Fabulous Fjords Evennorway’S Sheer Terror Is Exhilarating When Stunning Vistas Are the Hiker’S Reward
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DESTINATIONS D fabulous fjords EvenNorway’s sheer terror is exhilarating when stunning vistas are the hiker’s reward Story and photography by Juanita Metzger breaths should have steadied my nerves, but they didn’t. THE PATH DOWN from Malmangernuten, With no hikers visible in front or behind our summit of the day, was so steep I had me, I gulped in another deep breath and let to turn sideways, right or left, and slowly out a long, fierce scream into the driving select every footstep. I feared if I gained rain. too much momentum I would topple over, Was this really what I had in mind when unstoppable, on what could be a brutal my husband and I chose a slow travel option downward tumble. The path wound tightly, as part of our trip to Norway? Hiking in the side to side, so I was constantly alternating pouring rain? Somehow, I had imagined which tired, quivering leg would make the more meadows, more spring flowers, more next step. sheep. However, it was a fleeting thought The glacial river, just one metre to my left, when the only way out of this predicament thundered and pounded wildly so it was was the slow, single track in front of me. impossible to hear even the pouring rain By the time I completed the descent and on the new spring leaves. The ground was reconvened with my hiking group, my heart slippery with thick mud made even more was pounding as adrenalin mixed with the treacherous by the hikers who had already sheer relief at having reached the valley descended the trail. Then add rocks, bottom, intact. branches, roots, boulders and half-metre One thing was certain — the Malman- drops in terrain. gernuten trek (890 metres) certainly fit the Thirty minutes into the descent, my description set out in the G Adventures anxiety had built from the strain of intense Norway Fjord hiking itinerary: an “active trip concentration, the driving beat of the river, designed for outdoor adventurers.” The Åkrafjord is nothing the constant threat of losing my balance. I Our eight-day adventure began and ended short of spectacular when stopped on the uneven ground and took in in Bergen, complete with time set aside for viewed from 612 metres. the distance to the valley floor. A few deep an orientation to this historic city in >> 148 GRAND MAY | JUNE 2014 MAY | JUNE 2014 GRAND 149 Above: Trent Bauman enjoys the view atop Skaalafjell. Below: Kvinnherad kyrkje (church) in Rosendal. Hikers are roped together for a glacier trek. Crevasses can lurk under the snow cover, so safety training was part of the day’s preparation. Below, the trails around Rosendal were well signed. >> western Norway and travel to our hiking in Norway, is geared to outdoor adventur- to the region via public transit, stock up on region. Five full days were dedicated to daily ers. Part of the Hattebergsdalen Protected supplies from the town store, then simply hiking trips. Landscape Area and skirting the recently walk across the road to the trailhead. No Our home base for hiking was Rosendal, established Folgefonna National Park, the rental car necessary. which is only 75 km southeast of Bergen as Rosendal region boasts more than 100 km the crow flies, but the landscape of fjords, of mountain trails with peaks as high as H IKING: DAY ONE rivers and mountains makes it a much 1,426 metres. The first hike of the trip was designed to longer journey by road and ferry. Rosendal and several other small towns be an introductory one – not too difficult The final day of the trip was reserved for serve as the perfect base for access to the but with enough challenge to give our the return transit from Rosendal to Bergen. more intense trails. Multi-day hikes across leader, Diane McGuinness, a sense of (Bergen is the perfect place to bookend a the glaciers and icecap of the Folgefonna individual hiking/fitness abilities and to hiking trip on the western coast, but my are made feasible with an ingenious and whet our appetites for the hikes to come. husband and I opted instead to hop on a efficient system of self-service, fully stocked A gentle first day was welcome for our still train for a seven-hour ride to Oslo for an “hyttes” (huts) and a few remote, unstaffed jet-lagged bodies. additional week.) and unsupplied hyttes. Even more appealing We accessed the trailhead directly across Our base for five days of hiking, Rosendal, to the slow traveller is the fact you can get the road from our cabins. Starting at sea >> like many other significant hiking regions 150 GRAND