 A gloomy start to the day: Bygdin and Galdeberget
We caught a weather forecast at Fondsbu. Showers on a strong south easterly wind today with more tomorrow. I felt slightly relieved but the weather seemed very much like it was going to be persistent rain moving in today. As we walked along the shore of Bygdin the cloud steadily thickened with the odd spot of rain. We had food before climbing up beside the Høystakka river to the plateaux. The path remained good all the way so far and we left the shrubs down at Bygdin for shorter grasses. We made a brisk pace and so far the rain held off.
At the paths high point we had lunch. It was here that the rain set in. It was now downhill all the way to Gjendebu. The forecast they provided in Fondsbu was wrong, it wasn't showers, this was good old fashioned rain. Down in the woods the humidity was very high and subsequently we both got very damp underneath our jackets. We left Gjendebu just after 3.00pm for a walk up Storådalen. Two hours later we were camping beneath Hellerfossen. The rain didn't relent at all until after dinner.
We also had a herd of cattle at camp, many of them had bells on making for a very noisy camp! I however was more worried about them damaging the tent and they didn't want to go away. They were plainly very curious about the strange yellow object that was pitched on their pastures. Staring at them didn't put them off, they just stared back and more came along to have a look. They did eventually get bored of the tent and walked away leaving us to a quiet night. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photograph of them!
Friday 27th August
Showers were now building. I set a fair pace to Leirvassbu as showers skirted past Gjendebu, Olavsbu and Leirvassbu but we got away dry save for 2 minutes of drizzle before getting back to Leirvassbu. Once back at the car we met our first other British people in Norway. A large group from a TA (Territorial Army) unit were out doing adventure training whilst another couple had just arrived from Liverpool. The couple had stayed in Bergen over night at a B&B for only 250 NKr. That's ~£20, a pretty good deal considering the SYHA (Scottish Youth Hostel Association) charges £9 per night without food! I noticed advertisements at Eidsbugarden hotel for beds starting at 90Nkr. That's a good deal but then it was probably due to it being the low season (kids tend to go to school in early August here). Rumours about Norway being expensive maybe true when it comes to alcohol but generally not so for accommodation (camping at DNT huts costs 35 NKr including use of all hut facilities). Apart from alcohol, I wonder how expensive Norway really is for tourists. Myself and dad spent very little money in Norway, just enough cash for toll roads (~90 NKr), refreshment (~100 NKr) and some diesel at 7.4 NKr per litre. We were now going to do some car touring to see other possible mountain areas in which to hike in. We drove down Leirdalen to Lom before turning left up towards Grotli and beyond. The showers were less active here and we had some nice evening sun low down. We climbed steadily. The country either side of the road seemed to be fine ski touring country with smooth high mountains but we were down in a valley. I was distinctly aware that the valley slope might well be hiding impressive peaks either side. Looking at the map, both areas each side of the road are remote areas.
We were nearing the tree line and the landscape began to have a tundra feel to it with a feeling of adventure as we left behind the populated valley and entered some quite empty country. The forecast for tomorrow was for it to be good with occasional showers. I looked forward to that time but for now the view ahead looked very gloomy as we approached the turn off for Geiranger Fjord.
We parked the car and set off to find a camping spot near by. It was raining. Thankfully it was also blowing so our equipment dried out nicely inside the tent. It was late in the day and tomorrow would be very long considering we were to combine car touring with a drive back to Denmark. |
