All Images © Peter Olson
The South
June 22, 2016
The Southern region of Iceland left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand I hiked most of the places I had seen photos of and read so much about, some of which were quite spectacular. However, on the other hand the South was so crowded, there was less in the way of authentic outdoor experiences. The influx of tourists over the last couple of years has taken its toll on the landscape, and although the Icelandic tourism board has made efforts to slow the effects (such as barriers and board walks on main attraction hikes and waterfalls), the ecological damage is obvious.
Not only has the sheer amount of people presented a huge problem in terms of quality of experience, but a major theme arose from our Southern leg. People are not treating the landscape or the heritage sites with the same respect one would assume they would treat their own country’s natural beauty.
This was apparent at Seljavallalaug, one of Iceland’s oldest public swimming pools and a beautiful spot for a swim. Despite numerous ‘No Camping’ signs, our pre-dawn swim and photo adventure was spoiled by a big blue tent and garbage all over the site.
It’s the little things like that that really got my goat traveling around the South. I personally do my best to abide by a ‘leave no trace’ mandate. I think it paramount to not damage amazing places for the sake of a photo. Despite the incredible beauty around me, I found myself frustrated by irresponsibility of these visitors.
This is not to say that the South didn’t present opportunities for amazing photos and unique experiences, it was just a huge adjustment from being in the North and the Solitude I was able to find.
10 days in Iceland barely scratched the surface what this gorgeous country had to offer. I am beyond grateful that I was able to see and do so much (I know I sound like a broken record here). So I’ll be going back in August to explore and photograph more.
In the short time I was there I became an expert at making car sandwiches; woke up way too early way too many days in a row just to chase perfect golden light that lasted for hours; tried to have a soak in every hot pool I came across; powered through a couple of books; and despite seeing a waterfall every 10 minutes, I never got sick of the view.