It is difficult to imagine that Gulfoss nearly got disfigured by a power plant at the beginning of the 20th century according to the plans of an English business man called Howell. The owner of the land, Tómas Tómasson, refused to sell him the land. However, he agreed to lease it to him, not knowing that that created a loophole for Howell to carry out his plans. Tómasson’s daughter Sigríður Tómasdóttir supported her father in the legal battle that followed and repeatedly walked the 120km to Reykjavík and back in the process. Today, Icelanders celebrate Sigríður as the first environmentalist of the country; her determined face can be found on a memorial near the waterfall. The visitor centre has a canteen-style restaurant and a large gift shop. Both were busy with tourists doing the Golden Circle Tour on buses, so I returned to my car and set off towards Reykjavík. I decided to go directly instead of stopping at Selfoss because I wanted to be back before the weather got really bad.