Falls

And here we have Dettifoss, or Falling Falls, Europe's mightiest cascade. We've been on a little road trip this past week and have a few tokens to show for it, including this picture composed and shot by my Valentína.

After posting this picture I went to bed and, as I was drifting off to sleep, thought about how close to the edge of the falls Óðinn and I look to be. And as close as we look to be is as close as we really were! Oddly enough, while we were all confident and fearless as we pranced about on the rocky ledge to the sounds of 500 cubic meters of water per second gushing only yards away, I got panicky at the memory of it there safe in my bed almost a week later. What if we'd have fallen? But we didn't, and we had a great time out there in the wilds of the barren Icelandic north.

The road to Dettifoss is a little less than an hour's drive east of Mývatn (or Midge Lake.) There are actually two roads, on either side of the river, and while both are rough, the eastern one is accessible to all vehicles most of the year while the western one, which some has the better vantage point being a little bit lower and closer to the actual cascade, is really for 4-wheel drive only. The amazing thing with this place is exactly what was causing me so much concern while drifting off to sleep, namely that there are no barriers between you and this amazing force of nature. It's right there, and you can step to the very edge of the chasm at your own risk. Take the challenge, if you dare, but be warned that this land is fickle and the weather precocious and all it takes is a moment of distraction and a good gust of wind, a sudden rain, or a snap fog to change any lovely Icelandic landscape into a disconcerting and dangerous thing.

Update July 2011: This is the waterfall where Ridley Scott [video] has been shooting his Prometheus, starring Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace. This will be a definite go-see when it comes out, especially with Damon Lindelof as screenwriter.