Trav's Travels: Norway fjordland camping roadtrip

10/17/2015

Ingvar went in the morning to Oslo to pick up our rental car. He was able to convince them to give us quite the upgrade (for the same price) for the little VW polo we had rented. We ended up with a large Toyota station wagon (of similar size to a Subaru outback but much lower clearance) that had lots of bells and whistles including GPS, heated seats, ipod connections, back-up mirror, and windshield wipers that could put on a setting where they changed their speed based on how hard it was raining. I ended up driving the whole 7 day roadtrip b/c Jessy had not wanted Ingvar to drive since he was regaining some strength from being very sick and Elisha was quite tired during the trip due to camping and such so she would be a risk of nodding off.

It was a good thing we got the upgrade b/c we had lots and lots of gear and Jessy had prepared for us a huge box of food that could feed an army (we still had tons left on our return).

We left the house around noon and headed towards scenic western Norway. We went up over a pass and into the alpine tundra, which at Norway’s latitude begins at about 2500ft. On the drive through the tundra, we could see a glacier (Hardanger Jokulen) in the distance. The road down from the pass was pretty crazy b/c it was in a long tunnel that looped around over itself, like a waterslide, as it went down. Pretty trippy to watch on the GPS map. Norway has an insane amount of tunnels, including one that was about 20 miles long. At the bottom of the pass, we reached our first fjord, Sor Fjord. It was frosty and the setting sun was really lighting it up in a fiery orange glow. It was breathtakingly beautiful! After awhile we reached the little town of Odda well past dark and drove a short ways up a winding road to a reservoir where we camped and was the start of a hike we would be doing the next day. Elisha made burritos for Ingvar’s birthday, which was today, and we toasted with a celebratory drink.

10/18/15

Today we hiked to trolltunga (Troll’s tongue). It was a beautiful 23km roundtrip hike up in the alpine most of the way. The beginning started with a very steep 3000ft climb, the beginning of which was in bright yellow birch trees. October may not be a super great time to visit Norway b/c of the cold and wet weather, but it was certainly beautiful with all the gold of the fall colors when the sun was out. Norway, at least where we were, is dominated by deciduous trees, so all the mountains sides and fjords are covered in bright yellow. In the alpine, the bushes tend to be a red color during this fall period. After the initial steep 2km’s we reached the alpine where most of the hike took place. The trail afforded very beautiful views of rounded mountains in the distance, a large glacier, and a large lake far (and steep) below.

The highlight of the hike is reaching trolltunga which is a large, flat rock slap that sticks out over the lake like a tongue. The setting is dramatic b/c the rock juts out over the lake which is 3000ft straight down below. The thing to do is to go get your photo taken on the rock b/c the angles of the photos makes the photo look quite dangerous and extremely exhilarating. Such a cool pictures! Despite what the pictures may look like, going out on the rock is not really dangerous as long as you are not a person who suddenly loses ones balance; however, b/c of the height, it is still definitely a rush to walk out on it b/c of our fear of heights. I think people have died on trolltunga, which made Jessy nervous to have us go, but I think those deaths have been people messing around and not being careful.

We got back to the car and drove to Odda as it was starting to get dark. We hung out by the Odda dock for a bit admiring the fjord before driving up on the otherside of the fjord towards the Folgefonni glacier. We camped in a very frosty narrow canyon by a farm. We read that b/c of the low light in these latitudes and the narrowness of the canyon, this farm does not have sunlight from mid September til mid March!

I think I forgot to mention that one of the cool things about Norway is that they let you free camp about anywhere. I don’t know the exact rules but you can basically camp for free anywhere you want as long as you are at least some distance from the nearest building. I want to say that distance is 100m, but I’m not sure.

10/19/15

In the morning we hiked up to one of the tongues of the Folgefonni glacier. The glacier sits in a pretty gorge and the steep hike up was nice. The glacier was of course really cool, though we couldn’t get up to cover it b/c a bridge was out, and it would have included a wet and cold river crossing

When we got back to the car, we headed back down to Odda and then took a 15 mile long tunnel under the glacier to the Hardanger fjord on the other side. We then drove along the coast and fjords, taking a car ferry across the Hardanger fjord at one point, until we reached Bergen, which is a nice city situated in the fjords. We checked out the downtown a bit and then hiked up to the top of a hill overlooking the city for very nice views of the city and sunset. B/c we were worried our parking time might expire, we took the funicular back down.

We left Bergen and drove late into the night to our next camping spot at the beginning of a small pass.

