Atlantica - 01.03.2001, Side 53

A T L A N T I C A 51
if they’re standing on the precipice of
creation, especially when swallowed
by the deafening rush of white water
roaring over rocks. No dams here.
Empty beaches are the rule, not the
exception, along the northern coast
line, and one is much more likely to
spot a pack of Icelandic horses, with
their long mains flecked with white
crystals of snow, than to see a fellow
human. Thingeyjarsýsla: get away
and stand alone.
One such plain of escape is Jökulsá
Canyon, Iceland’s deepest valley, an
unimaginable chasm running through
the rugged landscape. But don’t stop
there. Make tracks north to the
Tjörnes peninsula and stand on the
jagged cliffs that overlook the
massive splits of timber that have
travelled thousands of miles across
distant oceans, washing ashore into
the untold emptiness of Iceland’s
northernmost region. EW
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. . . a few places on this earth where human beings have not left an imprint on the land.
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