Thjofafoss (Thjorsardalur, The Interior, Iceland)

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Thjofafoss

Thjofafoss (or more accurately Þjófafoss; pronounced "THYOH-fuh-foss", meaning "thieves falls") is a wide and milky waterfall on the Þjórsá River beneath Mt Burfell. Even though this waterfall wasn't tall, we thought its juxtaposition with Mt Burfell was what made this a very interesting waterfall to photograph and admire.

Apparently, the falls got its name because thieves were drowned here for their crimes. I also learned that a hydroelectric plant further upstream had made this waterfall pretty much only viewable when snowmelt was at its maximum in the early Summer (I guess that was the case during our visit).

For all intents and purposes, this was essentially a roadside waterfall, but the side road to get here was a bit rougher than we had expected (see directions below).

Directions: Getting here required a somewhat short 4km detour on a black-sand road. However, that short detour felt like it was probably more suited for high clearance 4wd vehicles than 2wd low clearance passenger vehicles. This detour branched from Route 26 about 18km south of the Route 26 and Route 32 junction in Þjórsadalur.

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We saw this gate denoting the start of some 4wd road where we parked the car

Looking downstream at the terrain beyond the falls

Julie headed back to the car

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Right to left sweep of the falls and Mt Burfell ending well downstream of the falls and mountain