The day started out overcast with a light drizzle but cleared up the further east we headed. From Vik our first waterfall of the day was AEgissufoss, a large river cascade near Hella. Parking was easy, and the viewpoint was a short walk across a field after climbing a fence ladder!
Our next stop, Gluggafoss, was easy to spot from the road. A footpath lead through a sheep gate to the base of the falls.
Nearby is Thorsteinslundur, a picnic area set amongst a sheep farm with a tall waterfall.
From here we took a very gravelly road (Route 250) back to Hwy 1 in order to save time rather than back-tracking. I was not particularly comfortable with the sound of rocks pinging the bottom of our rental car but Eric kept me calm and we got some lovely shots of lupine in full bloom – so it worked out.
Soon after joining the Ring Road again, we arrived at the huge parking lot for Seljalandsfoss. Amazingly, there was a line for the men’s room but I walked right into the women’s! As per normal, the public restrooms were generally nice with toilet paper (you never know), sinks and hand dryers. This falls is popular because you can walk behind it but after our damp experience the day before that was not a draw for us.
Continuing down the path you pass a second waterfall, and then finally Gljúfrafoss (aka Gljúfrabúi), which is partially hidden in a canyon. Eric hiked up some steep rocks to try for a better angle but this one was hard to photograph given the spray on this day.
Our next destination was Skógafoss. Along the way, the wind was quite strong, to the point where it was blowing a small waterfall back up and over a hillside.
Amazingly, the rain continued to stay away so we decided to do the long hike up and beyond Skógafoss. The large parking area was full of people, as was the base of the falls but the further we went, the less crowded it became until it was only us and on other couple in our view. Skógafoss itself is quite impressive, probably the most ‘classic’ waterfall we saw on the trip.
From the base, you can hike up a very long staircase to the top and continue the hike along the top of the canyon…
so. many. stairs.
It was amazingly gorgeous, quiet and peaceful.
We made it about 1.7 miles before we decided to turn around because the path got pretty steep and muddy. Shortly after that, the entire sole came off my left hiking boot. No joke.
Thankfully, the foam underneath was sturdy and not too slippery so I made it back to the car without incident. I was a bit worried about how I was going to hike for the next two days — I normally travel with super glue due to a previous sole incident, but I was going to need a lot more than a small tube to reattach the whole tread. I needn’t have worried because the foam held up fine. And once the sole on the other shoe came half off I decided those shoes were going to stay in Iceland.
Tired and happy, we continued on our way to Vik to check into the hotel and make it to Sudur Vik for dinner before 7pm (when it definitely gets more crowded). We split a pizza with ham, bacon and pineapple and had a glass of wine each. After our hike we probably could have eaten a pizza each but at $22 we opted to go light.