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DynjandiKodak Portra 400 // Hasselblad 500 CM

Dynjandi

Kodak Portra 400 // Hasselblad 500 CM

Dynjandi is the most stunning waterfall in the West Fjords, and is alone worth the sometimes treacherous drive into that part of the country. Its name means "thunderous," which it truly is, and it's made up of 7 falls, the huge one at the top, twice its width at the bottom than where it begins, and the six smaller ones that dance their way across the landscape into the fjord below. Hiking up to Dynjandi is breathtaking, passing one pretty fall after another, moving past brightly colored flora and bubbles then walls of ice, ending in the climax of standing before the massive face of cascading water, the mist leaving fine drops all over your face, hair, and clothing. By far my favorite moment (moments? hours?) though, was finding a spongy patch of earth to lay down in, shutting my eyes, and letting myself be enveloped by the deafening noise of thundering water. Lying there in the white sound with the ground cushioning my body, no part of earth or limb resisting each other, it was easy to imagine myself being swallowed up by this place and staying for as long as it existed. I could understand all of the Icelanders that stories told of making last pilgrimages in order to have their dying bodies disappear into mountainsides, their life force dissolving seamlessly into the quiet unquiet, a continuous flowing of water from cliff tops to the ocean, the movement of moss creeping over volcanic stone.