Back to source. Raudauga by Gerry van Roosmalen

About "Back to source. Raudauga"

by Gerry van Roosmalen

About the artwork

Hidden deep in the highlands of Iceland lies a special phenomenon. A phenomenon that I only knew from photos I found on the internet. The colors in those photos were often so saturated that I suspected they were heavily edited photos. This simply couldn't exist in real life.
A number of other photos confirmed my suspicions. These other photos had duller colors and were not very spectacular.
But the photos still intrigued me. I had no choice but to give in to my curiosity and see with my own eyes what it looked like in real life. On a beautiful sunny day I parked the camper and we started our walk to the phenomenon called Rauðauga, the red eye. A clearly marked walk on a gently sloping slope lay ahead.
The gentle slope quickly turned into a short but steep descent, after which we were met by two steep climbs. After braving the two climbs, the walk continued on a fairly flat path with a small climb or descent here and there.
Following the route was not that difficult. From the Rauðufossar, the red waterfall, follow the Rauðufossakvísl stream to Rauðauga. Pronouncing these three names correctly is a lot more difficult than the walk itself, although you should not underestimate the walk either. Just before arrival, where the stream took a strong turn to the right, clear water flowed over a deep orange/red colored rock formation. Eager as I was for Rauðauga, I continued walking, saving this phenomenon for the way back.
Like a magnet, I was drawn more and more to Rauðauga. I was so close now and burning with curiosity. One last climb, and I stood face to face with this wonder of nature, and no, the colors in the photos I saw earlier were not enhanced in Photoshop, they were real.
Rauðauga is the source of the Rauðufossakvísl stream. The water of the stream is pushed up here from the depths of the earth. It is a strange sensation to literally stand at the origin of a river.
Rauðauga was everything I expected and more. Iceland is big, and there is still so much to see and discover. With a big smile on my face we walked back to the camper, capturing everything along the way that I had passed over in my eagerness on the way there.