Cool Phot-o' the Day: Gullfoss Waterfall, Iceland

And what better place to go for cool times in cool places than the land of ice and fire: Iceland.

This is Gullfoss, a large waterfall on Iceland's "Golden Circle" of tourist meccas, which, in addition to Gullfoss, includes the geysers of Haukadalur, including the large geyser named Geysir (our word "geyser" is probably the only English language word derived from Icelandic, as we borrowed the Icelandic word and changed one vowel -- prior to the discovery of Yellowstone, the English language really didn't need its own word for "geyser"), Thingvallir (rock formations along the tectonic plates, spelled in Icelandic with that weird letter that looks like a bullet, and one of the major stops on the global "Game of Thrones" tourism tour), and the Bobby Fischer Museum in Selfoss. OK, I added that last one to the "Golden Circle," but it really is part of a circle with the other three and is, in my opinion, well worth a visit if you find yourself in Iceland.

You may recognize Gullfoss as the place where they shot the cover photo for the Echo & The Bunnymen LP "Porcupine." No? Understandable. No one should ever buy an Echo & The Bunnymen album. They have some incredible awesome fantastic singles, such as "Bring On The Dancing Horses," or "The Cutter," or, especially, the amazing "The Killing Moon," but a whole album? No. Stick with one single per LP and you will have all the Echo and all the Bunnymen that one person would ever need.

Getting back to Gullfoss, this is from my visit in June 2016. While the heatwave here will dissipate tomorrow, high temperatures will remain in the upper 100-oh's through all of next week. So more escapist "cool photo" fun is in the future.

Driving the Golden Circle: Gulfloss

Gulfoss

The Golden Circle is a driving loop in the southwestern quadrant of Iceland, taking in three prominent tourist attractions in this part of the Island:  Gulfoss, Geysir, and Thingvellir (and, if you were so inclined, you could add the Bobby Fischer Center in Selfoss).  Well, I'm a tourist and I'm attracted to these sites, so let's drive to Gulfoss.

Gulfoss is the most well-known Icelandic waterfall.  It's on the Hvita River at the northeast corner of the Golden Circle, which, as I said in another post, is more of an isosceles triangle than "circle" per se.

You know you're at someplace special -- tourist attraction department -- when you pull into a giant parking lot, filled with tour buses, and there's a nice big souvenir shop for all your Gulfoss souvenir shopping needs.

You catch your first glimpse of this spectacular two-tiered waterfall soon after you walk past the souvenir shop.

The most notable feature at this moment, notwithstanding the beauty, power, and majesty of the waterfalls, was the fact that this area was very buggy.  As in VERY.  I was pleasantly surprised how bug-free Iceland had been.  I was expecting Minnesota/Wisconsin levels of mosquito infestation.  Gulfoss was much worse.  The bugs were mosquito-like, but they didn't seem to suck your blood as much as nibble on your scalp.  Curses that I left my Deep Woods Off back at the Skuggi.

This is a monument to Sigríður Tómasdóttir, the daughter of Tómas Tómasson, the former owner of this property.  Ms. Tómasdóttir -- Iceland uses patronymic naming so note that her name is, literally, daughter of Tómas -- is credited with saving the waterfalls from the horrors of hydropower.

And impressive they are.

You can see the mist rising up from the falls.  Do I have time for a selfie at the falls?

The good news is that when you're in the mist from the falls, the bugs aren't biting.  One last look on the way to the exits:

Gulfoss is located at 64 degrees, 19 minutes north latitude, which is just slightly north of Reykjavik latitudinally, presuming that's a word.  Which means:  Gulfoss is the new "farthest north" I've ever been.