and to the edge of a cliff. Through the clouds (yes we were up that high) are two waterfall flowing into a gorgeous canyon millions of years old. My hearts racing at the beauty of it all. He mentions that its typically not so cloudy but we don't care! The clouds added to the mysticism of it all. The most amazing thing is that the water seems to come out of nowhere. There isn't a lake or a river anywhere to be seen. This water comes out of the mountain and carves its way through the canyon and back in.

It turns out that this is how Iceland gets its water. There is so much water flowing through the entire country with a natural filtration through the lava that it comes out cleaner than treated water. It takes 30-70 years to get to where they pump it to the homes.

We spend about 15-20 minutes watching and listening and snapping photos before we bid farewell to Haifoss.

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