Day 82 02 July
Another sunny day and we headed through Husavik along the coast towards the Jokulsargljugur (Canyon lands) section of the Vatnajokulsdjodgarsur National Park.We had visited the southern section of this park earlier on our trip. After a visit to the excellent Visitors Centre where we read about the areas we were going to visit.
First stop was the Asbyrgi Canyon with a lovely walk to a lake where the Canyon ended with tall basalt walls in a horseshoe shape. We climbed a short way up one of the walls and could see clearly the canyon stretching 3 kms away on both sides. Where we stood was where a glacier from the south of Iceland had gouged the canyon on its way to the ocean in the north.
Then we drove out to another waterfall, Dettifoss. After a short walk we arrive at the edge looking down on what is touted, as the most powerful waterfall in Europe.The power was self evident from the noise it generated and the amount of soil it was moving. It reminded us of Gullfoss earlier in or trip and whilst powerful was not as pretty as some of the others we had seen.
Further up river was the less advertised Selfoss which we fond more interesting to look at. It had multiple falls and a dramatic cliff setting over a black sand beach.
Our final destination for the day was Vesterdalur along the river that feeds Dettifoss and Selfoss. The volcanic activity had strewn the landscape with huge chunks of rock all twisted and textured. The walk was challenging but we voted it as one of the highlights of the trip .The sheer size and complexity of the rock surfaces is just magnificent.
