Day 2 (Friday, June 21, 2019): The Golden Circle

This was Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year! In northern Iceland, daytime exceeded 23 hours on this day. We took the "Golden Circle" (self-driving) tour on this second day of our trip.

(Click on each image to see the high-resolution version)

We first drove inland to Lake Thingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland and our first national park of the trip. This is a rift valley lake, where the rift lays between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates (much like the rift valley that we saw on the previous day at the Bridge between Continents. We hiked down to the lake shore on this rather cloudy day.


Lake Thingvallavatn


Lake Thingvallavatn


Lake Thingvallavatn, looking into the rift


Lake Thingvallavatn

The ropy lava rocks ("Pahoehoe") clearly show the volcanic origin of the valley. We have seen similar lava rocks on the Big Island of Hawaii before.


Lava rocks

We followed the route and arrived at Geysir, where the -- you guessed it -- volcanic geysers are. This scene reminded us of our previous trip to Yellowstone National Park.


Geysir


Geysir

The Great Geysir at eruption.


Geysir

There are also geothermal pools in the valley, just like in Yellowstone.


Geothermal Pool


Geothermal Pool

Looking back to the Geysir valley from the top of a hill.


Geysir

The "Litli Geysir" (Little Geyser).


Litli Geysir

Our next stop was at the mighty Gullfoss waterfall. I have seen many waterfalls before, including the Niagara, but my first sight of Gullfoss took my breath away even on this drearyly cloudy day.


Gullfoss


Gullfoss

We hiked closer to the waterfall, the roaring of the water was deafening.


Gullfoss

This is the part where the water plunges over a ledge, then makes an abrupt turn and rushes through a narrow gorge, the sight, the sound, the mist ... everything was just overwhelming.


Gullfoss

The sky eventually relented and the sun peeked out briefly. We hiked to a higher overlook to take in this scene.


Gullfoss


Gullfoss

From the Gullfoss parking lot, we could see the long tongue of the Langjokull Glacier, from where the water of Gullfoss comes from.


Langjokull Glacier

After a long day of exciting activities, we ended our day in Hveragerdi. For dinner, we went to a local pizzeria and brewery, Olverk. I was quite imrepssed with their craft brews (see my TripAdvisor review here). This was a perfect ending to Golden Circle day.


Olverk


Olverk

Click the following link to go to: Previous Day (Day 1): Reykjanes Peninsula and Reykjavik or Next Day (Day 3): Westerman Islands and waterfalls.



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