Last Day in Iceland (Day 6)

On the move early in order to get to Gullfoss as early as possible. It was supposed to be quite windy. Sure enough it was extremely windy. The landscapes I was passing were beautiful, but it was too windy to stop numerous times. At one point, I came to a scene that was too spectacular to pass up. I had to park my car to ensure that the wind would not rip the door from its hinges.

The sky was stormy and appeared ready to burst. In the foreground tall grass was blown by the strong winds; there were layers of clouds, each layer with different tones, moving at different speeds. Right above mountains further in the background was a bright white layer of clouds, above the white layer, were very dark clouds that appeared to be a majestic group of mountains. And atop everything were ominous stormy clouds. Wow!

I arrived at my hotel and it was raining. By the time I finished checking in the sun was out. The hotel was a short walk to Strokkur Geyser. So I took advantage of the stormy clouds to take a nice image of the geyser.

Since it was beginning to clear up I headed for Gullfoss, a 15-minute drive. The last time I visited there it rained the entire time. As I arrived the sun was breaking through the clouds.

The wind and clouds were making for spectacular scenery with Gullfoss in the foreground. I decided to go atop and hopefully get a broader shot.

Since it was my last day and sunset was only a couple of hours away I decided to stay put, ride the wind and rain storm and hope the clouds would break up at sunset. What I saw was well worth the wait!

No Vibrance or Saturation added to this photo! The scene brought tears to my eyes!! Next it was time to eat some delicious lamb stew, then go to sleep. The weather forecast clearing at 3am, my last opportunity to capture the northern lights. I was up at 2:30, all packed for my departure back to New York. Luckily, the forecast was right on. The sky began to clear and I was able to capture the geyser and the norther lights.

What a perfect ending to a spectacular 6-day trip to Iceland!