Iceland: Day 20 - Gulfoss

July 14, 2004

We decided to finish off our day of revisiting previous sights by heading to Gulfoss to see the magnificent waterfall in the sun and with a bit more time to explore.

Gulfoss drops into a two-kilometre-long canyon sided in organ-pipe basalt columns. The first drop steps out 10 metres in full view, then the river bends a sharp ninety degrees and falls a further twenty metres into the gorge's spray-filled shadow.

The falls are now protected as a nature reserve, formed after Sigríður Tómasdóttir, daughter of the owner of the estate that incorporated Gulfoss, fought both her father and the government to stop a hydroelectric dam being built here in the 1920s. Permission to build the dam was granted but Sigridur fanned public opinion against the project and it was never started. The latnd was later sold to Einar Guðmundsson who donated it to the Icelandic Nature Conservation Council in 1976. With so many waterfalls in Iceland, hydroelectric dams can be very lucrative, especially for foreign investors. Personally we preferred viewing the natural falls over any of the dams!

For previous pictures of Gulfoss, see Day 1.

An overview of the magnificent Gulfoss (Golden Falls)

Rubby enjoys the view over the Hvítá River and the moorlands.

 
Relaxing at Gulfoss and enjoying spray rainbows.

A runoff joins the roaring waters of the river just before spilling over the falls.

Rubby getting a very close look!

We didn't find a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow...

...but did find a leprechaun!

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