Day 4/5 Iceland

Day 4 

Woke up at Kast Guesthouse. The staff was friendly and accommodating. The room was cute and warm, and the shower was extremely hot. Total win for the price. This was the day we were headed back south and then east. More hours in the car. (Make sure to have some good music downloaded for your trip.)

First stop was Seljalandsfoss. This waterfall is the one you can walk behind and is the most visited attraction in Iceland. Easy to see why once you’re there. Its conveniently right off the main road/highway-if you can call it that. Its absolutely massive, you can get multiple different perspective of it, because of its size and the unusual fact of being able to walk completely behind it. Plus there’s also another waterfall you can walk to from here that is encased in stone and you have to scale the outer banks of a stream to see. This waterfall is unbelievably cool, but also you can’t help but get drenched form the heavy mist created in the fortress of stone walls. 

The next stop was my new favorite waterfall, Skógafoss. It was extremely wide and reminded me of a grand theater curtain hung across the green mountainous stage of Iceland. With deep wrinkles and overwhelming mystere. There’s a path up the right of it to get a different vantage point, but I chose to admire the falls from eye level and look up at its glory. 

Somehow again we were racing against the sunlight. Headed for Reynisfjara, the black sand beach with detailed prism rock columns cascading into the volcanic sand and sea. We arrived (after a wrong turn) to the busy parking lot of the popular attraction. The sun had just dipped behind the far mountain but sky still held the color of bold blue. The wall was “really cool”, to put in teenage terms. Really, really, really, freaking cool. Sometimes there’s no way better to say it. Beautiful, interesting, mysterious, all combined pretty much equals something extremely cool and thats what Reynisfjara is. An absolute must see. 

There was a little cafe at the head of the parking lot. I was hoping for some good hot chocolate to warm myself up. (Yes I may have not mentioned it but I have been frozen 99% of this trip.)

The hot cocoa was out of a machine so I passed. Got to the Hotel Katla by Keahotels just as the sky was painted black from midnight blue. The lobby bar was everything one could have hoped for and more. Balieys and Hot Cocoa was properly served in a glass mug with whip cream and chocolate powder garnish. (So happy I waited.) Then later while ordering a dirty martini the ice they use for all their cocktails was actually from the Glacier Lagoon. It sits on the bar as an uneven block and then an icepick is used to break it up for each drink. The room was nice and updated and the food at the restaurant was good. Overall totally a great choice that fell perfectly on the road map of the itinerary we had planned. 

Day 5 

After a large selection of breakfast food- we continued east. The first stop was actually a random and a simple opportunity to stretch my legs. It hadn’t been starred on my google map (that had about 50 “places to visit” on it; Yes I was ambitious with planning this trip…) Skaftarelldahraum, (now try and say that 3x fast!) Was this beautiful stretch of 4 million year old moss. There was a little trail around a section where you could be fully surrounded and take in the soft nature of this ancient growth. I originally thought it was 4,000 years old, and was impressed then. So learning it was 4 million blew my mind!

Starred on my map was Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, and the next stop. We had a 4x4 which entitled us to take a separate road getting us closer to the sweet spot of the canyon. Un-Fucking-Real, is the only word that comes to mind when peering down at what looks like a scene from Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. This canyon was breathtakingly beautiful and radiated with mystery. It started to rain while looking at it’s green coated walls, making it only more entrancing. This is an absolute MUST SEE and my favorite thing I had seen yet on the trip. 

As we drove more east towards Skaftafell National Park the sky became more and more of a dense grey. We paid for parking in the park and started our walk to the prism waterfall, that was a 1.3 miles “hike”. It was pretty easy, just a constant incline. (Possible in Uggs). The clouds had slowly sifted down so I’m unsure if there are mountains that line the hike with more scenic views. The rain turned on and off as if a child was playing with the facet. As you continued up I liked how you can spot the black prism waterfall still while a bit further away so it was natural incentive to keep climbing. Once you fully arrive you stare in amazement. How the earth is capable of making so many beautiful things on such a small island has me baffled. Because of the weather it was also a treat that we weren’t sharing the view with more than a small handful of others. New favorite waterfall! I breathed in the mist and took a second to close my eyes. Holding in my gratitude for this experience. Questioning how I’ve been so lucky in life. Snow started to fall. As I gazed up into the hazy sky I laughed to myself, of course its now snowing. 

I had been told that while in Iceland the food wasn’t going to be that good and I would end up living off hot dogs... Well it was day 5 and we hadn’t tried one yet. Riddled with hunger and losing steam we stopped at the next gas station close to the park. They sold hot dogs. (Of course). It was actually quiet rewarding and when I told the clerk that the food we had been having was really good he looked shocked. (Shout out to Dylan for all the food recs!) 

We were staying at the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon. Which was the hotel I had been looking forward to the most. It did not disappoint. The black combined boxy building against the cool green mountain popped in a different way. Also, as you drive the entrance road there’s another waterfall welcoming you to your new home for the evening. The wind had gotten extra crazy so even getting from the car to the building was almost a Wipeout challenge. Rachael carried my bags, what a gent :) Dirty martinis and decompression was now on the menu, with a lobby bar that had large glass windows and oversized chairs. The check-in process was quick and our room was overly quaint with a part modern-part cabin feel that had one large square window that looked out onto rolling hills and Icelandic sheep.

*Again, I took this trip with Rachael Zimmerman who is a professional photographer and any photo of myself was taken by her.