Knutsho seen from Bessvatnet across Gjende

Wednesday 20th August
It was a fine day for driving up, the night before was stuffy down in Denmark giving little sleep just like two years before. Though this time the drive was quicker owing to a faster pace and no rest stops. We arrived amazingly early at Fagernes and I was impressed with the place. It was well presented in the tourist office and I learnt that they were very particular in Norway with good building standards.

We set off for Gjendesheim after that for a night in the DNT hut there. I was very impressed at my first view of Jotunheimen with tumbling glaciers and towering mountains. I wandered why I didn’t come here before.

Gjende as seen from Bessvatnet

Thursday 21st August
I decided a warming up walk was suitable with a trip up Veslefjellet and down Bessegen to Bessvatnet. The day was nice with a superb postcard view down Gjende and I was happy taking lots of photos, the winds were strong on the summit and the air mass seemed to be becoming unstable during the day with bigger clouds forming.

Even after school holidays in midweek the route was popular with school parties. We arrived at Bessvatnet and left the crowds to find a convenient site to pitch the tent ready for an assault of Bessho the next day.

Bessho as seen from Besseggen

Bessegen from Bessvatnet

From the Summit of Bessho
looking towards Surtningssua

Friday 22nd August
The day dawned rainy, the wind was picking up and the site turned into a puddle though all was dry in the tent. The rain cleared later in the morning and so we decided to climb Bessho and not waste the day. We packed away surplus equipment so sheep couldn’t feed themselves and we headed up the mountain.

It was an 800m ascent on a continuos slope we ascended in two and a half hours which surprisingly was in close agreement with Naismith’s rule. The first part of the ascent took us through big bouldery rubble which was slow and tedious, it was to characterize much of the high level walking this trip but although rocky, the higher slopes of Bessho gave less trouble progress wise. The view to the nearby glacier was impressive. I’d never been close to a glacier before so it was new stuff for me. Glacier travel was never done on this trip though on future trips I feel that skills in glacier navigation and crevasse spotting would prove useful.

The views from the top were good in all directions, the rain front was clearly seem in the east moving away and there was no haze, great stuff for photos. Strangely it was less windy on the top than by the lake, probably to do with the 800m cliff nearby deflecting all the wind up! The descent down took two hours and we camped in the same location.

Saturday 23rd August
We were back off to the car for reloading food and then we were off to Leirungsdalen. The day started nice but clouded over with a pulse of rain in the mid afternoon. The temperature had dropped significantly to 12 degrees at Gjendesheim. This meant near freezing conditions at the top. None the less it was a lot more pleasant than the sultry heat in Denmark and the UK at that time.

We made off for Leirungsdalen passing under Knutsho to the river of Leirungsaa. This river is huge and milky grey from the glacial rockflour. Rain always seemed to look imminent but threatened more than it rained in the end. The campsite was nice and flat and historically the valley was named after camping. There was certainly evidence of that where we were. The scene was perfect with Munken and it’s east ridge prominent. Moderate rain fell over night and gave a light snow dusting on the summits by morning.

Bessho as seen from the Eastern end of Bessvatnet

Looking up Leirungsdalen with Munken on the left