Nature and Travel | Iceland Monitor | Tue 11 Nov 2014 | 16.00 GMT | Modified at 16.30

Undiscovered Iceland: 56 waterfalls without a name

Waterfall in the highlands north of Vatnajökull. mbl.is/Una Sighvatsdóttir

Biologist Guðrún Áslaug Jónsdóttir just explored the eastern part of the Vatnajökull national park where she has recorded 56 unnamed waterfalls and rapids.

"It's been a really exciting project," she explains. Jónsdóttir, a resident of the eastern town of Neskaupstaður has explored the area called Vesturöræfi spanning from Kárahnjúkar to east of Snæfell. "As a girl I pretended to be an explorer in make-believe worlds and I guess you could say my dreams have come true in a way. Before exploring the area I carefully studied aerial photographs, maps and other data to pinpont where I would find rivers, streams and rapids." Jónsdóttir made a base for herself in Snæfellsskáli hut and would leave every morning for extensive trips in the area.

"These parts have not not been frequently travelled. Only farmers or sheepherders would have passed here and not all their knowledge of the area has been noted." She addds that most of the waterfalls she has recorded still have no name. Jónsdóttir wanted to continue exploring waterfalls this year and had planned to go south of Snæfell and east of Eyjabakkar but due to snow the expedition will have to wait until next summer. "There's plenty of territory left," she explains.