10/20/15

While we were packing camp up, Ingvar went down to the lake near where we were camping and took a naked jump into the lake. He had just learned about the self timer function on his iphone so he took a photo for memories sake of his bare buns before jumping in. While surprising at this moment, I would soon find out that I needn’t be surprised

On the other side of the pass we reached the town of Flam and an arm of the Sogne fjord. Flam is a kind of very touristy town as it is home to supposedly one of the most scenic train rides in Europe. We stopped into the tourist section of Flam to get some information on the area and we had to laugh at the postcards they had there. A very good number of them features men in their underwear, in a speedo, or bare-bunned. Even one was a completely naked guy. We had a good laugh at this b/c in most countries these kinds of postcards are not as common and they usually feature women in bikinis or topless, not men. Ingvar got an especially big kick out of his male compatriots.

From Flam, we continued a bit along the fjord to an old historic village that we walked around in that had great views of the fjord. We then took a very steep and winding road up high above the fjord to a really nice viewpoint of the fjord and a small town below. The plan was to continue up and over a pass from there. So we continued up into the alpine and the fog. We reached a closed gate on the road, but it wasn’t locked, so Ingvar opened it, and we drove through. The pass was pretty barren with some snow fields and frozen lakes. B/c of the fog, we couldn’t get much of a view. We went over the pass and were heading downhill when we ran into a guy putting up the snow sticks for next season (like the ones they put up on trail ridge road before they close it). He told us that they closed the road at noon that day and that the gate down on the otherside would be locked. We weren’t sure it was locked b/c there had been lots of construction trucks coming up and there were quite a lot of houses down there; however, we decided not to risk it in case we got locked out on the other side. So we headed back whence we had come and ended up taking a very long tunnel to get to the same place, the Sogne fjord where we caught a ferry across it.

Our plan was to get to Sogndal on the Sogne fjord. Ingvar knew some people there, and he called them to ask about things to do, and they invited us to spend the night at their place, which we gladly accepted b/c we wouldn’t mind a shower and a night off of the frozen ground. Before we got into Sogndal, we visited a cute little town, Kaupanger, on the fjord and visited an original Stave church. Stave churches are famous in Norway as they are built completely out of wood and only a few old ones have been preserved due to losing churches to fires and other things. After visiting the church, we drove up to a viewpoint of the Sognefjord on a cool little farm. We had to wait until the family was back home so we did a bit of grocery shopping so that we could make a meal for the people we were staying with and then checked out a Norwegian sporting goods store. And you thought REI was expensive! The family we stayed at was very nice. I honestly can’t remember any of their names. They had two daughters of middle school and high school age. The father was a big outdoorsman who was really into cycling and telemark skiing. He was telling me how amazing the backcountry skiing is in the area. He also showed us lots of cool pictures of some of the mountain hikes in the areas. Unfortunately when we got to Sogndal the clouds had descended, so we didn’t get to see the peaks.

10/21/15

We woke up to rain in the morning, which dictated some of our plans. We had mulled over a couple of the mountain peak hikes that Ingvar’s friend had suggested or hiking up to a hut to spend the night right up near the north side of the Jostedalsbreen glacier. But with the rain, we decided to do the drive that took us to a glacial lake where we could hike a short distance to Nigarsbreen glacier a tongue of the Jostedalsbreen glacier, which is the largest glacier on mainland Europe. The lake was very beautiful as it had a nice turquoise color to it as well as a thin layer of ice. From the lake, you could see a pretty large part of the glacier until it disappeared into the clouds above. From the parking lot, it was probably just a bit over a mile hike in the rain to the foot of the glacier. The terminus of the glacier had a huge ice cave that was absolutely stunning with its dark blue hues that glowed like a sapphire and reminded us a bit of Elsa’s ice castle in Disney’s Frozen. We did a bit of exploring in the area before starting the drive back to Sogndal. The family we had stayed with had invited us to stay another night with them. Our plan had been to continue on northward and see some things in the afternoon, but considering we wouldn’t see much with all the rain and considering setting up camp and cooking in the rain is never fun, we opted for the dry and warm home. We ended up making hot dogs and watching one of my favorite movies, The Blind Side, on the couch.

10/22/15

We got up early and headed north. It was pouring rain, so the mood in the car was pretty somber and Elisha and Ingvar snoozed on and off. We drove through Faerland, which has a fjord and should be surrounded by some big mountains, but sadly we couldn’t see them. We then drove in a tunnel under the Jostedalsbreen glacier to Skei, which sits on a large lake. We continued on to Sandane, which is along the Nordfjord and I think Ingvar said is a big extreme sport town. We then headed to Anda where we took a car ferry across the Nordfjord to Lote. From there we drove along the large Hielle lake which is the deepest lake in Europe. We eventually connected back up with the Nordfjord at Strya before heading back up into the mountains. We started going up a pass that had very nice views towards some mountains and glaciers. It was still raining a bit, but the fog was starting to lift. Right before we got to a glacier and a summer ski resort, the pass was closed for the season, so we had to continue a different way through a long tunnel that led to a different pass. Coming down the pass we got spectacular views of the tiny town of Geiranger and the Geiranger fjord. We then proceeded to take another pass out of Geiranger fjord. On the way up we stopped to do a short little hike that gave us even better views of the Geiranger fjord. We descended down the pass on the other side and arrived at the little town of Eldsdal, which both Elisha and Ingvar really liked. Elisha bough her token country magnet here and Ingvar decided he’d like to start a hostel in the town.