MAY | JUNE 2014 MAY | JUNE 2014 GRAND 151 >> level, the change to steep incline was the Hardangerfjord. It’s a slow motion the call of a cuckoo bird, the first I’ve ever immediate, but in just two short hours, we sunset when you’re sitting just below the heard in the wild. reached our goal for the day. 60th parallel only three weeks before the As we climbed above the tree line, the Skaalafjell (625 metres) offered stunning summer solstice. views of the fjord to the west and the panoramic views of Rosendal, the Hardanger- glacier-fed lakes to the north opened up in fjord and a clear look at our summit hike for H IKING: DAY TWO jaw-dropping vistas. “Dramatic” is a wild the following day. Malmangernuten looked Significantly cooler temperatures and understatement when it comes to this 360- every bit the dark and foreboding peak from threats of afternoon rains prompted an early degree panorama at the summit. our sunny hillside. start for Malmangernuten (890 metres) on Slow travel is the only way you get to We descended easily through a fragrant pine the second day. There was no gentle initia- experience these views in real life. All forest to the valley that led us back through tion and the trail became steeply vertical in you need are two feet, leg muscles and a the town of Rosendal and to our cabins. no time. pumping heart to get you there. Basic cabin accommodations, shared meals One member of our hiking team Hiking these summits can quickly become and a group trip were the best way for G commented that you know it’s a steep climb an obsession. The adrenaline and the Adventures to make the excursion afford- when your next step is at eye-level. It was striking views leave you wanting more: a able in such an expensive country. true, in a funny sort of way, but it’s hard to few 100 metres higher, a more dramatic Evening meals became a veritable feast even laugh when you are gasping for breath sheer drop, more dizzying views of the where all group members cooked part of the and willing your heart not to explode. fjords that seem to stretch on forever. simple food that replaced our depleted energy Two hours of heart-pounding, vertigo-in- Trolltunga (604 metres), with its spec- and nourished us for the following day. ducing paths brought us within sight of the tacular rock overhang and top-of-the-world These lingering communal meals were summit. There’s not much of a view along views became the obsession among several taken on rustic picnic tables just out the the forested trail except for the evidence of of our group members, and there was a great back door of our cabins where we could goats, sheep and cows. However, we did deal of quick research as people made plans watch the slow descent of the sun over pause along the way a few times, to take in for a free day in the middle of the trip. >> This view captures the beginning of the steep descent from Malmangernuten. What appears to be a small trickle of water actually turns into a wide, raging river as the hikers get closer. 152 GRAND MAY | JUNE 2014 MAY | JUNE 2014 GRAND 153 >> HIKING: DAY THREE The rest of the afternoon was spent above from the top. Another steep climb to 612 Everyone was eagerly awaiting our glacier the clouds, exploring this vast, foreign metres in less than one hour rewards us hike and the weather looked perfect. A landscape on the northern tip of the Folge- with stunning views of sheer cliffs dropping 90-minute drive north brought us to the fonna National Park. We descend quickly into the fjord below. We can just make out village of Jondal where we met a special- as the late afternoon clouds begin to move the houses, farms and roads that lay tucked ized guide, Cleng Eikje, from the outdoor in and surround us. We emerged below the along the shore where there is enough fl at adventure company Folgefonni Breførarlag. clouds to fi nd it raining at the ski centre. ground to build them. At their offi ce, which they share with the No matter what the view or the adventure, tourist information centre, Cleng briefed HIKING: DAY FOUR Norway’s landscapes, close-knit communi- us with a short geological history of the A rest day is usually a welcome idea in the ties and outdoor-oriented lifestyle make it Folgefonna National Park – just a mere middle of a hiking week. But in an effort the perfect place to experience slow travel. few million years. We were fi tted with the to explore as much as possible in the short It’s not about check-list travelling where necessary outdoor gear of snowshoes and time we had, we joined some members of you tick off as many tourist highlights as weatherproof outer layers.