Day 16: Möðrudalur – Ásbyrgi

A beautiful spot with a lovely view.

We take a walk into the grasslands and admire Herðubreið – "the Queen of Iceland's mountains" –1,682 meters tall.

Then, we head back north along the western side of the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river toward Ásbyrgi.

It’s fascinating: the view of the waterfalls from the opposite bank is completely different. When another tourist asked us which side we preferred, we didn't really have an answer.

On the west side, you get a better sense of the falls' width, but it is much more crowded and the walking isn't as pleasant. Exploring the east side is more fun, though the falls don't look quite as magnificent from there.

There are various other stops offering great views of the valley, giving you a glimpse of the sheer power with which the floodwaters must have surged through here time and again.

It’s a fantastic area for hiking – perhaps we’ll come back someday. However, the weather here is forecast to turn bad over the next few days.