After the amazing sunrise, it was back to Skaftafell National Park. Our goal: The popular Skaftafellheidi Loop Trail. This includes the must-see Svartifoss waterfall and the Skaftafellsjökull glacier. But before that, free hotel breakfast! And oh boy did I have the best free hotel breakfast EVER! Slices of bread, different kinds of ham, smoked salmon, my oh my. The smoked salmon was truly amazing. It was very smokey, the way I like it. Hands down the best free smoked salmon I have ever had.

Best free hotel breakfast ever!

Very interesting fur lined chair.

Loving it here.

The dining area overlooks the farm lands near the hotel.

Morning light at Hof 1 Hotel

After the amazing breakfast, it was a short drive back to Skaftafell National Park.

Skaftafell National Park trail map

The trail starts from the campground near the Skaftafell visitor center. We took the S6 route to the Sjónarnípa scenic lookout point where we can get an awesome view of the massive Skaftafellsjökull glacier. Based on the map above, the trail starts at ground level, and goes uphill for a while before leveling out. There, we took a detour to checkout the iconic Svartifoss waterfall, before continuing on to the viewpoint (red trail).  This is one of the shorter trails available. There are longer and more challenging trails available as well. You can check out the available list of trails here:

Hiking trails in Skaftafell: http://www.vatnajokulsthjodgardur.is/english/hiking/skaftafell/

Walking to the trailhead.

Going uphill was not that bad. The ascent was mostly gradual. One thing that caught my eye was the vegetation. There are a lot more thick shrubs and trees in the area compared to other trails I have done in Iceland. Being out of shape, I took full advantage of resting at a couple of impressive viewpoints, including this waterfall below.

A nice short break while going uphill

Relatively thick vegetation compared to the other trails we did in Iceland.

After about 30 minutes, Svartifoss comes into view. The tundra/alpine fall colors was showing strongly as well. The shrubs were like a kaleidoscope of green, yellow, orange, brown and some red. We took the detour down to base of the waterfall to get up close to this iconic waterfall.

First glimpse of Svartifoss.

Svartifoss in full glory

Once near the base of the falls, it is easy to see why this waterfall stands out among the myriad of falls in Iceland. It is not tall. It is not large. It is not very powerful. Svartifoss seemed like a trickle compared to Gullfoss or Skogafoss. But thanks to the surrounding towering basalt columns, Svartifoss can claim its place among the must-see waterfalls in Iceland. I spent a while there admiring the interesting formations of the basalt columns. Some of them protruded out in gravity defying manner, while some curved outwards. The base of the falls was officially off-limits, probably for the safety of hikers due to the possibility of the hanging columns breaking off. The columns inspired the design of Reykjavík's landmark, the Hallgrímskirkja church, pictured below.

Inspired by Svartifoss

Next, we moved on along trail S6 to our next and final scenic point, Sjonarnipa. The vegetation thinned as we hiked further up. That opened up the view to snow capped mountains and vast flood plains down below. We were thankful that the trail was very well equipped and maintained. The trail was nicely fitted with a wooden walkway, placed above the muddy marsh-like ground.

The walkway was a blessing as we enjoyed the snow capped mountains and the fall colors.

The vast flood plains below.

I love crossing these small streams.

We stopped for a quick break to enjoy this view en route to Mount Doom in the background. I kid.

As we approached the viewpoint, I already knew what to expect: A humongous glacier lurking below the cliff, filling the vast chasm separating the two mountains. Yet my excitement continued to grow as the glacier slowly came into picture. It was a like the curtain opening with a drum roll for the main show. And there it was.

Admiring the grandeur of Skaftafellsjokull.

Bam! The amazing, massive Skaftafellsjokull glacier. Once again, I was blown away by the sheer magnitude of this titan. Even though the weather was gloomy with spotty light showers, I had no real reason to complain given what was presented in front of me. Clouds shrouded the top of the glacier, but we didn't really care. We were busy snapping away and posing regardless. After getting lots of shots, I took a break. I picked a rock, sat on it, whipped out my Nature's Valley and snacked on it while enjoying the view ahead. Nature's Valley indeed.

Busy taking pictures. Such huge. Much wow.

Posing with the glacial lake below.

Enjoying my Nature's Valley bar with this view. What a valley. What a view.

Heading back, we wanted to continue hiking on S6 along the glacier to complete the loop. Unfortunately, the leg running right next to the glacier was closed for maintenance. Probably it was too muddy I guess. So we had no choice but to backtrack using the same trail. Since we had time to spare, we hung around inside the visitors center for a while. There was a gallery of the national park's geology and history. There were lots of information about the different volcanoes in the national park, as well as the catastrophic 1996 eruption that triggered a major jökulhlaup or glacial flood. We stopped for a quick lunch right outside the national park before heading back to the hotel.

Nice warm soup and bread for lunch.

A nice spot with a view of the glacier.

We spent the rest of the day resting at the hotel. I took this opportunity to enjoy their indoor hot tub and sauna, a perfect way to unwind after hiking in the cold and rain. I was hoping for the clouds to clear in the evening. Unfortunately, the gloomy weather persisted for the rest of the day into the night. No bonus aurora show. Instead, I walked around and checked out the farm and the church before it got dark.

The turf roof Hofskirkja Church right next to the hotel.

Spotted some horse

Dashing as usual

And that was sunset, unfortunately.

I went to bed early to prepare for the journey back to Reykjavik the next day.