NORWAY FJORDSI DESTINATIONS
Hiking will never be the same for local traveller.
THE PATH DOWN from Malmangernuten, our summit of the day, was so steep I had to turn sideways, right or left, and slowly select every footstep. I feared if I gained too much momentum I would topple over, unstoppable, on what could be a brutal downward tumble. The path wound tightly, side to side, so I was constantly alternating which tired, quivering leg would make the next step.
The glacial river, just one metre to my left, thundered and pounded wildly so it was impossible to hear even the pouring rain on the new spring leaves. The ground was slippery with thick mud made even more treacherous by the hikers who had already descended the trail. Then add rocks, branches, roots, boulders and half-metre drops in terrain.
Thirty minutes into the descent, my anxiety had built from the strain of intense concentration, the driving beat of the river, the constant threat of losing my balance. I stopped on the uneven ground and took in the distance to the valley floor. A few deep breaths should have steadied my nerves, but they didn’t.
With no hikers visible in front or behind me, I gulped in another deep breath and let out a long, fierce scream into the driving rain.
Was this really what I had in mind when my husband and I chose a slow travel option as part of our trip to Norway? Hiking in the pouring rain? Somehow, I had imagined more meadows, more spring flowers, more sheep. However, it was a fleeting thought when the only way out of this predicament was the slow, single track in front of me.
By the time I completed the descent and reconvened with my hiking group, my heart was pounding as adrenalin mixed with the sheer relief at having reached the valley bottom, intact.
One thing was certain — the Malmangernuten trek (890 metres) certainly fit the description set out in the G Adventures Norway Fjord hiking itinerary: an “active trip designed for outdoor adventurers.”
Our eight-day adventure began and ended in Bergen, complete with time set aside for an orientation to this historic city in >>
>> western Norway and travel to our hiking region. Five full days were dedicated to daily hiking trips.
Our home base for hiking was Rosendal, which is only 75 km southeast of Bergen as the crow flies, but the landscape of fjords, rivers and mountains makes it a much longer journey by road and ferry.
The final day of the trip was reserved for the return transit from Rosendal to Bergen. (Bergen is the perfect place to bookend a hiking trip on the western coast, but my husband and I opted instead to hop on a train for a seven-hour ride to Oslo for an additional week.)
Our base for five days of hiking, Rosendal, like many other significant hiking regions
in Norway, is geared to outdoor adventurers. Part of the Hattebergsdalen Protected Landscape Area and skirting the recently established Folgefonna National Park, the Rosendal region boasts more than 100 km of mountain trails with peaks as high as 1,426 metres. Rosendal and several other small towns serve as the perfect base for access to the more intense trails. Multi-day hikes across the glaciers and icecap of the Folgefonna are made feasible with an ingenious and efficient system of self-service, fully stocked “hyttes” (huts) and a few remote, unstaffed and unsupplied hyttes. Even more appealing to the slow traveller is the fact you can get to the region via public transit, stock up on supplies from the town store, then simply walk across the road to the trailhead. No rental car necessary.
HIKING: DAY ONE
The first hike of the trip was designed to be an introductory one – not too difficult but with enough challenge to give our leader, Diane McGuinness, a sense of individual hiking/fitness abilities and to whet our appetites for the hikes to come. A gentle first day was welcome for our still jet-lagged bodies.
We accessed the trailhead directly across the road from our cabins. Starting at sea >>
>> level, the change to steep incline was immediate, but in just two short hours, we reached our goal for the day.
Skaalafjell (625 metres) offered stunning panoramic views of Rosendal, the Hardangerfjord and a clear look at our summit hike for the following day. Malmangernuten looked every bit the dark and foreboding peak from our sunny hillside. We descended easily through a fragrant pine forest to the valley that led us back through the town of Rosendal and to our cabins. Basic cabin accommodations, shared meals and a group trip were the best way for G Adventures to make the excursion affordable in such an expensive country.
Evening meals became a veritable feast where all group members cooked part of the simple food that replaced our depleted energy and nourished us for the following day. These lingering communal meals were taken on rustic picnic tables just out the back door of our cabins where we could watch the slow descent of the sun over the Hardangerfjord. It’s a slow motion sunset when you’re sitting just below the 60th parallel only three weeks before the summer solstice.
HIKING: DAY TWO
Significantly cooler temperatures and threats of afternoon rains prompted an early start for Malmangernuten (890 metres) on the second day. There was no gentle initiation and the trail became steeply vertical in no time.
One member of our hiking team commented that you know it’s a steep climb when your next step is at eye-level. It was true, in a funny sort of way, but it’s hard to even laugh when you are gasping for breath and willing your heart not to explode.
Two hours of heart-pounding, vertigo-inducing paths brought us within sight of the summit. There’s not much of a view along the forested trail except for the evidence of goats, sheep and cows. However, we did pause along the way a few times, to take in the call of a cuckoo bird, the first I’ve ever heard in the wild.
As we climbed above the tree line, the views of the fjord to the west and the glacier-fed lakes to the north opened up in jaw-dropping vistas. “Dramatic” is a wild understatement when it comes to this 360degree panorama at the summit.
