Iceland Part 5

With this Scandinavia trip coming up, I am going to attempt once and for all to finish documenting our Iceland trip we took almost a year ago.

I will pick up where I left off with my last post here: Iceland: Part 4. Also here are the other Iceland posts: Iceland Part 3, Part 2, and Part 1


(Litlanesfoss, you can see Hengifoss in the background)
The next morning we woke up from our night in the tent to a beautiful day, and decided to hike Hengifoss, which is Iceland's third tallest waterfall. About at the halfway point to Hengifoss, we passed Litlanesfoss, yet another amazing waterfall surrounded by basalt columns, which wasn't even considered the main attraction for that hike.

The hike to Hengifoss was uphill on an unmade, uneven path with sheer drop offs. At parts, the trails had steep pathways with plenty of loose gravel, and if you fell, you would fall really far into a canyon below filled with water from the waterfalls.

Though the hike freaked me out at some parts, it was worth destroying my adrenal glands. Hengifoss is in a beautiful red and brown canyon, with the usual basalt cliffs nearby.

Detifoss:

After we saw the third tallest waterfall in Iceland (Hengifoss), we figured we might as well see the most powerful waterfall in Iceland. There were rough roads getting there and we were worried about our tiny car on the roads that were deemed unsafe for car rentals, but nonetheless we made it to Dettifoss.

Dettifoss is where I finally snapped on Dustin and told him he could no longer get so close to the edges of waterfalls, especially the most powerful waterfalls in Iceland. I may or may not have cried, he scared me half to death. I made him promise me that he would be more safe. Buzz kill! Maternal instincts were kickin' in big time.

Námaskarð:

On the way to Myvatan, we stopped by Námaskarð, to experience its steamy jets and boiling pits. Námaskarð is also called "a gateway to hell". These sulfurous bubbly things, were incredible.

Near Námaskarð there was a steamy hill with a snow covered crater that we visited. In Iceland, the days are long because the sun never goes down, and there is an endless amount of things to see.

Arches National Park

Recently, Dustin suddenly realized that I had never gone to Arches National Park. He esteems himself to be a huge fan of Utah, and the fact that his very own wife had not yet been to the famous delicate arch (that happens to be in our own backyard) I think really may have embarrassed him. Dustin incredibly had a weekend away from the hospital, and off we went.








Arches National Park was fantastic. We did some hiking, some scenic driving, and some camping. Kind of. If you consider sleeping in the back of the car with the seats down and watching a movie on an iMac camping (no complaints from right here!).



I wish I had more weekends with this guy, we have so much fun together on our little adventures. He's so good at making a plan, deciding how we are going to execute it, then making it happen.

Speaking of Dustin and adventures–did I mention Dustin booked tickets for another summer adventure come June? This summer brings Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. A Scandinavian escapade. Dream world!