report from the interior: Zen and water: Myvatn-Asbyrgi trip Day 2

We were up and out of our guest house before either the only store in the area (actually the only other building in the area) or the visitor center at Jökulsárgljúfur National Park was open. Unlike in the States, national parks here seem to have no gates, often no fees, and if you get there early you just go on in. So uncaffeinated and tired from our busy day the day before, we headed into the park and found an entirely different environment—a birch woods enclosed by a horseshoe-shaped canyon (called Asbyrgi). At the far end a path lead to a pristine and beautiful mossy pool encircled by high walls stone. It was a zen experience: smooth water reflecting stone and sky, and so many birds and ducks, just us there to see it. Worth getting up early for…

After appropriate amounts of caffeine, we started down a 25-mile stretch of dusty gravel road, most of which was like a washboard and only wide enough for one car. Bouncing and jiggling, trailing a plume of dust and pulling into tiny byways when another car came, we made our way south to the Dettifoss and Selfoss waterfalls. Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in Europe, 144 feet tall and churning with milky-gray and gritty glacial water that roars and thunders. I loved it! You can’t come to Iceland without being overwhelmed by the power of nature, and this was it once again.

Back on blacktop again, we treated ourselves to a dip in the Myvatn Nature Baths, a set of geothermally heated pools where you can decide to cook yourself to whatever degree you choose in milky, silica-laden water. It was heavenly to wash off the dust and ease the tired muscles. Refreshed, we hit the Bird Museum for a look at specimens of all the Icelandic birds before returning to Akureyri.