arch – Energy and Time

Iceland day 11: Svartifoss to Heimaey

We had camped just outside Svartifoss, and Carol woke up early and wanted to hike there. But I was feeling a bit beat up and decided to skip it in favor of a leisurely breakfast.

Me eating breakfast next to our black Dacia Dokker camper

Svartifoss (“Black Waterfall”, probably from the same root as the English “swarthy”) is known for it’s black hexagonal basalt columns, which tend to break away before they can be worn smooth, leaving fairly jagged rock. This is the same kind of rock as seen in Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.

another (unnamed?) waterfall on the hike

Then it was off for a long driving day.

There are tall thin waterfalls all over Iceland, in some areas one every kilometer or two.

Our next stop was Fjaðrárgljúfur, a canyon which is (sadly) most famous for Justin Bieber filming parts of a music video there, which increased the tourist load so much that it had to be temporarily closed in 2019.

I found two kinds of mushrooms on the way out.

This looked somewhat similar to a Liberty Cap (*Psilocybe semilanceata*), but I wasn’t about to ingest a foreign LBM to find out whether it was hallucinogenic or not. Also, the stipes seemed too thick and short, and there was no sign of blue or purple discoloration in the older specimens.

We stopped in Vík for lunch at Wok On Vík, an Asian fast food place.

Looking southwest. The 3 rocks in the distance are a famous landmark.

I had something in peanut sauce over brown rice, while Carol went for green tea noodles.

A delicate rock arch. Same 3 rocks in the distance, only this time east (behind us).

Onward to Skógafoss, a 60-meter falls (slightly taller than Niagara Falls).

Lots of spray. You get close, you get wet.

Seljalandsfoss, often described as the only Iceland waterfall you can walk behind, even though Kvernufoss also has that property.

Since we were a little ahead of schedule, Carol proposed that we visit Vestmannaeyjar (the Westman Islands). So we took the short ferry ride to Heimaey (“Home Island”), found a nice campsite (more on that tomorrow), and had dinner at Tanginn.

Carol had the Reindeer Steak, which came with a mushroom sauce. Yes, there’s meat somewhere under those greens.

Sonnets To Orpheus II, 22

O trotz Schicksal: die herrlichen Überflüsse
unseres Daseins, in Parken übergeschäumt,-
oder als steinerne Männer neben die Schlüsse
hoher Portale, unter Balkone gebäumt!

O die eherne Glocke, die ihre Keule
täglich wider den stumpfen Alltag hebt.
Oder die eine, in Karnak, die Säule, die Säule,
die fast ewige Tempel überlebt.

Heute stürzen die Überschüsse, dieselben,
nur noch als Eile vorbei, aus dem wagrechten gelben
Tag in die blendend mit Licht übertriebene Nacht.

Aber das Rasen zergeht und läßt keine Spuren.
Kurven des Flugs durch die Luft und die, die sie fuhren,
keine vielleicht ist umsonst. Doch nur wie gedacht.

Oh the marvelous overflows of our existence,
in spite of all fate, in parks, effervescence -
or like the stone figures next to the keystones
of tall portals raised under balconies.

Oh the brazen bell, that lifts its cudgel
each day against dull everyday routine.
Or the column, the column in Karnak, the one
that outlived the nearly eternal temple.

The same surplus plummets past today,
but only as rushing, from flat yellow day
into overblown night, too much dazzled with light.

But the race leaves no trace after it's gone by.
Curves of flight through the air, and those who fly:
maybe none are for naught. But just as they thought.