Gullfoss - Risked my lifesteemCreated with Sketch.

in photography •  8 years ago 

Gullfoss is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland. The wide Hvítá rushes southward, and about a kilometre above the falls it turns sharply to the right and flows down into a wide curved three-step "staircase" and then abruptly plunges in two stages (11 metres or 36 feet, and 21 metres or 69 feet) into a crevice 32 metres (105 ft) deep. The crevice, about 20 metres (66 ft) wide and 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) in length, extends perpendicular to the flow of the river. The average amount of water running down the waterfall is 140 cubic metres (4,900 cu ft) per second in the summer and 80 cubic metres (2,800 cu ft) per second in the winter. The highest flood measured was 2,000 cubic metres (71,000 cu ft) per second.

As one first approaches the falls, the edge is obscured from view, so that it appears that the river simply vanishes into the earth.

During the first half of the 20th century and some years into the late 20th century, there was much speculation about using Gullfoss to generate electricity. During this period, the waterfall was rented indirectly by its owners, Tómas Tómasson and Halldór Halldórsson, to foreign investors. However, the investors' attempts were unsuccessful, partly due to lack of money. The waterfall was later sold to the state of Iceland, and is now protected.

Source Wikipedia

Here i risked a bit my life in order to capture this breath154.jpgtaking moment but i never regretted for it. There is a hill over cascade but surface is a bit slippery and icy before summer. So i crawled a bit to find the best point of view down to the heart of the cascade. My friend down there was also afraid seeing me but i can say this was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. I remained there for half an hour starring nature's pure magic.

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i want to cry

Gullfoss is certainly beautifull and you have captured a grate photo of this gap :) But I kind of get the chills readint this. I havn´t been to Gullfoss for probably 20 years now but with all the tourism during summers now the soil around it is very muddy and slippery and the state hasn´t been doing it´s job in building better fences and slopes. So what everyone in Iceland have been worry´d about happened yesterday. A person fell into the waterfall. Noone saw it happen but some people saw a floting person down there and called the police. They are still using helecopters and drowns as well as some heat photography machinery to try to find the person. They were also going through all the cars on the car lot to try to figure out who this could have been. It´s horrible :(