According to the Iceland Tourist Board, their beautiful country has over 10.000 waterfalls; from my experience this week, their claim is a gross understatement. While Iceland's largest waterfalls, several of which are mentioned in my recent blogs, receive most of the attention, almost every cliff or mountain side harbors at least a few scenic cascades. This natural feature is, of course, a reflection of the country's geology and climate; numerous cliffs, gorges and fjords, a thin layer of soil (where it exists at all), vast areas of treeless terrain, multiple glaciers and copious, year-round precipitation all combine to yield the ubiquitous falls.
Today, we visited Dynjandi Falls near the end of a scenic fjord in northwest Iceland. Over 325 feet high and 60 feet wide, this magnificent cascade gives the appearance of a massive lace curtain, lying against a sheer rock cliff; below Dynjandi, a series of five other waterfalls, any of which would justify the establishment of a State Park in the United States, complete the drop from mountain to sea. Indeed, after a week in Iceland, one has seen so many of these cascades that waterfall fatigue sets in and he begins to ignore what would have triggered sudden braking and numerous photos just a few days earlier.
I doubt that any other region of our planet has as many waterfalls per square mile as does Iceland. And, in light of the general dearth of trees, these spectacular cascades are exceedingly conspicuous, catching your eye at every turn. Among all of the spectacular landscapes that we observed across this country, it will be the waterfalls that come to mind when someone mentions Iceland.
