We spent 5 days in Norway hiking through Jotunheimen National Park. Jotunheimen means "Home
of the Giants" as it is the home to Norway's tallest peaks. Most of the park is above treeline
(which, at this latitude, is about 3,000 ft) which provided a fairly barren landscape for us to hike
through. We had two clear days of hiking and three cloudy/rainy days as we hiked from staffed hut to
staffed hut. We had a wonderful time and found the people we met along the way terrific! We hiked
over an oft-traveled ridge (Besseggen ridge) - one of the most popular hikes in Norway, hiked through
green (and sometimes swampy) valleys, slept on top of a mountain, and hiked down across a glacier (in a
driving rain, no less).
Click here to see the
other photos from the trip in Oslo, Bergen, and Stuttgart (Germany)
Gjendesheim DNT Hut This was our launch point for our hike through Jotunheimen National Park. This hut can sleep 170 people.
Gjendesheim's dining room Only about 30 people were staying there while we were - but weekends can get pretty busy
DNT china!
Overlooking the docks at Gjendesheim on Lake Gjende Boats ferry gear and people to Memurubu and Gjendebu
Small row boat on the shore of Lake Gjende
Some cabins across the lake from Gjendesheim Lake Gjende was, at most about 0.5 miles wide, but about 12 miles long and 500 feet deep
Fishing in Gjende
Lake Gjende, from Gjendesheim
Our starting ascent of the Besseggen ridge Rather than following the lake shore, we hiked up and over a narrow ridge, gaining about 4000 feet.
Lake Gjende
A little scrambling
Looking eastward from the small mountain of Veslfjelle
Trail signage and cairns made route finding a snap
Hiking across the barren mountaintop
Looking at the far end of Lake Gjende (at the Gjendebu hut)
Other hikers on Besseggen ridge
Lake Bessevatnet This lake is perched about 1500 feet above Lake Gjende. Unlike Gjende, this lake is not glacier fed (hence the deep blue)
Looking down Besseggen ridge at Bessevatnet and Gjende Here you can really see the color differences of the two lakes
Brian begins the descent down the narrow Besseggen ridge
Some difficult scrambling while descending with a heavy pack
...sometimes sitting and sliding was the easiest way to descend
Other hikers scrambling up the ridge we just descended
A closer look at the cliff holding back the water of Bessevatnet
Looking back across Bessevatnet at Besseggen ridge
A boat heads for Memurubu
Another lake (with an impressive waterfall) along the ridge
Reindeer
Reindeer
Nearby peak Surtningssue (7,600 ft)
Glancing back towards Gjendesheim and the Besseggen Ridge (in shadow on left)
Waterfall high above Gjende
Arriving at the boat docks at Memurubu with absolutely no time to spare!
The luggage drop off from the boat!
Gjende
Arriving at Gjendebu
Gjendebu Hut
Gjendebu Hut
Photos around Gjendebu
Photos around Gjendebu
Looking back across Lake Gjende towards Gjendesheim and Besseggen
Besseggen ridge
Goat
Our room at Gjendebu
Lisa, performing her standard hut bunk bed stretch
A search and rescue helicopter in the morning searching for a missing German hiker
Looking up the Storådalen towards Leirvassbu, our destination for the night
The entire valley was lined with waterfalls like this, dropping 1000 feet or more into the river below
Lisa makes a cow friend ...incidentally, when you try to pet a cow, you have to check a box on your US Customs Form.
Lisa makes even more friends!
