Iceland & Day 5
As it was the coldest day we had experienced yet, the visit to Gulfoss was brutal on any exposed skin. This massive waterfall provided an icy mist in the direction of the oncoming tourist path. Perfect! The story of the waterfall goes a little somethin’ like this…Sigridur Tomasdottir, the daughter of Tomas Tomasson, wanted to intervene when her father, the owner of the land, was working with the Icelandic government to build a dam at this site. She fought both the government and her father with threats of throwing herself over the falls, but to no avail the state still had plans to build the dam. For some odd reason the dam was never built, but as the story goes it had nothing to do with Sigridur’s fight.
Just a few miles down the road from Gulfoss is Geysir. This spouting hot spring has been inactive for years at a time. This geyser once shot water straight up close to 200 feet. 1916 was the last time of more frequent activity. In 1935 a channel was dug in an effort to revive the activity, which lasted for a short time, adding soap to induce eruption, but this practice was later halted due to environmental concerns. Needless to say, Geysir was showing no signs of activity on our visit. Next to Geysir is Stokkur which satisfied my big eyes. This geyser only shoots up to about 65 feet, but its much more frequent, close to 5 minute intervals. People gather around this thing just waiting in the bitter cold for the earth to release its sulfuric gases.
A few more miles down the road is Skalholt, the most important city in Iceland during the 8th century. It held Iceland’s first school and was also the center for religious reformation to Lutheranism, ending Catholicism. There’s not much left in this tiny town except for a few farm homes, the new church, and the excavation site of the old church and tunnel leading to Iceland’s first school.