Room for Adventure: Iceland’s Southern Coast

Ironically, in a place where a stable government had been established by 930AD, the human footprint on Iceland feels so- temporary. Maybe it’s the lack of buildings over two stories tall, or that towns seem to be placed based off of good ideas two thousand years ago. In the relative youth of the land, Earth’s primordial state can be seen, where humans are still only renting their space on the land.

The volcanic mountain range, Esja. Legs and Darwin holding hands. I named my cat after this mountain!

Standing about halfway up a multi-tiered waterfall on Iceland’s south coast. The river ran to the ocean, not far away. We camped under this waterfall for the night.

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall is spectacular, but very misty so watch your cameras! This shot was taken around midnight, but because it’s june in Iceland, the sun was just starting to set.

You can expect views like this as you drive the southern coast. Waterfalls like these are not uncommon.

Seljalandsfoss gets most of the fame and glory, but the Gljufrabui is the most beautiful in the area.

Iceland’s South Coast.

Thinfellir National Park and the awesome topography caused by the tectonic plates.

Europes largest glacier has many arms.

Just a random spot on Iceland’s south coast.

It would be cheap to call Iceland otherworldly. Sure, in the pitted, lava rock deserts, similarities to the moon and science fiction are easy to draw. However, I would argue that Iceland is one of the most pure, most untouched bits of this world, and its relative youth to the giants like North America is the reason. Iceland shows us what the world once was, in its infancy. A place that is both barren and beautiful, and buzzing with the kinetic energy of new life, and the potential for anything.

Stretches of lava rock desert like this can go on forever in Iceland.

This was the view after turning down a random gravel road.

Legs capturing the beauty. Darwin capturing Legs’ beauty.

Near the Skaftafell Glacier.

Stone Cairns from countless travelers on the side of the road.

I love Iceland.

Our stupid, tiny, pink rental car on the Moon.

Icelandic people are as unique as the island they live on.The Icelanders are a quirky group of people. Many Still believe in faeries, and they smoke more weed per capita than any other European country. In the white nights of summer, people will party in Reykjavík until 8am, some of them passing out on the sidewalks for a nap on the way home. In my experience, it is not the Irish or Germans who can drink, but the Icelandic! There might only be around 320,000 of them, which is about a ten block radius of any NYC area on a Tuesday night, but for what they lack in numbers they make up with tenacity. Not uncommon to Scandinavia, the people have a deep connection with the Earth, and wish to conserve it as much as possible. Most of the their power comes from geothermal energy harvested underground. Sure, their hot water smells like farts, but the Icelandic people have made Iceland one of the cleanest, least polluting countries in the world.

In fact, Iceland boasts the ‘cleanest, clearest’ water on Earth. Within the Silfra Rift, otherwise known as the gap between the North American and European tectonic plates, glacial melt filtered through some of the clean soil on Earth ends a forty-year journey. The products of such a phenomenon are beautiful and delicious.

Leif Erikson and Hallgrimskirkja at the heart of Reykjavik.

Hallgrimskirkja (Hallgrim’s Church) in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The tallest building in Iceland dominates the horizon as most other buildings are under three stories tall.

Icelandic wool is amazing, but expensive. Darwin checks out Gulfoss Waterfall in his new hoody. Thanks Legs!

Legs peaks down into Gljufrabui Falls.

A homestead on the land. Such a small part of the landscape.

The Silfra Rift. The cleanest water on Earth.

There is no shortage of adventure in Iceland. This post shows merely a snippet of the South Coast. We have yet to explore the entire ring road, and have barely scratched the surface of the island’s interior. We spent five full days in Iceland in June of 2015, and explored the South Coast. Below is the photo gallery with some information on how to get to these places and how best to enjoy them.

Inside Hallgrimskirkja.

Hallgrimskirkja (Hallgrim’s Church) in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The tallest building in Iceland dominates the horizon as most other buildings are under three stories tall.

Leif Erikson and Hallgrimskirkja at the heart of Reykjavik.

The final push up to Mt. Esja’s summit. Legs had a hard time in the skree with her worn out running shoes.

The volcanic mountain range, Esja. Legs and Darwin holding hands. I named my cat after this mountain!

Climbing Esja is so easy, and very close to Reykjavik. Either drive there, or take the public transportation that drops you off at the foot of the mountain.

Legs hikes the trail on Esja. Esja is known as Reykjavik’s mountain. Locals look to it to predict the coming weather, and it’s hard not to define yourself with something so beautiful, looming over your city.

Hiking in Iceland, on the Esja Trail.

Legs is such a good hiker.

Flowers and mountains.

Alaskan Lupine is beautiful and looks natural to the landscape but is actual an invasive species.

Standing about halfway up a multi-tiered waterfall on Iceland’s south coast. The river ran to the ocean, not far away. We camped under this waterfall for the night.

This was taken from the multi-tiered waterfall just outside of Vik. There is an awesome camping spot just to the right of these falls, tucked away in a ravine with a small brook running through it. We parked our car in the lot and camped there for the night with no problem.

On top of Skogafoss Waterfalls with rainbows.

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall is spectacular, but very misty so watch your cameras! This shot was taken around midnight, but because it’s june in Iceland, the sun was just starting to set.

Legs peaks down into Gljufrabui Falls.

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. To the left of these falls, but before Gljufrabui, there is a steep path leading up to the top of this plateau. It is worth the climb.

You can expect views like this as you drive the southern coast. Waterfalls like these are not uncommon.

I can believe why some people in Iceland believe in Faeries with places like this.

Time Lapse Seljalandsfoss .

facebook_photo_download_10153159605473581

facebook_photo_download_10153159605428581

Iceland’s South Coast.

Seljalandsfoss gets most of the fame and glory, but the Gljufrabui is the most beautiful in the area.

$Looking up in Gljufrabui \.$

Looking up in Gljufrabui \.

Icelandic wool is amazing, but expensive. Darwin checks out Gulfoss Waterfall in his new hoody. Thanks Legs!

Gullfoss Waterfall is so powerful.

Hot Springs and Geysirs.

Gulfoss Waterfall

Boiling water at the geysirs.

Our stupid, tiny, pink rental car on the Moon.

Random roads in Iceland.

I love Iceland.

The Silfra Rift. The cleanest water on Earth.

I’m not sure why there are some amazing paved roads, and then terrible, gravel roads.

Thinfellir National Park and the awesome topography caused by the tectonic plates.

Thinfellir National Park, the site of the earliest Parliament.

Boardwalks at Thinfellir National Park

Amazing landscapes caused by the shifting plates.

Boardwalks at Thinfellir National Park

Stone Cairns from countless travelers on the side of the road.

This multi-tiered waterfall has an awesome stealth camp. From this perspective, just to the right is a small ravine with a brook. You can pitch a few tents in there and be out of the view of other people. You can also park your car not far from where this shot was taken. This waterfall is located East of Vik for a few minutes, and can be seen from the road.