A cairn, random old hiking boots, and Mount Semeltinden in the distance All the cairns were painted with large red T"s for easy navigation
Crossing over a river
Looking back down the valley through which we hiked
Hiking along one of the three lakes of the day
Looking back on the lake and our trail
Brian gets on his rain gear
Rain and wind across the lengthy Langevatnet...which translates to "Long Lake"
Yet ANOTHER stream crossing We crossed a stream about every 100 yards on this day of hiking
Langevatnet
Lisa ...looking suspiciously like the unabomber
A cabin out on a small peninsula in the lake
Lake #3 of the day
Glacier
Looking down at our final destination for the day: Leirvassbu
Leirvassbu, which can sleep up to 190 people
A friendly (?) troll greets us at Leirvassbu
Departing for Skogadalsbøen
A small cabin just next to Leirvassbu
Looking back towards Leirvassbu, Kyrkja mountain on the right
A lake along our trail to Skogadalsbøen
Foggy mountain reflections
A glacial stream
Crossing an iffy looking (but quite solid) bridge
Thin ice!
A view of our typical trail and stream crossings (of which we had a few dozen)
A dam - in the middle of nowhere really
Glacial blue
Lisa eats a sandwich as it falls apart
Looking down the valley, towards our destination of the day
The trail is a bit muddy The trail was either wet, muddy, or marshy. Maybe once or twice it was just a dry trail
Lisa demonstrates her balance, and the standard trail quality
Yay! More soggy trail!
Mushroom's Eye View
Lichen
Lichen
Lichen
Lichen
Skogadalsbøen, once the fog has settled in
A small cabin at Skogadalsbøen
One of the sitting rooms at Skogadalsbøen
Skogadalsbøen in sun
Lisa tries to make more friends with the farm animals...but they were too scared
Looking up the trail to our destination of the day, Fannaråkhytta
Looking back down and across the valley to Skogadalsbøen
One of the many glacial flanks of the Hurrungane mountain
The DNT lunchbags which translates to "Food With A View"
A small alpine tarn
Our first view of the hut Fannaråkhytta perched atop Fannaråki mountain (6693 ft) FannarÃ¥khytta is the highest lodging in Norway
Fannaråkhytta
Crossing a small snowfield that's developing a crevasse
Crossing another snow field
Looking down towards the opening tip of Sognefjord
Looking east towards Leirvassbu
Arriving at Fannaråkhytta. This hut was perched on the summit of the FannarÃ¥ki mountain. The dorms were in the building on the right, dining was in the far building with the flagpole
Looking back down the ridgeline of the peak
Lisa looks out on the lakes 2500 feet below. Our final hut, Sognefjellshytta, can be seen on the right
Looking down from the dorms/summit to the outhouses (far left) and main dining building (flagpole). The other buildings were storage only
The dining room
Bed 29 doesn't leave a lot of headroom...
Fog breaks briefly in the morning
A damp start to the morning hike down the mountain
Looking up at the dorms from the main lodge... ...just a little fog
It's a little damp out.
Gearing up for the glacier crossing We crossed Fannaråkbreen glacier with the aid of a local guide
Our new Norwegian friends Frederick and Thomas (and his dog).
The opening of a crevasse
Our guide Tobias
We look happy here...we really weren't. It"s only because we"d all slipped and fallen at least 4 times on the super slippery ice and had the crap scared out of us on a steep pitch of ice.
Dead lemming
A nice clear day for a glacier walk Nothing like crossing a sheet of ice in an 80 mph wind with a driving rain!
I didn't personally expect this, but the glacier was just solid ice; I was expecting more of a snowfield type feel - but it was much closer to walking across a frozen lake...that had a steep incline...and was ripply. And super wet. and slick.
Stopping to look at a water hole
A 300 foot deep water hole
The fog lifts a little to grant a small view of our surroundings
An interesting pattern in the ice
Nearing the central, rocky portion of the glacier
The glacial river carving out the ice
Thomas and Frederick (and dog)
Brian's just a tad damp here...
Reaching the edge of the ice
Visit Sunny Norway! Lisa"s pack cover blew off in the high wind...everything was now soaked
The torrent of water flowing from below the glacier - much higher than normal
Ice sheets below the glacier
Crossing the flooded stream Well - if we weren"t drenched before, now we were!
Lisa pushes through the raging current
A small glimpse at the glacier
Finally, 2 hours after leaving the glacier, we arrive at Sognefjellshytta
The contents of Lisa's entire pack...to begin the drying process!
