[Photos taken 14 July 2024, posted online 09 October 2024. It’s pretty out there.]
Our stay at Gíslaskáli (Gísli’s cabin) came to an end as the storm had finally passed. We decided to drive up to Hveradalir (“Fumarole-valleys” or “Geothermal-valleys”), where we’d attempted to hike to the day before.
On the way there we passed by the pretty Gýgjarfoss waterfalls (two rivers merging into one), passed the Highland Base area, and lots of pretty vistas, before finally oooh-ing and awww-ing over the Hveradalir area. It really is quite beautiful.
We then drove back to civilization, again getting thoroughly shaken on the long unpaved road back to paved asphalt. We stopped at the visitor’s center by Gullfoss (“Golden waterfall”) where a husband awaited us, to whisk his wife and another traveler off to a new adventure. We then drove back to the capital area, all quite happy with how things turned out.
Sunday 14 July 2024
Posing in Hveradalir (“Geothermal-valleys”).
Preparing for departure from Gíslaskáli (Gísli’s cabin) at 10:30 in the morning.
Dutifully writing in the guestbook.
The vacuum cleaner started overheating, and when we opened it up, it was weirdly full of crap outside the bag.
A hardy lady went and emptied it out a little ways away.
It looks like this house started out as a simple A-frame that then got a whole house added to it! Or the other way around?!
I spotted a couple of sheep eating what little vegetation grows in the area. It’s well known that one needs to fence-off any area from sheep to re-green it.
There’s an actual “landing strip” (“BIKE airport“!!) on the way to the mountains. Also, see all that blue sky?!
Quite weathered. The river on the left looks like freshwater, while the other is more glacial (muddy).
Obligatory selfie.
Animated gif of the waterfall. Wait for it to load.
A more adventurous selfie in progress.
Ripe for a tidy-up? I didn’t have the guts or the equipment to go down there.
We drove straight past the Highland base area… now looking very lovely.
Referring to this map from the day before, we were following the brown road to the left of the “You are here” up towards the P closest to Hveradalir.
We’d walked along that ridge on the far side the day before, before turning back when we got to the higher elevations. We could see a few people hiking there.
We stopped on the way to marvel at the view over the river canyon.
Another obligatory selfie.
The parking area was marked with thin metal rods and rope. This is looking down where we’d come from.
Looking up the hill, where we were going.
Signage at the parking lot by Hveradalir.
Setting out from the parking lot, it was still a bit windy, but the clouds were high, and we had glimpses of sun.
Woooow! If you squint you can pick out the hiking paths as they snake along the hillsides. This is where we would have descended if we’d made it over the pass the day before, but we wouldn’t have seen anything.
A little further the main visitor area was revealed.
Carefully making their way down the steps. These are probably rather dangerous in heavy rains.
A close-up of the stairs…
Almost all the way down.
Bubbling fumaroles everywhere.
Animated gif, at true speed. Wait for it to load!
There are a bunch of paths in the area. It feels quite well looked after.
Mmmm, the smell of sulphur.
Imaging the bubbles.
No touching!
Somehow a sizeable piece of snow-ice was still there.
Selfie-friendly area.
Up on the hill, looking to where we came from.
Lots of little valleys, and steam everywhere.
Endless things to photograph.
A steamy stream.
We could have gone further, but there wasn’t much new to see over there, and most of the others were heading to the cars.
Endlessly interesting colors.
Heading back.
Bubbles, and stair-repairs in progress.
No touching! The river itself probably isn’t very hot, but I didn’t have anything to wash my hands with.
As we were leaving, a hiking group was setting off, probably about to hike to the Highland Base area.
I understood why some people had aborted their trip down this hill in the rain and wind the day before.
Thankful for steps.
The left side of the path to the parking lot.
The right side of the path to the parking lot.
Plants trying to survive.
The parking lot was pretty busy.
Maybe one day future me will do that circle around the area? This time we were out of time, and my Achilles tendon was iffy.
The road was pretty good, but a few spots were a little rough.
Still snowy in July.
We used the toilet facilities at the Highland Base camp site, before heading onwards.
The number and sizes of puddles on the road had increased significantly after all the rain.
A bridge up ahead.
Then there was foooog.
After shaking for about 90 minutes, we finally saw the smooth asphalt ahead. Thank goodness!
Perusing the maps posted by Gullfoss.
That massive truck goes up on the nearby glacier with passengers.
It’s been forever since I last visited the visitor center at Gullfoss.
The food was ok.
These three had a new adventure planned, so stuff was moved between cars, and then there were goodbye hugs.
Two of us wanted to go actually look at the big waterfall. This helpful sign in the shop showed the way!
Ugh, potential pickpockets.
The waterfall, with some people for scale.
Me in my very bright jacket. I would not be getting lost!
Notice all the people by the edge there? Thankfully, they’ve closed off the lower ledge where people used to frequent.
The massive visitor’s center from the other side.
Approaching the Geysir area. We would not be taking a closer look at the sprouting hot water this time either.
Instead, we filled the car up with gas, and kept driving home.
