Great Geyser (Geyser) located in the Haukadalur valley, Iceland

The Geysir (Pronounced Guy-sir) hot springs sure do bring in the crowds, even out of season. These Geysir lie in an active geothermal area of Southern Iceland. As groundwater comes into contact with hot bedrock and heats up, pressure builds. When the water reaches critical mass, it erupts and spurts boiling water (80-100') up to 30 metres into the air.

This happens every several minutes, and when it does, the whole area gets scented with sulphur. (Bit like rotten eggs!!)

The Great Geysir was the first geyser described in a printed source and the first known to modern Europeans. The name Geysir itself is derived from the Icelandic verb geysa.

The Gesir is located in the Haukadalur valley on the slopes of Laugarfjall hill, which is also the home to Stokkur Geysir.

On this particular day, the wind conditions were pretty strong, so blew the steam downwind.