SAKSUN APPROACHES

In order to reach Saksun (see my previous post) you have to travel along a valley across the island of Streymoy. We did it on a cloudy and rainy day (could probably describe most days in the Faroe Islands). But on the return journey the sun nearly broke through the clouds creating a warm tint and shining on some distant mountains. I loved the light it created.

Along the valley run a little river, the first river, called Storå emptied into the ocean at Streymnes in the east. At the second part of our trip, after passing the high point of the valley, we followed another little river, called Svartå, that emptied into the sea at the west part of Stremoy at the lagoon at Saksun. Storå means the big river and Svartå means the black river. The reason the water looks so black, in both rivers, actually, is that the water is shallow and the black volcanic stone in the riverbed shines through.

Close to Saksun church and Duvugarðar, the Saksun Heritage Farm that I photographed and described in the previous post, was this settlement. You can see the deep gorge in front of the houses, where Svartå is emptying its meltwater into the lagoon

No post from the Faroes would be complete without a waterfall. This little stream of meltwater comes from the very top of the mountain and meets Storå further down. As I was watching and photographing it, suddenly an enormous piece of ice broke off and came down the stream breaking up into smaller ice floes accompanied by an enormous thunder. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough to catch it on camera (to my wife’s disappointment), but my second image shows all the ice as it came down the stream after the waterfall.

A waterfall on the approaches to Saksun
The same river with lots of ice breaking loose from the rapids further up


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