Backblip: A Day of Four Waterfalls

This was our last full day in Iceland, in which we saw 4 waterfalls – all showing the effects of the cold!

The main blip doesn’t actually show a waterfall itself, but the treacherous staircase next to Seljalandsfoss, heavily iced up from frozen spray! I remember from a family holiday in the summer about 15 years ago going up there and round behind the waterfall. Today it was roped off but some brave (?mad) tourists were climbing part way up it – but no further.

The first extra shows Seljalandsfoss itself. The second extra shows a smaller but possibly more-dramatic waterfall: Gljufrabui. It’s accessed via a narrow cleft in the rock as you can see. On this occasion I did venture in, and it was certainly worth it: the third extra shows a view from deep in the cleft with the water thundering down; it was impossible to keep all water droplets off the camera lens for more than a fraction of a second.

The 4th extra is of Skógafoss. On our previous summer holiday we climbed up a path to the side (out of the photo) to the observation platform at the top right but on this occasion I gave that a miss (there wasn’t time anyway). If it’s sunny it’s often possible to see a fab rainbow formed in the misty spray but unfortunately it was cloudy today. The ice was impressive again however.

The final extra required a half-mile walk along a valley, to Kevernufoss. This is another smaller but no less dramatic waterfall, again with lots of ice around; as with the other waterfalls, the shapes in the ice were amazing. If you look very carefully you may see a tiny figure (actually on a hidden icy path) vertically beneath the icicle hanging half way up the cliff towards the left of the photo – this gives an idea of the scale. This was one of our party who was brave enough to walk right behind this waterfall: apparently  it was less scary than it looked but I still decided on discretion rather than valour!