I continued northwards to Dordalen. Massive cornices overhung the edge of the rivers around here. I feared that they may collapse at any second, none did. The valley I was in opened out into a massive plain of glacial moraine. It had many pits and hollows in which there nestled numerous tarns. Down in Dordalen, I arrived at Doralseter and was back on track having bypassed the summits around Hogronden.
I reached a camp above Doralseter in a corrie to the northwest of the mountain huts. Here the mountain shadow helped keep my tent cool early in the evening as I walked around taking photos in the early evening sunshine. I wanted to climb a nearby summit of Smahaugen but still doubtful laziness hung over me. Tuesday 4th June
Now it was time to continue to follow the trail through a very narrow gap in the mountains - the Doralsgulpen is a narrow ravine with 100m high bare cliffs either side. Little sunlight gets in here as it funnelled the strong southerly winds through.
Out the northern side, I dropped into a remote forested valley of Haverdalen to cross the river of Haverdalsae. The bridge was damaged, tilted on its side and the river was far too fast to cross by foot. I was left with two options, turn back or risk the bridge. I risked the bridge, not a problem but given the option I would have gone upstream if it wasn't for the thick undergrowth. It was plain to see that some very swift floods had been this way.
I climbed out of the forest and on the the grassy slope of a broad low mountain called Gravhoe and I turned the corner to drop into the habited valley of Grimsdalen. I imagined seeing a big metaled road here but saw a dirt track and in the two hours it took to get to the bottom, not one car was seen driving through. I intended to camp near to Grimsdalen at the campsite expecting showers and good company. Instead I got a grassy bank, a coin box that asked for 30kr and a toilet shed!
Deciding that the fee wasn't worth it for a grassy back, I decided to walk on. This was the most northerly point of my walk and it was now time to head south at last. After two more hours of walking I found a superb camping spot above a cliff edge that looked down into uppe Grimsdalen. It was a roasting evening. Wednesday 5th June
I left the path to do some off the track cross country walking to set myself up for a load of peak bagging the next day. I climbed up to a plateau ridge coming off the summit of Grahoe - it was very shingly - not many big boulder fields so progress was very swift. That soon changed as I dropped down into the valley of Brakdalen. There was more rough boulder work to be done but there was evidence of flash flooding having occurred here. Thick deposits of mud were lying on the banks of the river here 15 feet above the river level.
The land was more sterile in this valley with camp sites more hard to find. I found one, but it was a little damp. Much better sleep that night. |
