Hengifoss

Good morning all! Today we are having a long travel day ahead of us. We are travelling from the south eastern part of Iceland (the town of Höfn) to the Northern part (town of Husavik). But our main focus of today is not travelling from A to B, it is making a stop and hike towards the Hengifoss, a really amazing waterfall! So this morning we are driving the scenic route from Höfn to the Hengifoss, a drive of about 3 hours and 200 kilometers. The majority of the route is on the main road, route 1. But we took the "shortcut" road 95 (note: not passable in the winter).

But before I continue with my impressions of Hengifoss, please let me give you an idea where you can find it on the map. Hengifoss is located in the eastern part of Iceland. It is about 8 hours / 670 kilometres drive east of Reykjavik.

location on the map: 65.07338, -14.88267

Another important thing is to ensure to have a filled gas tank because distances are long here and gas stations are few and far between in this area.

A giant red chair bolted to a rock on this remote part of Iceland.

We drive through impressive empty landscape that is typical for Iceland, but which never stops to amaze me. Although this is the major road rounding the island, we are quite alone along this strecth of road. There’s nothing around us for miles and miles, just this vast, empty landscape. But all of a sudden we see this surreal unexplainable scene in front of us: a huge red chair is inexplicably bolted to a rock in the middle of nowhere!

We are so baffled by the sight that we just had to make a stop to explore. It feels totally illogical why this oversized chair is placed just here. The bright red colour is in stark contrast against the endless landscape of grey rocks and grey sky that are surrounding us, which makes it fascinating. So no need to say I had to climb up here to see it up close! The views from the chair are not particular logical though as the back of the chair faces the Atlantic Ocean. The chair is a surreal scene, and for me a nice place to stretch the leggs on this long road trip.

The name Hengifoss is translated to the Hanging Waterfall.

basaltic strata with thin, red layers of clay between the basaltic layers

The waterfall is surrounded by basaltic strata with thin, red layers of clay between the basaltic layers. The red stripes are so striking and intriging to see!

These red layers are made of clay separating hardened basalt from various volcanic eruptions. These eruptions took place during the Tertiary Period, when the island of Iceland was first being formed. But vulcano eruptions are rarely continuous and during these 'inbetween' periods, the ash was able to settle on top the smoldering layers of lava. If the breaks in the eruptions are long enough and the conditions just right, the ashes, through the addition of clay and iron minerals, slowly turn into soil.

When new eruptions occur, and the additional lava are layered over the top of these ash-rich soils, a chemical reaction takes place. The iron trapped within the soil reacts with the oxygen transported by the lava, and they together form iron oxide. In short, the soils rusts! And this rust creates these striking red layers. As the process is repeated time and time again, layers of alternating black lava and red soils are built up to form this mesmerizing layered effect.