ICELAND: Waterfalls, Geysers, and Hot Springs, Guest Post by Tom Scheaffer

Gullfoss Waterfall, Iceland

My brother Tom Scheaffer has just returned from a two week trip to Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Tom’s trip was part of the Sri Chimnoy Oneness-Home Peace Run, a worldwide promotion of peace to “help remind millions of people every day in so many countries that our common goal is peace.” With a group of eleven friends he traveled from Iceland to the Faroe Islands for the Peace Run. While in Iceland they visited a number of tourist destinations. Here is Tom's report.

Western Iceland

Iceland is a land of vast and pristine landscapes. There is much hydroelectric power from the many rushing rivers and waterfalls.Waterfalls are numerous in Iceland and we hiked to Gullfoss Waterfall, located in the canyon of the Olfusa river in southwest Iceland. The name means "Golden Falls" and it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland. (For a sense of scale, look at the tiny people in the photo.)

Great Geysir Geyser

We also visited the Geysir Geyser and watched it erupt. Eruptions at Geysir can hurl boiling water up to 70 meters in the air!

Hot Spring

We saw hot springs and thermal pools. Iceland is a thermal hot spot with many active volcanoes. The abundant hot thermal water is used to heat homes and energy costs are low.

Crater Lake, Western Iceland

We then traveled to Western Iceland and visited a crater lake formed in an ancient volcano. Later we hiked to a smaller waterfall in Western Iceland.

For another view of Iceland and its amazing landscape of fire and ice, take a look at Owen Floody's post about his photo tour of Iceland in May 2013, posted on The Intrepid Tourist on 8/26/13.