Hike to Hengifoss
Shortly after landing at Egilsstaðir – which was immediately preceded by a redeye from JFK during which I got less than 2 hours of sleep – I thought it would be a good idea to drive around a ginormous lake and hike for three hours. I was beat, but the fresh warm air – yes 70F warm! – and sun kept me going on the 4-5 mile roundtrip hike to Hengifoss – an amazingly tall waterfall. The trail was exposed and dotted with grazing lambs, and several small yet impressive waterfalls served as a prelude to Hengifoss, which was so high that you could see it from early on along the trail. The trail would sometimes cut into steep slides of loose gravel. A fall would send you plunging into the cold and fast-moving meltwater that ran from Hengifoss and the glacial snows above. By the time I reached the summit, postponed by plenty of photo opportunities, a patchwork of clouds masked the sun, which cast interesting stripes of shadows and sunlight on the landscape.
