2 Jun 2017 - Iceland Day 8: Dettifoss

We woke up this morning only to see a gloomy and cloudy sky.  Sigh.....we expected today to be cold and wet again.

Our first stop today was Dettifoss.  As we had expected, it started raining when we were on the road towards the waterfall.

Dettifoss can be reached by a newer tarmac road (Route 862, finished in 2011) and an older gravel road (Route 864).  After reading reviews on the best viewing spot of the waterfall, we decided to approach Dettifoss on the east side of the River Jökulsá via Route 864.

From the car park, we began our hike to Dettifoss.

First we had to walk down a flight of rocky steps.

After that, it was an easy walk on a rocky path all the way to the waterfall.

Before we could see the actual waterfall, we saw water vapour all around coupled with the thundering sound of the waterfall.

Falling 45 m with a width of 100 m, Dettifoss is reputed to be the most powerful waterfall in Europe. The water comes from the nearby Vatnajökull glacier, whose sediment-rich runoff colors the water a greyish white.

Along the way, we had a nice view of Jökulsárgljúfur canyon.

Approaching Dettifoss from the eastern bank could get us real close to the waterfall.

Despite the rain, we had an enjoyable time hiking to Dettifoss.

From Dettifoss, we decided to continue the hike towards Sellfoss, which was about 1 km upstream.

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