ALDEYJARFOSS
Northern Iceland
DISTANCE
7 km
out and back
TIME
2h
With the help of a car, so I guess in reality it's 3h
ELEVATION
150
87
Altitude max: 360m
ESSENTIALS
SEASON
(of the report)
YOU'LL NEED
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Micro Spikes
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Good hiking shoes
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Winter gear (!!!)
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Thermos flask
BEFORE GOING:
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Check the weather. How original right? You'll be in a country where mother nature is particularly powerful and unpredictable. Moreover Iceland has the most complete and accurate website : https://en.vedur.is/. Especially for this hike, you need to have the right winter gear as you'll be exposed all the time and there's NO SHELTER.
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In Iceland people are used to snow and well prepared for it, what about you? The first question you should ask yourself is if you're ready to drive on snow and ice, as well as against strong winds, snowstorms...basically in extreme weather. There's an essential website to monitor road conditions in - almost - real time: http://www.road.is/..I can understand that you'd prefer to avoid that kind of situation but then you shouldn't go to Iceland during the winter or just don't drive.
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Remember that even if you can call emergency numbers it might take them time to reach. I suggest to always have in your car: a thermos flask with hot tea/beverage, a shovel, water and some blankets...in case it takes a lot of time. Again, they're well organised and have a website that will give you advices and actual alerts on weather hazards : https://safetravel.is/
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MICROspikes are essential if you want to walk around and hike in Iceland during winter time. Without them it could be complicated for you to even leave the car as everything is frozen at some places, included roads (cf. pictures). It is well known that you have to wear multiple layers, but for winter I will recommend focusing on good quality cloth that will protect you from the biting cold and blizzard.
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This is a hike and road trip you have to be prepared for. As you can see, Iceland offers a lot of information through different websites so there's no excuses! This country's weather is stronger than you.
START - ROAD 842
You'll start from Sprengisandsleið along the road 842. You should find a parking spot before the bridge. Why park? Well, you have to remember that this report is made for the winter season, which means that the road (F26) leading to Aldeyjarfoss is pure ice at this time of the year! However this is the path you'll take to reach the fall by feet.
At the beginning we were pretty confident with the hike, it didn't seem too strenuous and the sun was shining bright. But then we saw some Icelandic horses with their beautiful hair flying to what looked like a strong wind. They also had some strange attitude by staying all together and not moving at all... It turned out that this wind not only was strong, but also very cold as it was blizzard.
Yet we decided to give it a shot and started our hike. Just after we crossed the bridge there was already ice on the road and we were more than happy to have our MICROspikes. With such a strong wind it was difficult to even walk against and we wouldn't have done it without the spikes.
Then the problem we were facing was that in whichever direction we walked the wind was blowing straight in our faces and made the first steps (and all the others) really difficult. At one point having our skin burned by the wind wasn't fun anymore (never was actually) and it almost made us turn back. Then, out of nowhere, a car passed by so we asked the driver if she could take us to the fall. Logically (or desperately) we thought that someone who drives on this kind of icy road knows what he/she is doing right? Well, she didn't! However, after some scary slippery slopes we finally arrived to the fall parking lot and were happy she took us because we wouldn't have made it so far without her help.
Now that you're at the parking lot, you'll have to climb down to the view point to see the majestic Aldeyjarfoss. Oh and spoiler alert: it was f****** windy out there! There's no path so you'll have to be careful, I would not recommend to do this without spikes because it's really steep and there are exposed cliffs that lead you straight into the river.
As you can see in the pictures above we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful "foss" I saw in Iceland. Also, as you have to suffer to get there you'll probably be alone and that can surely add to your motivation.
We decided to return on foot as the car ride scared us a little bit. Unfortunately we saw our friend and her car out of the road on our way back. This is why you shouldn't take your car on any F road in Iceland during winter time as you're not used to nor equipped for this kind of conditions (nobody is actually). We waited a little bit with her for the rescue team to arrive and everything ended well. Also note that my thermos flask with hot tea was more than welcome, always carry one with you!
Iceland has become a very touristic place in the past years but is still a country where mother nature rules! To be honest this is why most of us love to visit such a preserved land, and, this is also why we should remember to protect it as much as we can.
