Skaftafell is a wilderness area in Iceland's Vatnajökull National Park, and is home to the Svartifoss waterfall which is our primary destination for today.
The park is about a 2 hour drive from Vik, so we needed to get an early start, which Wally and Jackson struggle with. I got up before either of them and got breakfast on my own.
I can't claim it was particularly healthy, but it sure was tasty.
Once we pulled ourselves together and admiring the Icelandic morning, we got underway towards Skaftafell.
After about half an hour of driving through the flat and featureless Katla Volcano splash zone, we made a stop in Skaftárhreppur, which had a usable charging point despite google maps saying it was permanently closed. We decided to get some food for later at the gas station while we waited for the car to charge.
After a long drive through flatlands and distance mountains, we arrived at the Vatnajökull National Park.
Due to some closed roads, we were not able to park as close to the trailhead as I thought, meaning the hike was going to be a bit longer than I had expected. Walley decided to go as far as he could, so I dropped him off as close to the trailhead as I could.
Once I had parked and we had prepared as much as we could, we set off towards the waterfall. Almost immidiately, the trail bega8in a pretty steep climb to the top of a ridge, which was pretty rouch, but led to some amazing views.
There was a secondary waterfall on the way to Svartifoss with a platform overlooking it that we stopped at for another break.
We continued onward and upward, and eventually we got a distance preview of the waterfall to come, along with more great views
We eventually reached a nice overlook for the waterfall, and Wally decided to stay and rest.
Jackson and I proceeded down the somewhat treacherous path to the base of the falls. There was a lot of slick rocks, mud, and even some ice on the way down, but we made it to the bottom in one piece.
I struggled with the lighting, so I ended up taking a lot of pictures, but I think that's ok. This is a waterfall that is worth taking a lot of pictures of.
After taking tons of pictures, Jackson and I met back up with Wally and we sat together for awhile, talking about politics and staring moodily into the middle distance.
And then we began the long walk back. At least it was mostly downhill this time.
We made it back.
After resting awhile, we looked around the gift shop, where Wally failed to find a shot glass, which he was planning on buying as a gift for one of his friends that collects them. We also looked at the various depressing climate change related time lapse photos of the glacier receding.
We left the national park and made our way towards the Glacial Lagoon, where we planned on eating the food we bought at the gas station earlier for dinner. It was another half hour drive, but we figured we had come this far, so why not.
It ended up being super worth it, as the lagoon was super cool, in several ways.
We climbed a small hill nearby to get a better view. There was a bench at the top where we decided to eat, while huddling together to shield against the icy wind.
As we ate, we watched the various boat tours under the sunset while only mildly freezing to death.
Eventually we took shelter from the cold in the gift shop, where Wally found and purchased a shot glass. I purchased a little 3D glass picture frame thing of the northern lights, and then Jackson and I got a bowl of lobster soup which they had cooking in a pot.
After taking care of bathroom stuff and having another deep intellectual conversation outside the gift shop, Jackson took over the wheel, and we began the long journey back to Vik in the dim light of the long sunset.
We stopped in Skaftárhreppur again to recharge the car, and have a late second dinner. One of the workers at the station recognized us, with a dour "ah, you're back", which was pretty funny.
Afterwards, there was nothing to do but just drive, since it was now too dark to see anything in particular. We took turns choosing what music to listen to, such as Mute Math, Polyphia, and Gorillaz.
Once we got home, we went straight to sleep.