Chasing waterfalls in Iceland

Iceland in July is a strange experience because the sun barely sets. At first, I loved it - so much time to explore. By day five, I was taping garbage bags over the windows of my rental car to get some sleep.

I started the Ring Road in Reykjavik, immediately heading east. Within an hour, I understood why Iceland has become such a popular destination. Seljalandsfoss was my first major waterfall, and you can walk behind it. The path gets slippery and you will get soaked, but standing behind a curtain of water with the sun shining through is pretty incredible.

Skogafoss, about thirty minutes further, is more powerful. The spray creates a near-constant rainbow, and there’s a staircase alongside it that leads to a viewpoint at the top. I climbed it, got my legs burning, and was rewarded with views of the waterfall and the coastline beyond.

The landscapes kept getting more dramatic. Black sand beaches with basalt columns, glacial lagoons filled with icebergs, vast lava fields covered in moss. Jokulsarlon, the glacier lagoon, was otherworldly. Huge chunks of ice floated in the water, some deep blue, others almost translucent. Seals swam between them.

I’d been warned about the weather changing quickly, but I didn’t really understand until I experienced it. I started a hike to a canyon in sunshine, wearing just a t-shirt. Twenty minutes later, horizontal rain and wind that literally knocked me sideways. Icelandic weather doesn’t mess around.

The north was less crowded and equally beautiful. Akureyri, the main northern city, felt like a proper town rather than a tourist stop. I spent an afternoon at the botanical gardens there, surprisingly lush given the latitude.

One of my favorite moments was completely unplanned. I’d pulled over at a random waterfall (you do this constantly in Iceland) and started chatting with another traveler. He mentioned a hot spring he’d heard about, not one of the famous ones, just a spot locals use. We found it after some wandering, a warm pool fed by a natural spring, looking out over a valley. No crowds, no entrance fee, just us and the landscape.

Iceland is expensive and busy in summer, but I get why people keep going back. There’s something about the raw, volcanic landscape and the way nature dominates everything that’s addictive.