June 25: Hair-raising and Heavenly
Wow! What a hair – raising day! One thing I’ve learned about Iceland is that they do everything in a big way. Enormous waterfalls, extreme temperatures, gale-force winds, and mile upon mile of breathtaking scenery. My trip to Detifoss Falls in Northeast Iceland required every bit of motorcycling handling skills I had and then some.
After talking with a fellow biker last night, I made the decision to follow the fjords on the Eastern side of Iceland on my way north today from Djupivogur rather than ride on mud and gravel through the mountains. With temperatures below 50 degrees, a strong wind, and unrelenting rain it was rather challenging to maintain any kind of visibility along the coastline, even with my visor fully open.
Once I hit Egilsstadir, there were several blessed miles of mild temperatures and little wind or rain, giving me an opportunity to really enjoy the spectacular scenery. Purple wildflowers and long green grass leaned gently in the wind, little creeks and streams rippled and swayed around boulders and rocks, and majestic waterfalls cascaded down the mountainside in the distance. The scenery was so vast and majestic yet so sparsely populated, I felt that I was transported back in time to the Jurassic Age.
Shortly after leaving Egilstadder, the landscape became flat on both sides of the road almost the entire way to my destination for the night, creating an opportunity for the strong island winds to build up steam. The landscape changed from grass to dirt for miles in either direction and large plumes of dust filled the air. As I turned off for Detifoss Falls, the wind changed direction and the dust completely encircled my bike, making it impossible for me to see anything in front of me or to even safely pull over. I remember thinking, “can it get any more desolate than this?”
After miraculously reaching Detifoss, I put worries about the wind aside for a few minutes and hiked to the waterfall to drink in its beauty. The size and scope of this body of water is significant as it is the second most powerful waterfall in Europe, spanning 330 feet wide and dropping 144 feet. This natural wonder is situated between moss covered rocks and steep cliffs jutting up to the sky, creating a marked contrast with the vast stretches of dirt for miles around.
Back at the bike, I ate a small snack for energy for the rest of my ride, doing my best to ignore the crunching of dirt in my mouth blown there by the relentless wind. Thankfully there were portions of the ride home where the wind was at my back, creating less of a safety hazard. I enjoyed stopping briefly at the Namafjall Geothermal area to see the boiling mud surrounded by multi-colored sulfur crystals.
When I checked in at the hotel, the manager commented that a few weeks earlier he was on a bus coming from Reykjavik that had to turn around due to the severity of the wind. I have become familiar with the Icelandic meteorological website and have been using it to avoid the worst of the wind. However, today’s phenomenon was one that was not forecasted. It does seem like the next few days are going to be less windy and rainy and I am looking forward to using the good weather for some fun explorations.
