Friday, September 21, 2018

Iceland Day Five: Hraunfoss, Barnafoss, Husafell, Langjökull

Day Five in Iceland was driving north and east.




Hraunfoss - A Series of waterfalls which flow almost out of the rock.  They are fed from Langjökull glacier:











Barnafoss:  The Children's Waterfall, so named from a story that two children died by falling into it.



Husafell is the location of the Husafell stone, a 409 lbs. stone used to block the sheep pens below.  It is considered a test of strength by modern strong men.


The stone itself:  I did not try to pick it up (on advice from my strength coach) but did lift it from the ground to standing.  The greatest struggle is the fact that there is no good grip to be had.











For the last part of the day, we drove up to Langjökull glacier.  First we went through nothing but rock:




Then we went into the glacier:


The line you see is from the 2010 Eyefallajökull eruption:








Back outside:


Driving home.  The sunset was amazing:





4 comments:

  1. I could imagine just sitting down and losing time forever, just looking at the countryside.

    Looking at the feet in that picture of the stone, some how the stone doesn't seem that big. But it does look solid.

    Now I would never see the inside of a glacier. Claustrophobia would say "no, no, no!" So thank you for those. :-)

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  2. Into the glacier - interesting. Interesting sheep pen as well. And I'm impressed with how many waterfalls Iceland seems to have. That's pretty amazing.

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  3. It is easy to get lost Linda - it really is. And the challenge of the Husafell stone (besides the weight) is the fact that there is really no place to get a solid grip on it so you have to muscle it up by sheer strength.

    The glacier was very interesting. Glad I could share it with you and avoid your claustrophobia...

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  4. Leigh, the glacier tour is actually an initiative by local farmers to boost tourism and their income. They were the ones that, with some level of government assistance, drilled the tunnels and help with the tours.

    When the Vikings first arrived in 870 or so, the island was supposed to be full of trees. A thousand years of deforestation by use and livestock pretty much left stones there for use. And many of the stones that made up the fold were more daunting that then Husafell stone!

    Yes, there are many many waterfalls - and so much water! Sometimes it seemed like we would continue to see a new one every time we turned a bend.

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