Glymur

Glymur (sounds like "glimmer") is said to be the tallest waterfall in

Once we reached the car park (see directions below), it took us a little while to figure out where the trail continued from the trailhead, but eventually we managed to pick up the trail along a dilapidated barbed wire fence (as well as a painted rock to further assure us we were going the right way). From that point, the trail was pretty straightforward to follow for about the first kilometer (from the trailhead). We then made a right turn to get off the trail we were on just as it started to curve and head north (I believe that trail went to the falls as well, but from the other side; may not be able to get a frontal view of it this way).

That trail descended steeply towards what looked like a cave but ended up being a natural arch (how cool is that?)! The trail continued to the opening on the left and eventually made it to the level of the river. That was when we had to cross the river (over a reinforced log), then climb steeply along the east side of the river over some loose talus. The climb was steep enough to require us to use our hands a little bit while also being very careful for a slip and fall here could've led to some serious injury.

Once we got over the pretty steep climb, the trail became more straightforward again (albeit still generally going uphill with a couple of up-and-down sections) for the next kilometer. We eventually reached a viewpoint of Glymur where we saw birds flying about in the inaccessible gorge below. Even though the trail continued further (probably to the top of the falls), we were content to take our photos here and then turn back.

On the way back, we saw more faint trails branching closer to the gorge, and it turned out that we got to another overlook where most of the falls could be seen better than previously (like the photo at the top of this page).

All in all, we logged about 5km of hiking and it took us about four hours to do the entire walk (including losing the trail at the start and some additional scrambling for better views).

Directions: From Reykjavik CBD, we drove about 9km east to the Ring Road (Route 1) then went north on it for about 24km to a fork right before the tunnel going beneath the Hvalfjörður. We turned right (to avoid the tunnel) and onto Route 47 continuing alongside the fjord for about another 35km. Just past a bridge, there was a signposted turnoff leading 3km further inland beyond the fjord to the Glymur car park and trailhead.

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Wire fence and yellow painted rock to help us regain the trail when we got lost at the very start!

Yellow painted rock helping to guide the way

Julie entering a cave that turned out to be one of the openings of a natural arch

Julie crossing the river with the aid of a wire, but this was also where she happened to lose one of her two water bottles

Beyond the steep part of the trail with Glymur up ahead

Standing on an outcrop before the falls

Another partial look at the falls from one of the first overlooks we encountered

A smaller waterfall we saw as we went closer to the falls

Looking back at Julie catching up to me with the fjord and valley way in the background

Closest view of Glymur we had before we turned back

We went no closer to the cliff's edge than this

We had to cross the stream for this waterfall on the return hike

Wildflowers blooming before Hvalfjörður as Julie was returning to the car park

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Closeup look at the upper part of the falls with lots of birds flying around


View of the entire length of Iceland's tallest permanent waterfall

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TRIP REPORTS

• June 21, 2007

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Sjávarfoss

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