Slow travel is the only way you get to experience these views in real life. All you need are two feet, leg muscles and a pumping heart to get you there.
Hiking these summits can quickly become an obsession. The adrenaline and the striking views leave you wanting more: a few 100 metres higher, a more dramatic sheer drop, more dizzying views of the fjords that seem to stretch on forever.
Trolltunga (604 metres), with its spectacular rock overhang and top-of-the-world views became the obsession among several of our group members, and there was a great deal of quick research as people made plans for a free day in the middle of the trip. >>
>> HIKING: DAY THREE
Everyone was eagerly awaiting our glacier hike and the weather looked perfect. A 90-minute drive north brought us to the village of Jondal where we met a specialized guide, Cleng Eikje, from the outdoor adventure company Folgefonni Breførarlag. At their office, which they share with the tourist information centre, Cleng briefed us with a short geological history of the Folgefonna National Park – just a mere few million years. We were fitted with the necessary outdoor gear of snowshoes and weatherproof outer layers. The company also provided lunches of beautiful baguette sandwiches, fruit, chocolate and water.
A 30-minute drive along a single-lane, switch-backed road brought us to the Jondal summer ski centre (1,200 metres). The brilliant sun on a fully white landscape was a glaring reminder of the need to keep our sunglasses on at all time. Cleng also instructed us to put sunscreen on exposed necks and the underside of chins and noses as even the reflection off the snow can cause sunburns in unusual places.
Before lunch we managed a short distance on our snowshoes and reached a lookout where we could take in this new and strange landscape: Juklavatnet, a clear blue glacial lake to the south, the ice cap to the north, the tip of the Juklafjord glacier peeking through 12 metres of snow, and miles and miles of white as far as the eye can see.
Even in late May, the blue glacial ice is only just starting to appear. Glacier hiking is best in August when most of the snow is melted to reveal the stunning blue ice.
After lunch, our group members are roped together for safety out on the glacier and taught how to position ourselves should a group member fall through the snow into a crevasse. Thankfully, we didn’t need to put this knowledge to the test.
Our guide, Cheng, pointed out that the afternoon route would take us to a height of 1,400 metres, a route he claimed was “pretty flat.’ However, he was quick to warn us, “Never believe a Norwegian who says something is ‘pretty flat.’ ”
The rest of the afternoon was spent above the clouds, exploring this vast, foreign landscape on the northern tip of the Folgefonna National Park. We descend quickly as the late afternoon clouds begin to move in and surround us. We emerged below the clouds to find it raining at the ski centre.
HIKING: DAY FOUR
A rest day is usually a welcome idea in the middle of a hiking week. But in an effort to explore as much as possible in the short time we had, we joined some members of the hiking group for a kayak adventure with Wilderness Norway. At least we could give our legs a rest for one day.
With kayaks in tow, we drove about 15 minutes outside Rosendal to a small glacial lake dotted with tiny summer cabins around the water’s edge.
Myrdalsvatnet, a long narrow lake, approximately a kilometre long, formed the perfect pre-lunch paddle. The lake, like glass, was utterly silent except for the dip and drip of paddles in water.
We paddled the length of the lake by lunch when we were treated to a lakeside cookout. Our guide, Staale Sundfjord, pulled a grill, tripod and more than enough food for eight people from the hold of his kayak. Very soon, the smells of grilled fresh, local salmon, reindeer sausage and beef cooked over the open campfire had us hovering around the fire, not only for its warmth.
So many places in the world are truly accessible only by slow travel. A slow-cooked meal makes this one even more magical.
HIKING: DAY FIVE
One more dramatic hike beckons on our last day. Because there is never a direct or straight road to most places in Norway, a two-hour drive brings us to the eastern side of the Folgefonna National Park on the Åkrafjord. Åkrafjord forms an eastern arm of the Hardangerfjord and is another popular summer destination for tourists, in part, due to the majestic Langfoss waterfall.
We weren’t content to just look at the falls from the fjord – we had to see the view
from the top. Another steep climb to 612 metres in less than one hour rewards us with stunning views of sheer cliffs dropping into the fjord below. We can just make out the houses, farms and roads that lay tucked along the shore where there is enough flat ground to build them. No matter what the view or the adventure, Norway’s landscapes, close-knit communities and outdoor-oriented lifestyle make it the perfect place to experience slow travel. It’s not about check-list travelling where you tick off as many tourist highlights as possible, rather it’s about getting yourself to locations where you can see and experience things from different perspectives – like the top of a mountain or at the town café with locals. The low impact of slow travel directly connects you to the essence of a place. In Norway, this means you dress for the weather and are willing to change plans when the weather doesn’t co-operate. You rely on the family that passes you on the trail to confirm you are headed in the right direction. You pack light so you are flexible to adjust plans when you want.
Norway’s culture of walking is the perfect antidote to our culture of speed. But more than anything, the Norwegian landscape leaves an indelible imprint on your senses; the high mountain winds, a sky bluer than blue, the call of a cuckoo bird and the mad rush of a glacial river in spring will leave you breathless in wonderment … or screaming into the wind and the pouring rain.