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Troop 60 > Troop News > Icelandic Jamboree 2024 > Day 2 Icelandic Jamboree 2024 - PreTour South Coast

Icelandic Jamboree 2024
Day 2 PreTour South Coast

Date: July 8 , 2024

Day 2

We had a full day of adventures complete about 12 miles of hikes, exploring of caves and more waterfalls as we head east on the South Coast. Our Day included:

- Paradísarhellir - Paradise Cave 1-mile hike and climb
- Rútshellir (Cave of Rutur)
- Seljavallalaug Hot Springs Swimming Pool 1-mile hike and swim
- Gamla fjósið - Lunch
- Skógafoss - 6-mile hike
- Sólheimasandur Plane Wreck with 5-mile hike
- Grand Guesthouse Gardakot

Map using Google Maps

Paradísarhellir - Paradise Cave

This cave is mentioned in Anna frá Stóruborg (Anna of Stóra Borg), a novel about Anna Vigfúsdóttir á Stóru-Borg, a rich heiress famous for her love to the poor shepherd Hjalti Magnusson.

The cave is small and you need to climb up a metal chain to get to it. The hike took us over 2 fences, a few foot bridges and about a mile long through pasture land.

Stairs over fences was a common feature in Iceland

Ladders over fences were a common feature on many trails

Rútshellir (Cave of Rutur)

One of the largest man-made caves in Iceland, famous for its mysterious origin and folklore.

Two common trail sites in Iceland - ladder over fence and a pay for parking sign.

Another cave was visible up the trail behind the the first cave, but it was guarded by an Icelandic ram. The ram had the high ground so we decided to leave him alone.

Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool

We walked a bit over a mile to and from a naturally heated swimming pool.

Gamla Fjósið - The Old Cowhouse Restaurant

Recommended by Rick Steves, we stopped for lunch at the Old Cowshed. Burgers and beef dishes were made from beef raised there. The Volcano Soup was hearty and seconds were free. That said, the burgers were the best tasting meal we tried.

Skógafoss

Skógafoss is an enormous waterfall on the Skógá River. We walked up the long flight of stairs to the overlook above Skógafoss and up the trail to Hestavaðsfoss, Fosstorfufoss, Steinbogafoss, Fremri-Fellsfoss, Innri-Fellsfoss, Rollutorfufoss and Skalabrekkufoss waterfalls. A few adults went up to Kæfufoss, just past Skalabrekkufoss. We traveled about 6 miles on foot with an elevation gain of 1,450 ft.

If you get close enough, you can get a picture without anyone else in it
Everyone, including the cameraman, will get soaked if you get this close

Sólheimasandur Plane Wreck

Located in Sólheimasandur Iceland is a wreck of a 1973 US Navy C-117D. The 5 mile there and back hike was pretty boring and long, especially after putting in some miles earlier in the day. This hike was all about the destination and not about the journey. We got to see and explore a pretty interesting plane wreck in the middle of a large open area, almost completely devoid of vegitation.

Here's the overpriced bus we didn't take
It passed us several times on the road to the wreck
It didn't seem so overpriced on the way back, but it was done for the day by the time we got to the wreck

Finally finishing the hike and getting back to our vehicles

Dyrhólaey

The Dyrhólaey Promontory is just west of Vik. It has a lighthouse on it and overlooks black beaches to the west and east. The cliff walls are filled with puffins and their nests. Adults visited this in the evening after the Scouts passed out in the Guesthouse.