A Waterfall Just Out of Reach

We attempted to go to Papey Island where I would have a chance to photograph seals and puffins and other shore birds but the ferry was cancelled due to a sudden storm rolling in on the island. Guess it's better we found that out before we got there....

Yet that did not stop me at all from finding beautiful places and things to photograph. I found some little boats sitting upon the shore, a beautiful church, a waterfall and of course, some more Icelandic Horses.

Heading down the main road, I see a waterfall off in the distance. "Let's go check that out...it looks amazing!" Of course I act like it's close and easy to get to, as I do to most things in life. So we start driving...and driving...and the gravel road we are now on is no longer flat but heading up in a slow incline. The grass is a mossy green color, the wind is strong and the air is heavy. We continue to climb. By now my husband realizes we are heading up higher then he was hoping to. I keep driving, the tires on our little rental car gripping each little piece of gravel beneath. Someone passes us in the opposite direction on a motorbike. We keep climbing. The air gets heavier. I pop some chocolate covered raisins and stop to snap a few photos. Closing the car door I hear a deafening silence. The air remains cool, the mist stays steady, I snap some photos because I am completely taken in by this unmatched beauty. I get back behind the wheel, we continue to climb. The road narrows and I follow the curve to the left and that waterfall I originally headed toward...there it was, way over there, over vast rolling, misty hills that no man has seemed to roam...maybe never? But I have to say, reaching the top of these beautiful cliffs, not another soul in sight, there in the now heavy-can't-see-more-then-5-feet-in-front-of-the-car-fog...was nothing short of magical. I get out, take only a few photos. My husband clings to the car handle inside and my little boy in the backseat just sits quietly, intrigued by my energy.

I felt safe there. Oddly safer then I have in many other places I've been in. First of all, there was not another soul around, so I was able to take my time coming back down to solid ground. Unlike the time I drove in the Rocky Mountains, people riding my tail as I should have been a pro at mountain driving coming from the Midwest. Secondly, It was calm and quiet in that space, unlike the honks and smells of the times we go down to the city, people rushing, traffic, arguing and who knows what ever else. Nature put on such a display of hills and cliffs and rolling green and waterfalls and rocks among the fog and the smell of the misty-fresh-rain-smell. I will never forget that moment. Ever.

And the photos I got from there...well they are some of my favorites.

Until next time...