From Eldsdal we took a ferry across the fjord and then began the climb up the famous trollstigen. The trollstigen goes quickly up into the alpine and past some very pointy mountains. At the top, we did a short stroll out to a viewpoint that looks down at the road we would be driving down next, which is a crazy road with all its hairpin curves surrounded by waterfalls. From the top of the trollstigen we headed steeply down the hill with all the switchbacks until reaching the Molde fjord. From the fjord we could look back and see some beautifully jagged peaks in the quickly approaching twilight. We turned along the fjord and started heading towards the city of Alesund. As we started, the rain started and then intensified. We weren’t super stoked about camping in the rain, so we were lucky and were able to find a relatively cheap tiny cabin to stay in. It was only $40 total for the 3 of us as long as we used our own sleeping bags and did our own cleaning upon leaving. We decided it was well worth it. The cabin was tiny and had bunkbeds in it as well as a small couch, fridge, and electric stove thingy. Elisha made some tasty pesto pasta from ingredients she had brought from Italy and we enjoyed our last night of the roadtrip sipping hot coco with Baileys that Jessy had packed for us. We listened to the rain pour harder and harder outside that continued to support our decision not to camp.

10/23/15

The rain had stopped and there was even some sun in the morning. We drove to Alesund, which may have provided some inspiration for Arendal in Frozen. The small city was nestled amongst mountains and situated on islands, isthmuses, and peninsulas in the Haroy fjord. We hiked up to a nice viewpoint of the city before going down to check out the small center of the city. In the city, Ingvar ran into a friend of his who now runs a soup kitchen for the hungry out of a VW bus truck. He gave us some hot soup, which was very tasty on such a cold day.

From Alesund, we had the long drive back to Stange. But on the way we got to see some beautiful snowy mountain scenery near Andalsnee. We also drove along something called the troll wall which was a very steep and sharp canyon. We went over a small pass and then it was all downhill to Lillehammer and then Stange. Along the route Ingvar treated us to a typical Norwegian meal of Norwegian meatballs, similar to the Swedish meatballs that have been made popular in the US by microwave dinners.

I drove fast coming home and made it in time to send off my 48 hour notice of importing wildlife into the US and to call US Fish and Game before they closed for the day on Friday in order to arrange my customs meeting at JFK on Sunday.

Jessy greeted us back at their farm house with delicious home-made pizza, wine, and ginger-lemon tea since we were all developing (or in my case getting over) colds.

10/24/15

I drove the rental car back to the Oslo airport and then caught my flight back to Gatwick. Caught the train to Reading, got their early and thus caught an earlier than expected train to Bristol, which meant that I arrived at my lovely home away from home as the sun was setting on yet another beautiful day in Bristol. Poor Elizabeth had a really bad cold and wasn’t feeling good and I think she felt bad that she couldn’t hang out, but it was okay b/c I had some packing to do and needed to get some rest anyways

10/25/15

Walked to the ASDA where I caught a bus to the Bristol airport. Flew from Bristol to Amsterdam and then to JFK and then Jacksonville where I was picked up by the Uncle Wayne and Aunt Linda private chauffer company. It’s impossible for me to express all the gratitude I have to them for all the shuttling they do for me between their house and the JAX airport and then all the way to Gainesville, especially since as Seminole fans, they despise and avoid Gainesville.

I had another humorous experience at customs in the US. When I flew into Newark from Kenya and told customs that I had pinned pollinators in my boxes like bees and wasps I thought they were going to tackle me as I started to open the boxes to show them because they thought I was about to release 500 stinging bees and wasps into the Newark airport. This time, when I told the customs guy that I had insects and an appointment with USFWS, he needed to write that down so he could pass me along to the next officer. He started to write I-N and then asked me “how do you spell insects”. Oh boy oh boy! The people we have protecting our borders from invasive species! He probably was going to write in-sex and was thinking that didn’t seem quite right. Anyhow it wasn’t too hard to convince them to let my insects through considering they didn’t even know how to spell insects!

It was the first time I’d been on an non-american airline across the atlantic as I’d been on united and American airlines recently. KLM was super nice. They served several tasty meals, kept the Heineken coming, and even served brought around whiskey and Amarula for dessert drinks. They brought around lots of snacks including icecream! Such a difference from those stingy American carriers.